Wild Dunes Resort announced its two Tom Fazio-designed golf courses will undergo $8 million of upgrades and enhancements in 2024. Rebuilding and expanding greens and tees and improving the irrigation systems are among the projects scheduled for the courses located on the Isle of Palms near Charleston, South Carolina. Work is set to begin March 2024, with completion currently set for October 2024.

The resort and its partners have invested more than $150 million in property renovations since 2021, with the new signature hotel, The Sweetgrass Inn. The resort also has added five new pickleball courts.

“We couldn’t be more excited about the continued growth and investment in the resort,” Wild Dunes managing director Tom Nolan said. “After years of continued improvements to the property with our guests and members in mind, enhancing our overall golf product was the natural next step. We’re looking forward to delivering this elevated offering through both the Harbor Course – Tom Fazio’s original South Carolina gem – along with the Links Course, creating an exceptional coastal championship golf experience.”

After engaging with world-class consultants, researching golf trends and surveying The Golf Club at Wild Dunes membership, Wild Dunes established an enhancement plan including:

The Harbor Course

The Harbor Course has been a centerpiece of Wild Dunes for more than 40 years. Beginning in spring 2024, the greens will be rebuilt and expanded to meet the modern standards of the game to challenge and excite every level of golfer. Tees will be rebuilt and leveled, and in some cases, expanded while the irrigation systems will be replaced with improved turf conditions and a design that’s more efficient in water use. Greenside and fairway bunkers will be restored. Some bunkers will be repositioned to enhance the design features of certain holes. Multiple golf cart bridges will also be restored over the next 12 months, some of which have already been completed.

The Links Course

The resort teams are currently evaluating ways in which the Links Course’s 18th hole, which has been impacted by the threat of erosion and washout. Various options are being considered to improve play.

“Upon the completion of the Harbor Course restoration, golfers that are familiar with the course will experience newly designed putting surfaces that are sure to test their putting skills, smooth upgraded golf cart paths and several new strategically placed bunkers intended to complement the current hole designs,” director of golf Jeff Minton said. “For those who have not experienced golf at Wild Dunes, from the moment you step foot on property and are greeted by our friendly team, you will know you are somewhere special.”

The project demonstrates the ongoing commitment from the resort and its ownership company, Lowe and Dart, to further develop the Wild Dunes property, as well as its offerings, amenities and overall experience for visitors and locals.

“Lowe and Dart are incredibly grateful to be a part of the Wild Dunes Resort community, and we intend to continue to be part of what makes Isle of Palms great today, tomorrow, and for years to come,” said Terri A. Haack, senior vice president of Lowe, on behalf of resort ownership. “This major investment demonstrates our commitment to preserving both of our golf courses for the recreation and open space that all members of the Wild Dunes community treasure."

An Isle of Palms vacation getaway is undertaking a multimillion-dollar renovation of its two 18-hole golf layouts, adding to a recent string of investments in the seaside property.

Wild Dunes Resort announced this week it will spend $8 million on the upgrades starting in March.

Only the 37-year-old Harbor Course will need to be closed during the project, which will mark the first major tee-to-green renovation for the 18-hole property. It’s expected to reopen in October 2024.

Jeff Minton, director of golf at Wild Dunes, said players can expect to see a revamped Harbor Course next fall, with newly designed putting surfaces, upgraded cart paths and bridges and new bunkers.

Also, he said, the existing irrigation system will be replaced to improve turf conditions and water-use efficiency.

Both of the courses, which are open to the public, were designed by noted architect Tom Fazio, whose staff was tapped to help with the latest project.

The Harbor layout will largely remain the same, with the exception of adding some features.

The work on the Links Course, which was opened in 1979 and was renovated in 2015, will focus on the exposed oceanfront 18th hole, which has been affected by erosion and washout.

Minton said the closing stretch is “at the mercy of Mother Nature” so designers are looking how it can be reconstructed.

Wild Dunes has been owned for years by Lowe, a Los Angeles real estate investment firm. Dallas-based Dart Interests, a family-owned company, bought a stake in the 1,600-acre property in 2018.

Together, their joint venture has invested more than $150 million into the golf and tennis getaway over the past few years, including the completion of the 153-room Sweetgrass Inn and conference center. Earlier this year, Wild Dunes added five pickleball courts in response to the sport’s fast-growing popularity.

