Many local golfers including some invited guests are giving their final goodbyes to River Oaks Golf Club this week, as the course prepares to close on Nov. 30 after 38 years in operation.
The property is scheduled to become a residential development.
River Oaks is hosting “The Final Round” Scramble on Thursday, Nov. 20, which will be the final organized tournament at the course.
The tournament was announced on Facebook on Nov. 1 and sold out with some teams on a waiting list within a few days. The event is $49 plus tax.
The course is also hosting specific groups this week including some golf package providers.
A farewell dinner was held Sunday night at Angelo’s Steak & Pasta featuring current and former staff, longtime loyal customers, friends and family.
The course had its final club championship scheduled for this past weekend.
River Oaks, now consisting of the Fox and Otter nine holes, is operated and managed through a lease by a group of investors under the name River Oaks Golf Club LLC that includes club general manager Scott Taylor. They have operated the course since 2009.
River Oaks is a 6,800-yard Gene Hamm design that opened in 1987 and became a 27-hole facility with the opening of the Bear nine holes in 1991.
The club has been one of the more affordable courses in the Myrtle Beach market, and for years hosted as many charity golf tournaments as any course in the market.
Redevelopment is next
The Bear nine closed in September 2021 and was sold to Chris Manning of Chris Manning Communities. Manning said earlier this year that he sold that property to Mungo Homes last year, and is creating 220 lots on the land and Mungo Homes will build the houses. That development is well underway.
Manning purchased the remaining 18 holes of the club in February 2024. He intends to create 370 lots on that 172-acre tract.
The combined nearly 600 homes at River Oaks will add traffic to an already busy River Oaks Drive, which is slated to be expanded from a two-lane road with some turn lanes to four lanes in the coming years.
The developments on River Oaks Drive include Waterway Plantation, Waterway Palms, The Bluffs, The Battery on The Waterway, Berkshire Forest, Village Oaks, and Traditions at Carolina Forest, with Manning’s developments and possibly others in the works.
When River Oaks closes it will join a handful of courses in the market over the past seven years that have closed in favor of housing projects including The Witch Golf Links, Farmstead Golf Links, Possum Trot Golf Club, Heather Glen Golf Links and Indian Wells Golf Club.
Additionally, nine holes have closed at River Oaks, Aberdeen Country Club and The Pearl Golf Links.
