Golfsmith’s last retail store on the Grand Strand is closing

The last remaining Golfsmith retail store on the Grand Strand soon will be closing.

A three-year-old Golfsmith Xtreme store that the company built at the corner of U.S. 17 North and U.S. 501 South is expected to close by the end of the year.

A North Myrtle Beach location that was a former Golf Dimensions store was shut down on Oct. 23 as part of a proposed Golfsmith reorganization plan following a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in September.

It was one of 20 stores out of 109 U.S. locations that were closed as part of the restructuring plan. The company was planning to close another nine locations coming out of the Chapter 11 bankruptcy, according to Jeff Morgan, Golfsmith’s senior manager of custom fitting and putter services who is based at the headquarters in Austin, Texas.

But Morgan said Monday that the plan was not going to be approved by the court, so the company sold to Dick’s Sporting Goods, which teamed with liquidator Hilco Global for the purchase. “Our board of directors really had no choice but to sell to Dick’s,” Morgan said.

Dick’s plans to keep 30 stores open and close the remaining 59, including the Myrtle Beach location, according to Morgan and Golfsmith’s corporate website. He said a Hilco representative is at each closing location, and each store is expected to remain open at least through November.

“Shutdown dates will vary,” Morgan said. “Some will be open through the holidays, others will close sooner based on inventory levels.”

Morgan said Golfsmith’s 30 remaining stores are likely to be transitioned into Golf Galaxy, a chain of golf retail stores acquired by Dick’s Sporting Goods in 2007.

After its purchase of Golf Dimensions in April 2014, Golfsmith operated the two Strand retail stores and a Callaway Golf Performance Fitting Center at Barefoot Resort's driving range. The fitting center closed in July.

According to the Golfsmith corporate website, other store locations closing in the Carolinas include one in Columbia and one in Charlotte, N.C. Of the 30 stores that are scheduled to remain open, one is in South Carolina in Greenville and two are in North Carolina in Raleigh and Greensboro.

One remains closed

Of the nearly 100 golf courses on the Grand Strand, only the 27-hole Aberdeen Country Club on S. C. 9 in Longs remains closed because of damage suffered from or in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.

And it will remain closed until Feb. 15 in order to repair damage to the clubhouse caused by flooding, according to Steve Mays, director of sales and marketing for Founders Group International, which operates Aberdeen and 21 other Strand courses. The entire interior of the clubhouse will be renovated.

Mays said Monday that the course was about 90 percent clear of water.

“We have made a decision we’re not going to reopen Aberdeen until mid-February,” Mays said. “The main reason is the damage to the clubhouse. When we open up we should be in perfect condition.”

In the meantime, Aberdeen head professional Steve Shaffer has taken over the head golf pro position at Indian Wells Golf Club.

The storm hit on Oct. 8 and by Oct. 22, only 45 holes in the Myrtle Beach area remained closed.

The front nine of The Witch Golf Links on S.C. 544 in Conway reopened Thursday after it experienced flooding from an overflowed Waccamaw River, joining the back nine, which reopened less than a week after the storm. Carts are already being allowed on the front nine’s fairways.

“It’s in good shape too, you wouldn’t know it flooded down there,” The Witch head pro Graham Williams said. “It’s amazing how fast it dried up.”

The front nine of the private Surf Golf and Beach Club, which was hit by a tornado in addition to the hurricane, reopened on Oct. 27 and the club hosted a Sunbelt Senior Tour charity Pro-Am on Monday on its 18 holes. Cleanup of the hundreds of trees damaged at Surf Club is continuing through play.

Byrd, Lundy competing

Zack Byrd of Murrells Inlet and Patrick Lundy of Little River will attempt to earn status this week on the Web.com Tour by advancing through the Web.com Tour Qualifying Tournament’s Second Stage.

Byrd has been assigned Southern Hills Country Club in Brooksfield, Fla., while Lundy is entered at Plantation Preserve in Plantation, Fla. Both are playing Tuesday through Friday.

All players who reach the third/final stage are guaranteed at least conditional status on the 2017 Web.com Tour, though finishing near the bottom won’t afford many opportunities on the Web.com, which is the PGA Tour’s feeder tour.

There are five second stage sites, each with approximately 70 to 80 players, and the top 19 players and ties have advanced through each of the two sites that have completed play. A similar number are expected to advance through the three sites this week.

“Everybody has the ability to get through, it’s just who can handle the nerves the best,” Lundy said. “It’s my fourth time going to second stage so I feel I am prepared for it. I feel pretty comfortable.”

Lundy is looking to reach the final stage for the first time – it was the PGA Tour Q-School through 2012. Byrd has reached the final stage twice, but hasn’t played well on either occasion.

Byrd advanced through Southern Hills the last time he reached the final stage in 2013.

“I like the golf course a lot,” Byrd said. “It’s long. It was not a golf course that I wanted when I got through there, it was my second pick that year. But it fit my game and fit my eye. There weren’t a lot of holes that I didn’t like off the tee. It was my first pick the last two years.”

