Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club, a Jack Nicklaus design renowned for its coastal beauty, has been named the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association’s 2024 Course of the Year.
Coming off a dramatic renovation project, Pawleys Plantation enjoyed a banner year, delighting golfers from across America with a modernized layout and a stunning back nine that plays along a saltwater marsh.
“Our goal with the renovation was too secure Pawleys Plantation’s place among the best courses in South Carolina long into the future, so it’s gratifying to be named the Myrtle Beach Golf Course of the Year,” said Founders Group International (FGI) President Steve Mays. “Myrtle Beach is the game’s most popular travel destination, and we will continue to work tirelessly to provide the best experience possible for golfers. This award is a testament to the hard work of general manager Riley Kinlaw, course superintendent Baxter Boggs and their staffs.”
FGI, Pawleys’ parent company, contracted with Nicklaus Design Group and its Design Associate Troy Vincent to lead the 2023 renovation that modernized one of the area’s most popular courses while maintaining the integrity of Nicklaus’ original work. Among the highlights of the project were:
● Every green complex and the surrounding fringe was stripped, tilled and restored to its original specifications, netting nearly 40,000 square feet of additional putting surface.
● The new greens feature TifEagle Bermudagrass, an ultradwarf strain that has performed exceedingly well at other FGI layouts, including the Grande Dunes Resort Course and River Hills Golf Club.
● The sprawling bunkers on holes 1, 2, 3, 4, 7, 8, 10, 12, 16 and 18 were replaced by smaller fairway bunkers, native areas and expanded fairways, enhancing the course’s playability for mid to high handicappers without reducing the challenge for more skilled players.
● In addition to the course work, Pawleys underwent a clubhouse renovation that included the building of a new deck that offers stunning views of the course’s 18th hole, and the opening of Palmetto Jacks, a new restaurant that caters to members and the public alike.
The MBAGCOA evaluates Golf Course of the Year nominees on four criteria: exceptional quality of the golf course, exceptional quality of the ownership and management, outstanding contribution to the community, and significant contribution to the game. By virtue of winning the award, Pawleys Plantation becomes a candidate for state and potentially national honors.
Pawleys Plantation succeeds Rivers Edge as the MBAGCOA Course of the Year. The National Golf Course Owners Association implemented the award in 1996 and the MBAGCOA has since nominated courses from the Myrtle Beach area.
Past recipients of the award include Rivers Edge Golf Club (2023), Tidewater Golf Club (2022), TPC Myrtle Beach (2019), Meadowlands Golf Club (2018), Man O’ War Golf Club (2017), Litchfield Country Club (2016), River Oaks (2015), Moorland Course at Legends Resort (2014), The Dye Club at Barefoot Resort (2013), The Dunes Golf & Beach Club (2012), Founders Club at Pawleys Island (2011), Sandpiper Bay (2010), Shaftesbury Glen (2009), Grande Dunes Resort Course (2008), Wachesaw Plantation East (2007), Burning Ridge (2006), TPC Myrtle Beach (2005), Indian Wells Golf Club (2004), World Tour Golf Links (2003), Wild Wing Plantation (2002), Blackmoor (2001), Tradition Golf Club (2000), Bay Tree Golf Plantation (1999), Arrowhead Country Club (1998) and King’s North at Myrtle Beach National (1996).
Six of the Myrtle Beach regional winners – Tidewater Burning Ridge, TPC Myrtle Beach, Wild Wing, Tradition, Arrowhead and King’s North – also won the state award. World Tour was named as the national “Golf Course of the Year.”
Founders Group International (FGI) is the foremost golf course owner-operator company in the Southeastern United States. Formed in 2014 through various purchases and the 2015 acquisition of National Golf Management, FGI owns and operates 21 golf courses (405 holes) in and around Myrtle Beach, S.C., America’s seaside golf capital.
Those courses include Pine Lakes Country Club, the “granddaddy” of Myrtle Beach area courses; TPC Myrtle Beach, host site of the 2019 NCAA Division I men’s golf regional and Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship; and Grande Dunes Resort Club, home of the Grande Dunes Golf Performance Center.
FGI administers [www.MBN.com]www.MBN.com, a leader in online tee time bookings, as well as package outlet Myrtle Beach Golf Trips. With the help of Golf Insider’s 100 percent player-generated course ranking system, thousands of golfers plan and assemble their ideal golf itineraries through FGI’s assets, including “top 100 caliber” courses Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club, King’s North at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club, and more than 80 other Myrtle Beach area courses.
Photo: Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club