The time has come for River Oaks Golf Club.
Course operators have set a closing date of Oct. 31 for the course, which is slated to be redeveloped into single-family housing.
The clock started ticking on its final days when Chris Manning of Chris Manning Communities purchased the remaining 18 holes of the club in February 2024 and shortly thereafter began the permitting and approval process with Horry County and the state.
Manning said Monday he expects to have the necessary permits acquired in the fall to break ground on the development of 370 lots.
The course, 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.
Taylor said Monday his lease ends on Oct. 31, and that course conditions will continue to be maintained at a high level until the closing date. He said four greens have had areas sodded within the past two weeks with Sunday ultradwarf Bermudagrass, for instance.
“We invested the money to do it. I hate the comments that say we’re going to cut corners because we’re closing. That doesn’t benefit us,” Taylor said. “. . . I’ve got my crew all coming in, everyone’s going to stick with us and everybody agrees we want River Oaks to be the best it can be with the time we have left.”
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.
Redevelopment is already underway on what was formerly the Bear nine on the east side of River Oaks Drive, which closed in September 2021 and was sold to Manning, who said he sold that property to Mungo Homes last year.
Manning said Monday he is creating 220 lots on the land and Mungo Homes will build the houses.
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.
River Oaks Golf Club has some of the more affordable green fees in the Myrtle Beach market, and for years hosted as many if not more charity golf tournaments as any other course in the market.
The course’s biggest fundraiser of the year will be held Saturday, with 41 foursomes participating to benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation.
“When we took over River Oaks it was just getting your name out there and re-exposing River Oaks to the community, and then giving back,” Taylor said. “That was our way to give back was to host all those events. It was just part of our model.”
Taylor, whose group has operated River Oaks since 2009, said he plans to have some commemorative events and tournaments to give players a reason to see the course before it closes.
“It’ll be sad but we want everyone to come out and enjoy River Oaks while they can,” Taylor said.
Taylor said much of the course’s staff has been there a decade or more and indicated they intend to remain there until it closes. Golf instructors Russ Brown and Tyler Foust teach at River Oaks and will have to find new locations.
“Hopefully everyone will come out and support our staff, who have been so great to us,” Taylor said.
That sale of the Bear was for $3 million, according to Manning and Horry County online records, and he sold it for $9.5 million to Mungo Homes in February 2024. Manning is developing all of the lots, while Mungo Homes will build the homes, Manning said.
Manning paid $9.2 million in February 2024 for the Fox and Otter, he said, which comprise 172 acres. Who will build the homes on that property hasn’t been determined yet, he said.
Manning has previously owned Diamondback Golf Club and International Club of Myrtle Beach, which both remain open, though he redeveloped the driving range at International Club, and he said he is “trying hard to be involved in more [courses] but nothing that we can talk about yet. But we’re working hard in getting involved in more golf courses for sure.”
He said redevelopment of a course would be considered case by case.
”It all depends on the situation,” Manning said, “but there is obviously demand for lots and for land in Horry County, that’s for sure.”
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.
