Wild Wing Plantation has received a comprehensive overhaul this summer, and is scheduled to reopen in full on Sept. 19.
The property’s Avocet Course closed May 18 and the clubhouse partially closed on June 1.
The course project has been overseen by Jeff Brauer, who designed the layout along with three-time major champion and World Golf Hall of Fame member Larry Nelson, with whom he frequently collaborated.
The 7,127-yard par-72 opened in 1993 as one of Golf Digest’s 10 Best New Courses in America, and was one of four 18-hole courses on the property that has been reduced to 27 holes with nine holes of the former Hummingbird Course also remaining. It was open throughout the summer.
Course owner and operator Founders Group International has regularly brought back original designers of courses to oversee renovations in recent years as a way of maintaining the integrity of the designs.
The greens have been redone and expanded back to their original size, with some alterations to a couple severe putting surfaces, including softening the slopes on the third and fourth holes.
A depressed hollow to the front-left of the ninth hole that was once called the “Valley of Sin” has been reestablished, and a front-left pin position is now available on the low portion of the two-tiered green.
TifEagle ultradwarf Bermudagrass has been installed on greens, as it has been over the past few years at other FGI courses including Pawleys Plantation, the King’s North Course at Myrtle Beach National, the Grande Dunes Resort Course, Long Bay Club and River Hills Golf & Country Club.
All of the bunkers have been redone with a capillary concrete base that helps them avoid being washed out, reduces maintenance, and suppresses grass and weeds from contaminating them.
The overall cumulative size of the bunkers has been reduced from about 160,000 square feet to approximately 90,000 square feet, primarily to make them less difficult.
A large and deep bunker featuring a couple grass islands to the right of the par-3 12th green, for instance, has been reduced and softened, as has a large front greenside bunker on the par-5 seventh hole.
An overgrown area in front of the long par-4 third hole’s green has been converted into a pond, with the intention of improving the hole’s aesthetics while also making it more player-friendly.
The routing of the holes hasn’t changed, but a new forward tee box has been built into them that will be shorter than the red tee yardage of 4,300 yards. It gives Wild Wing seven sets of tee boxes.
Bridges and cart paths had already been recently repaired on the course off U.S. 501 in Conway.
Vegetation in the large parking lot has been cut down and manicured during the closure.
Clubhouse renovation
The interior of the clubhouse has been remodeled as well and will feature a pair of golf simulators.
Both the pro shop and restaurant have been redone and the renovations were sponsored by retail vendor Ahead, a headwear, apparel, and accessories company that also sponsored a clubhouse remodel at Long Bay Club a few years ago.
Carpet has been replaced in the pro shop and hallway that separates it from the pub & grill. New furniture, fixtures and paint were added that will give the areas a modern look, and offices have been added.
“The word they are going with is ‘upscale casual’, so I think it will be really nice,” said Wild Wing head pro Mark Andrews.
The pro shop has been reorganized with a new counter that was moved, large hat rack, and a seating area with lounge chairs in the shoe rack section that now features a pair of TVs on the wall. Bathrooms have been fully redone.
The pub & grill, which has new laminate floors, will now have more of a sports bar theme and atmosphere. The bar has been rebuilt with new equipment, has increase from four to six beer taps, and has new furniture and overhead lighting.
There are TVs behind the bar, another handful of TVs on the walls in the dining area, and a couple near the golf simulators in the back of the room, an area that Andrews believes will be regularly used by members and residents. Golf simulator leagues and instruction are being considered.
“We have the space and it’s going to be something awesome for the community,” Andrews said. “To break into that market is exciting. I can’t wait to see what kind of reaction we get from that.”
Andrews said it is the first major renovation of the clubhouse since the property first opened in 1990.
“It’s a complete reimagining of Wild Wing and I think it’s going to be awesome,” Andrews said.
The renovations at Wild Wing are the latest in the market by FGI, which owns and operates 21 courses on the Grand Strand.
FGI is essentially renovating a property per year. In the past seven years, it has funded greens and bunker renovations – that often include clubhouse renovations – at the Grande Dunes Resort Course, Pawleys Plantation, King’s North Course, River Hills, Long Bay Club, Pine Lakes Country Club and Myrtlewood’s Palmetto Course, and a major bunker renovation on Myrtlewood’s PineHills Course.
Nine-hole improvements
A pair of 27-hole courses in Brunswick County, N.C., each closed nine holes this summer for green renovations.
The Stewart nine at Thistle Golf Club in Sunset Beach closed June 1 to complete a three-year renovation project that has included the replacing of all greens and other improvements on each nine, one at a time over three summers. The Stewart nine is scheduled to reopen on Sept. 18.
The Cameron nine temporarily closed in 2024 and Mackay nine closed in 2025.
The Egret nine at the 27-hole Carolina National Golf Club in Bolivia closed on April 27 for a comprehensive bunker renovation and green reconstruction project.
The project is designed to improve drainage, overall course conditions and playability, and the Egret nine is scheduled to reopen by the end of September.