SC resorts and hotels are picking up pickleball as new business priority resorts and hotels are picking up pickleball as new business priority. “After years of continued improvements to the property with our guests and members in mind, enhancing our overall golf product was the natural next step,” said Tom Nolan, managing director.

The game is a major economic driver for the tourism industry, especially along the coast from the Grand Strand to Hilton Head Island. Its financial impact based on spending both on and off the fairways was estimated at $3.3 billion in a 2021 economic analysis.

The state continues to invest heavily to promote South Carolina as a premier golf destination.

Minton said the rise of Topgolf and other simulator venues has helped boost demand by introducing the swing basics to more potential participants.

“We’ve seen more new players who are sticking with the game, and that’s a great thing for the sport long term,” he said. “The regulars are always going to come back and play, but it’s great to see more people seeing that golf is something anyone at any skill level can enjoy.”

(https://www.postandcourier.com/business/wild-dunes-resort-golf-south-carolina-isle-of-palms-tourism/article_124c58de-74d3-11ee-9605-5b9b87dd4727.html)

The Lowcountry Tennis Association (LCTA) has been named South Carolina’s Community Tennis Association (CTA) of the Year. The CTA of the Year award is given each year by the U.S. Tennis Association in South Carolina (USTA SC).

USTA SC will present the award to LCTA at its 2023 Annual Meeting Nov. 17-19, at the Wild Dunes Tennis Center on the Isle of Palms.

“We are proud of the work our CTAs do to grow the game of tennis across the state,” said Nan Smith, President of the USTA SC board. “We are particularly proud of the work our Lowcountry Tennis Association has done this year as one of the largest CTAs in a fast-growing community.”

LCTA runs the fourth largest local adult tennis league program in the country, behind only Atlanta, Denver and Dallas. Also, LCTA is the second largest adult league in the USTA Southern Section. USTA SC is one of nine states included in the USTA’s Southern Section.

LCTA was chosen for several additional reasons, including the following:

• 4,600 active adult players in the Charleston area.

• 16,308 player registrations in 2023, thus far.

• LCTA hosts the annual Peiffer Cup which determines the Lowcountry tennis champions in all flights. It is named after Bob Peiffer, who pioneered the original LCTA. More than 500 players participated in 2022 and more than 50 teams will participate in 2023.

• The LCTA board established a facility enhancement committee which will allocate more than $30,000 in grant funding, in 2024, to area tennis facilities and youth organizations.

• LCTA held a robust grass roots advocacy campaign in 2023, focused on local municipalities and facilities. The ongoing goal is to increase tennis court capacity and to improve tennis court conditions.

• LCTA hosts an annual social event at the Credit One Charleston Open, inviting tennis leaders and local elected officials to showcase the value of tennis in the community.

• LCTA established the annual Dee Mack Scholarship Award in honor of its long-time adult league coordinator.

“The Lowcountry Tennis Association is excited to accept the USTA South Carolina CTA of the Year Award for 2023,” said Bill Ennis, President of the LCTA Board of Directors. “I want to congratulate our board, outstanding league leaders, coordinators, facility managers and the thousands of Lowcountry tennis captains and players who represent LCTA with dedication and sportsmanship in creating such a high-quality tennis environment.”

Operation Gratitude joins Volunteers from the greater Charleston area to thank our nation's veterans and build and deliver Battalion Buddy bears for children of deployed military service members. The organization and its local Volunteers will stuff 250 Battalion Buddies and assemble 200 Veteran Care Packages on December 9^th, 2023 at Wild Dunes Resort, Tides Ballroom – Isle of Palms, SC from 1:00 pm-4:00 pm ET. A letter writing station will be set up for Volunteers to jot a note of appreciation to be included in the organization’s Care Packages. The Care Packages and Battalion Buddies will be delivered in time for Christmas to local Veterans and Military Children with a Deployed Parent. Operation Gratitude thanks Wild Dunes Resort for hosting this event.

Operation Gratitude Battalion Buddy bears are lovingly hand-stuffed by Volunteers nationwide and provided to deploying service members to gift to their children. The cuddly Battalion Buddies wear tags that say “I’m your Battalion Buddy and I’m here to keep you company while your mom or dad is away. I’m so excited to join your family!” These special bears are a reminder to our country’s tiniest heroes that a grateful nation stands with them as they experience the challenges of having a parent deployed or absent for an extended period.

