Numerous Myrtle Beach area golf courses are planning to close for possibly several days due to upcoming weather conditions, marking the second straight January with mass closures due to weather.
A winter storm that might bring freezing rain is threatened to hit the Grand Strand last weekend, followed by several days of freezing temperatures, with a full week of lows forecast to be in the 20s and highs below 50 – some well below 50.
The primary safety concern is ice accumulation, but the cold temperatures that follow will likely be more damaging to courses.
This time last year, some courses closed due to cold temperatures before every Strand course was forced to shut down for up to a week after as much as 6 inches of snow fell on layouts.
Many golf course owners have purchased green covers since 2018, when a number of courses were forced to close in the spring or summer to repair damage from a condition known as winterkill on their greens.
The covers are meant to protect greens from freezing temperatures in the hopes of avoiding damage and preserving their conditions for the busy spring golf season.
Most courses are assessing closures, while others have attempted to remain open.
Closing and opening information will be updated as it becomes available. As of Thursday, Jan. 29:
Planned closures
_ Sea Trail Golf Resort will be covering greens on its three courses – Jones, Byrd and Maples – following play Friday, Jan. 30 and plans to reopen on Tuesday, Feb. 3.
_ Two of Legends Golf’s three resort courses – Moorland and Parkland – and Oyster Bay will be closed at least until Sunday, Feb. 1. The Legends’ Heathland Course and Heritage Club in Pawleys Island, which is also operated by the Legends group, will be open Wednesday through Friday morning and will be closed Saturday and Sunday, Jan. 31 and Feb. 1. The Legends Resort driving range will be open as weather permits.
_ Prestwick Country Club is closed with covered greens and plans to reopen on Wednesday, Feb. 4. The clubhouse restaurant will be open for lunch through the closure as weather permits.
_ The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, host of the PGA Tour’s ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic in May, is covering greens Thursday and Friday Jan. 29-30 and will remain closed until Tuesday Feb. 3, possibly longer.
“We need to err on the side of caution with the tour event,” Dunes Club general manager Dennis Nicholl said.
_ Tidewater Golf Club will cover greens Friday following morning rounds and will remain closed Saturday through at least Monday morning, with a reassessment coming likely on Sunday.
_ Diamondback Golf Club at Woodland Valley in Loris plans to close at 11 a.m. Monday – pushing the date back three days after a change in the forecast – to cover greens and expects to remain closed at least through Wednesday.
_ Barefoot Golf Resort’s four courses – the Dye, Fazio, Norman and Love – will be closing to cover greens after the morning rounds on Friday and an evaluation will be done Monday.
_ Wachesaw Plantation East will be closed Saturday, Sunday and Monday, Jan. 31-Feb. 2, and hopes to reopen Tuesday. The pro shop will be open from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Monday.
_ Rivers Edge Golf Club will remain closed through Monday, Feb. 2 and hopes to reopen on Tuesday, Feb. 3. The pro shop will be open 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. through the closure.
_ Meadowlands Golf Club will be closed through Wednesday, Feb. 4. The pro shop will open daily from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. throughout the closure.
_ The Pearl Golf Links plans to close at approximately 12:40 p.m. Friday and intends to remain closed until at least Monday, Feb. 2.
_ Thistle Golf Club plans to close Saturday, Sunday and Monday, when greens will be covered. The course may be closed through next Sunday, Feb. 1. Pro shop will be open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and pub will be open 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. this weekend, and possibly longer after an evaluation on Monday.
_ Carolina National Golf Club in Bolivia, N.C., keeps a general ’40-degree rule” but has covered greens and anticipates being closed until at least Monday, Jan. 2.
_ Indigo Creek Golf Club will be closed Saturday and Sunday, and most likely Monday as well, and will reassess.
_ Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club is planning to be closed Sunday, though the pro shop will be open, and be open whenever possible thereafter.
_ Whispering Pines plans to be open Thursday, Jan. 29 and is reassessing daily.
_ Blackmoor Golf Club plans to cover greens Friday afternoon and be closed until the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 3, if temperatures allow.
_ Arrowhead Country Club intends to remain open as much as possible, but will be closed Saturday and Sunday and reevaluate Monday.
_ The Aero Club Short Course was closed Saturday through Tuesday but will be open Thursday and Friday, Jan. 29-30, and hopes to reopen Monday, Feb. 2, if forced to close due to inclement weather on the weekend.
_ Founders Group International owns and operates 21 Strand courses, and the company has different plans for different courses, with no closing dates set as of Friday afternoon.
FGI courses are Pawleys Plantation; Tradition Club; River Club; Litchfield Country Club; Willbrook Plantation; Founders Club at Pawleys Island; TPC Myrtle Beach; Wild Wing Plantation; Burning Ridge Golf Club; Myrtle Beach National’s West, Southcreek and King’s North courses; Pine Lakes Country Club; International World Tour Golf Links; Myrtlewood Golf Club’s Palmetto and PineHills courses; Grande Dunes Resort Course; River Hills Golf Club; Aberdeen Country Club; Colonial Charters Golf Club; and Long Bay Club.
FGI plans to at some point cover greens at Long Bay, Aberdeen, Myrtle Beach National’s three courses, Wild Wing and Burning Ridge, which planning to close Monday until Tuesday, Feb. 3, with covered greens.
FGI is leaning against using covers at River Hills, TPC, Colonial Charters and all of its Pawleys Island courses – Pawleys Plantation, Tradition Club, River Club, Litchfield CC, Willbrook and Founders Club – so those would more easily be open on a day to day basis.
Holding out
Several courses intend to remain open and close only if conditions warrant or require it.
They include:
_ The Wizard Golf Links and Man O’War Golf Club, which are adjacent sister courses that both feature cool-weather bentgrass greens rather than the area’s predominant dormant Bermudagrass this time of year – with or without a winter overseed – both hope to remain open.
_ Eagle Nest Golf Club, Beachwood Golf Club and Azalea Sands Golf Club, which all have some common ownership and management, also hope to remain open.
_ Brunswick Plantation plans to remain open any day with temperatures in the mid-40s, according to head pro Brett Thomaswick, and that should be most days according to Weather.com.
_ The four Big Cats courses at Ocean Ridge Plantation – Leopard’s Chase, Tiger’s Eye, Panther’s Run and Lion’s Paw – have not yet announced plans to close.
_ Crow Creek Golf Club will be open at least through Sunday and will assess day by day thereafter.
_ Sandpiper Bay Golf Club will remain open when conditions allow.
_ International Club of Myrtle Beach in Murrells Inlet closed Saturday and Sunday but will be open the rest of the week as long as weather conditions allow, with single tee times beginning at 9 a.m.
_ The Tupelo Bay Golf Complex in Garden City, which features a driving range, executive course and par-3 course, plans to remain open when conditions allow.
This is a fluid story and information will be regularly updated as it becomes available.
