The future of the former Carolina Shores Golf & Country Club remains in limbo.
The Carolina Shores Board of Commissioners voted 3-1 on Monday, Feb. 9 to deny a request to rezone the property for a proposed redevelopment that would include 119 homes, stormwater facilitation and other uses.
The requested rezoning would have changed the land from a Conservation Recreation District (CRD) to Planned Residential District (PRD).
Property owner and former course operator Philippe Bureau closed the 150-acre layout in November 2024, citing the course’s financial struggles.
The 6,755-yard Tom Jackson design opened in 1974 and has been the centerpiece of the small town of Carolina Shores, N.C., which was founded in 1998 when it split from Calabash, N.C.
The proposed plan
The redevelopment proposal – the second brought to the town by Bureau and denied – called for 119 one-story single-family homes on about 25% of the property, which would primarily be contained between the clubhouse and portions of holes 9, 10, 14 and 18, Bureau said.
The development was going to be called “The Forest at Carolina Shores.” Proposed neighborhood features included a pool, amenity center, pickleball court, and open space.
Bureau said the project also called for significant work on stormwater drainage that would be done in concert with the county to mitigate flooding issues in the area, and included 19 retention ponds.
The new homeowners association would be responsible for maintaining the stormwater system once completed.
The Carolina Shoes Planning Board voted in January to not recommend project approval by the council, in part due to stormwater concerns.
Proposed developer Mike Matheny, who owned the golf course prior to Bureau, has partnered with G3 Engineering and Surveying to develop the property with a homebuilder.
Bureau, who could not be reached for comment, announced Monday that Ryan Homes has a letter of intent to build the homes.
In their denial, town council members cited concern that the proposal did not comply with the town’s Coastal Area Management Act Land Use Plan.
Bureau, Matheny and representatives of G3 have held multiple open public meetings to share the plan and answer questions.
Resident objections
Residents filled the Carolina Shores town hall for the council vote, primarily voicing their displeasure with the proposed redevelopment.
Residents have shared concerns about stormwater, infrastructure, public safety and possible property value decreases, and many dissenters are organized through the Carolina Shores Residents’ Liaison Committee.
Housing can be conditionally built within the current CRD zoning, however, according to the town’s code of ordinances, which reads: “Conservation zoning may be incorporated into surrounding developments. Large lot zoning for single-family residential development is conditionally allowed as an effective way to preserve natural and community open space resources.”
The current zoning allows for one lot per acre, which is fairly large for a residential development.
Bureau and Matheny can continue pushing for rezoning by revising the plans and resubmitting them, or submit a plan that adheres to the one-acre lots, which would still require board approval.
Carolina Shores G&CC had been an inexpensive local course with its primary customers being members and area residents. Its clubhouse included a pro shop and bar & grill that was open to the public. The property includes a pool and tennis courts that are owned and operated by the community POA.
Bureau has been in the Myrtle Beach golf market for more than two decades and took over Carolina Shores in 2011 after being director of golf at the four-course Ocean Ridge Plantation from 2005-08. He made initial improvements to the course and clubhouse when he took over.
A dwindling market
Carolina Shores is the latest of nine-plus courses to close in Brunswick County over the past 24 years.
The others include Marsh Harbour Golf Links (early 2000s), Ocean Harbour Golf Links (early 2000s), Ocean Isle Beach Golf Course (2005), two 18-hole courses at Angels Trace Golf Links (2006), Calabash Golf Links (2010), Brierwood Golf Club (2017) and Farmstead Golf Links (2021), which had holes in both North Carolina and South Carolina. Additionally, nine of 36 holes at The Pearl Golf Links closed in 2020.
Angels Trace was expected to be turned into the fifth course at Ocean Ridge Plantation, and though nine holes were designed and cleared, the course was never fully built.
