Pawleys Plantation Reopens After Dramatic Greens, Bunkers Restoration Project

The seeds for the renovation of Pawleys were planted during a trip Nicklaus made to the acclaimed course in 2018 to celebrate the 30th anniversary of its opening. The Golden Bear toured the layout, providing detailed notes on how to best update a design that has been among South Carolina’s most popular since its opening.

At the heart of Nicklaus’ vision was a layout that was more playable for average golfers without diminishing the challenge for more skilled players.

Over time, trees had encroached on the course, narrowing fairways corridors beyond the original intent, and the size of the greens complexes had shrunk dramatically. To create more room, Vincent and his team eliminated the sprawling bunkers that lined more than half of the layout’s holes, replacing them with additional fairway space and native areas, and removed trees when necessary to create optimum conditions.

“We followed Jack’s ideas from 2018 ,” said Vincent, who has worked alongside the golf legend for 15 years. “It was our intention to make the course more playable, to give players more options, and we have carried that out. I think everyone will be happy.”

While there is more fairway to find, the challenge on and around the greens is more substantial as the number of pinnable areas significantly increased, placing greater demands on the short game.

“Working with the Nicklaus Group and Troy Vincent, who has done a fantastic job, has been a pleasure,” Mays said. “I believe we have brought the vision Jack Nicklaus outlined in 2018 to life. I can’t wait for everyone to come out and see the new Pawleys Plantation.”

Highlights of the project include:

* 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 collar around every green was resurfaced with Tahoma 31, a hearty variety of bermudagrass that can withstand close mowing and is resistant to mutation.

* 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 is undergoing a clubhouse renovation that will include the building of a new deck, offering stunning views of the course’s 18th hole, and the opening of a new restaurant that will cater to members and the public alike. The restaurant and deck are expected to open in the coming weeks.

Widely regarded as one of the prettiest courses in South Carolina, Pawleys features six back nine holes that play along a tidal marsh, a stretch highlighted by the 13th hole, a devilish par 3 that plays to a peninsula green surrounded by water and buffeted by winds off the nearby Atlantic Ocean.

Founders Group International owns 21 Myrtle Beach golf courses, making it one of the largest management companies in the Southeast, and FGI has aggressively reinvested in its courses in recent years. FGI has undertaken significant capital improvement projects at Grande Dunes Resort Course, TPC Myrtle Beach, Pine Lakes, Aberdeen Country Club, River Hills, Tradition Club and the PineHills and Palmetto courses at Myrtlewood over the last four years.

With additional capital improvement projects on the horizon, FGI is reinforcing its commitment to providing golfers with the best golf vacation experience possible.

The “New” Pawleys Plantation, Hole by Hole

Pawleys Plantation General Manager Riley Kinlaw offers his thoughts on the biggest differences visiting golfers will now experience when they play the newly renovated Jack Nicklaus design, shared over a hole-by-hole comparison of “before” and “after” imagery.

Riley Kinlaw:

All the greens were redone. They were replaced with TifEagle (Bermudagrass), which was what we had before, which Mr. Nicklaus recommended putting back in. But the smoothness of them, the care of them, gaining 40,000 yards of square feet throughout the course, you have so many more pinnable areas.

Coming out and riding the course since we reopened on Sunday, how much cleaner the golf course looks! The tree removal was very smartly done. It really makes a lot of the live oaks that were already on the course and areas look to stand out so much more. The removal of the large expansive bunkers on the course, which when Mr. Nicklaus visited in 2018, said this would be one of the things he would definitely recommend moving. And then when Troy Vincent came back in from Nicklaus Design Group to start the process, getting those out, replace them with the new sandy waste areas that we have, you still have that visual impact.

And the bunkering that was put into place, it’s just very smart throughout the course. So holes like number 12, for example, where we had a large 200-yard bunker before, it’s now been replaced with three fairway bunkers up the right-hand side, and a greenside bunker. So you still have the visual look of it.

It is a little bit more playable for the masses, but still a great test for the scratch handicap. You didn’t really lose anything from the hardness of the course for the low handicapper, but you’ve increased the playability for the higher handicapper, and it’s just eye candy everywhere. It’s just visually stunning when you go out and ride through the golf course, and that’s what I’ve been very excited to see.

We get a lot of repeat customers out here. From people that have played it for many years as well, just to come back and they’re like, “Wow, this is the same Pawleys Plantation, but it’s just amazing the changes that were done, how beautiful it is!” The greens obviously is a big comment. The bunkering was all redone throughout the golf course, so every bunker was either renovated or replaced. It was all done with capillary concrete, new sand … so much more playable than it was before. So they did comment on the playability being that much better, the conditions being so much improved, but just the look of it all.

They said it doesn’t even look like the same place, even though it is, it’s just the beauty of it just is like, “Wow.” Yeah. “Wow” I think would be the great way to describe it!