Pine Lakes Country Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is undergoing a significant greens and bunkers renovation, and the course should reopen in mid-July.
The first course in Myrtle Beach and known as the “Granddaddy,” Pine Lakes originally was designed by Robert White – the first president of the PGA of America – and opened in 1927. It has since undergone several renovations, including significant work in 2009 that introduced two new holes.
Craig Schreiner is leading the current renovation. Greens will be covered with new Sunday Bermuda grass, and the putting surfaces are being restored to their original sizes, increasing the total size of the greens 20 percent from 103,000 square feet to 124,000.
All the bunkers are being renovated to improve drainage and playability, with an eye on returning to the appearance originally intended by White. Most of the bunkers will be smaller, and their higher faces are being replaced by grass that rolls more naturally into the sand.
Pine Lakes is owned and operated by Founders Group International, which has 21 courses in and around Myrtle Beach.
“The restoration of Pine Lakes is going well,” Steve Mays, president of Founders Group International, said in a media release detailing the current work. “We’ve enjoyed near perfect weather, and the bunker project has been seamless. The more work we do on the bunkers, the more we like them. We can’t wait to welcome golfers back to the Granddaddy.”
Check out photos of several of Pine Lakes’ holes below, along with shots of the work in progress for comparison. The new grass on the greens and around some of the bunkers in the “after” photos is still growing in.