Golfers soon will have another option in Myrtle Beach for loading up on gear.

Golfsmith, a chain golf retailer, is building its first area store at the intersection of U.S. 501 and U.S. 17 Bypass, near Costco.

Crews recently started working at the site, where a 36,000-square-foot store is in the works. The store sells golf clubs, shoes, apparel, balls and other accessories.

The store aims to open this spring.

Golfsmith, which combined operations with GolfTown last year to create the largest golf specialty retailer in the world, started in 1967 in the Edison, N.J., home of Carl Paul and his wife Barbara, who wanted to fill a niche in the golf industry by designing and distributing custom golf clubs and their components.

Golfsmith operated as mainly a catalog business until 1992, when it moved to its current headquarters in Austin, Texas. It started opening retail stores in other cities three years later.

Contact DAWN BRYANT at 626-0296 or at dbryant@thesunnews.com or follow her at Twitter.com/TSN_dawnbryant.