Southern Hills changed its greens this summer to TifEagle ultradwarf Bermudagrass, so they should be firm. Byrd’s home course, Wachesaw Plantation, also installed new ultradwarf Bermuda greens recently, so Byrd believes that will work in his favor.

Byrd said he hasn’t played many rounds lately but has shot in the mid-60s recently at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club and Reserve Club. “I’m not playing a lot but my game feels great,” he said.

He changed putters two days before competing in the first stage, changing from a Clearball putter from the Canadian company Innovations Golf that he used for four years to a Scotty Cameron putter that had been made for him a few years ago. It was a belly putter but he cut the shaft down to 34 inches. “It feels great. I putted probably the best I’ve ever putted in a tournament at Florence (Country Club in the first stage),” Byrd said. “I’m just trying to keep that going and clean up the ball-striking a little bit.”

Lundy doesn’t know much about Plantation Preserve, but he didn’t want to return to Southern Hills, where he played last year.

“I’d heard Plantation Preserve is the hardest to go through and I feel that plays into my favor,” Lundy said. “It’s in Fort Lauderdale so I knew the weather would be perfect. I just wanted to make sure I wouldn’t have to deal with [bad] weather.”

Lundy recently won a Coastal Players Tour event by seven shots, and shot a 68 in a Thursday prequalifier for the PGA Tour’s Sanderson Farms Championship in Jackson, Miss., but failed to get through the Monday qualifier.

Lundy spent a few days last week working with instructor Brad Redding or International Club of Myrtle Beach. “Since I started working with him I’ve started playing the best I’ve ever played,” Lundy said.

Roberto Diaz of Myrtle Beach already has full Web.com Tour status for 2017 based on his finish of 51st on the 2016 Web.com Tour regular season money list. He plans to play in this week’s $7 million PGA Tour OHL Classic at Mayakoba in his native Mexico, as well as the upcoming Argentina Open before the Web.com Tour season starts up again in late January.

Free lessons offered

The GolfTEC instruction business located in the Golfsmith store in Myrtle Beach is offering one complimentary lesson between Monday and Sunday to anyone who first makes a small donation to PGA Reach, a the charitable foundation of the PGA of America.

Interested parties can call 843-353-6157 or register online at pgareach.com/GolfTEC. To complete the process online, customers follow instructions on making a donation and must show their receipt upon arrival at GolfTEC. Each 30-minute lesson is valued at more than $85 and individuals are asked to make a $25 suggested minimum contribution.

Aligned with the PGA’s 41 section offices and charitable partners, PGA Reach fosters inclusion and positively impacts youth, military veterans and diverse communities.

Assessing its future

Josh Slawiak, a GolfTEC PGA-certified coach at Golfsmith, said the company is analyzing its options with the Golfsmith location closing, and may attempt to remain in the market. Options include its own location or partnering with a golf course or practice facility.

“We’ve received information about possibly doing a standalone location,” Slawiak said. “There are multiple options out there that we might go after.”

The company utilizes patented technology and cameras in its instruction, and Slawiak expects it to remain in business at Golfsmith while the building remains open.

“As far as I know we’re running everything as if nothing is happening,” Slawiak said. “Unfortunately we happen to be in a store that’s closing.”

East Coast cup match

Twenty-four golf professionals from courses in the East Coast Golf Management marketing group are taking part in a Ryder Cup-style event Monday and Tuesday that is raising funds for the South Carolina Junior Golf Association.

The second-year tournament is at Wachesaw Plantation East and pits pros from North Carolina against those from South Carolina, and each team has uniforms. About 18 courses are represented, predominantly on the Grand Strand. The pros are putting up the money and East Coast president Mike Buccerone expects to donate $1,200 to the SCJGA.

The event includes three team nine-hole matches Monday with formats of Texas Scramble, modified alternate shot and 3-on-3 captain’s choice. Tuesday’s singles matchups will be determined Monday night.

“It builds camaraderie within the group and it’s obviously for a good cause,” Buccerone said. “We figured we’d try to grow the game and bring in the SCJGA.”

Harbour Town reopens

Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island, home to the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, will reopen Wednesday. The course has been closed since Hurricane Matthew struck the island on Oct. 8.

Sea Pines Resort, which contains Harbour Town, was hit hard by the storm. It’s new Atlantic Dunes by Davis Love III reopened on Oct. 31 and its Heron Point by Pete Dye layout reopened Wednesday.

All of Sea Pines’ operations including The Inn & Club at Harbour Town, Harbour Town Clubhouse, Plantation Golf Club and Sea Pines Beach Club have also reopened.

The 2017 RBC Heritage will be held the week of April 10-16.

This story was originally published November 7, 2016 at 7:28 PM with the headline "Golfsmith’s last retail store on the Grand Strand is closing."