Millions of Americans are Veterans of the Armed Forces. Making up just 7% of our country’s population, these brave men and women know what it is to sacrifice the comforts of home and years of their lives in service to our nation. Sadly, many rarely, or sometimes never hear thank you. An Operation Gratitude Care Package is an opportunity to thank these individuals for their service and remind them that a grateful nation remembers and appreciates them.

Operation Gratitude Care Packages contain snacks, personal care and hygiene products, and handmade items, but the most cherished item in the organization’s Care Package are the handwritten letters from grateful Americans nationwide. It's part of Operation Gratitude's overarching mission to express deep appreciation for those who have stepped forward to serve and sacrificed on our behalf.

How to get involved. The shift is December 9^th, 2023 1:00pm-4:00pm ET. The assembly will kick off with the national anthem and then the work begins!

Date: December 9^th,2023

Volunteer Time: 1:00pm-4:00pm ET

Location: Wild Dunes Resort, Tides Ballroom – Isle of Palms, SC

About Operation Gratitude

Operation Gratitude is a nationwide nonprofit whose mission is to lift spirits, say Thank You to our Military and First Responder communities, and honor their service by creating opportunities for all Americans to express their gratitude through hands-on volunteerism. In March 2003, Operation Gratitude sent its first four care packages to deployed service members in Iraq. Since its inception, the organization has delivered nearly 4 million Care Packages to Deployed Troops, Recruit Graduates, Veterans, Military Families, and First Responders. The Volunteers of Operation Gratitude are a generous and spirited grassroots network of Americans joined in common cause to say “Thank You” to all who serve our great nation. For more information, visit OperationGratitude.com or follow us on social media.

State legislators and a beach advocacy group are proposing a permanent beach renourishment fund that would rake in $10 million each year and be controlled by the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

Maintaining South Carolina’s shoreline, advocates and legislators say, is vital to the economic health of the state’s tourism industry. It also provides resilience during hurricanes, reducing flooding and other damage.

Carving out a “predictable source of income” would enhance long-term planning for battling coastal erosion, Sen. Tom Davis, R-Beaufort, said. The plan is included in a bill to permanently fund renourishment.

“The only difference here is instead of every year having to go in and argue for a beach renourishment appropriation, that’d it be almost on automatic pilot,” Davis said.

Since Hurricane Hugo hit in 1989, more than 40 beach renourishment projects have been launched in the state, costing federal and state taxpayers over $300 million, according to The State Media Co. reporting.

Currently, beach preservation funds reside under the S.C. Department of Health and Environmental Control’s Office of Coastal Resource Management. But for many years, the efforts have not been fully funded, said Nicole Elko, executive director of South Carolina Beach Advocates, the group pushing for the bill.

PRT received non-reoccurring funds for beach management between 2016 and 2018, which were used to fund projects through 2020, said Justin Hancock, the department’s recreation, grants and policy director.

If passed, the bill would set aside 25% of revenue from the already-existing state admissions tax for a state beach renourishment trust fund. The 5% tax is assessed on most places of amusement that charge for admission. Currently, 26% of the tax goes to the S.C. Film Commission and the remainder goes into the state’s general fund, Hancock said.

Setting aside a quarter of the revenue would raise roughly $10 million annually, Elko said. The DHEC fund would be transferred to the PRT, which would be charged with doling out the money.

“When the tourists are coming to the beaches, they’re spending admission taxes, they’re going golfing, they’re going to ride the SkyWheel at Myrtle Beach,” Elko said.

Simply put, the admissions tax is a type of user fee.

Vying for renourishment, local governments would have to submit a grant request to the PRT for renourishment funds. Requests would be ranked, taking into account aspects such as the beach’s erosion rate and how many people use it, Davis said. If granted, local governments would need to make a dollar-to-dollar match with the state funds.

As the bill is written now, the preservation funds could not be used for beaches with private access, Hancock said.

While South Carolina beaches are technically state-owned, a handful of beaches do not have public access to the seashore. That means unless people could reach the beach via a watercraft, they would need to make it through a set of gates or through private property.

Historically, federal renourishment funds cannot be applied when there is no public access. Communities such as Harbor Island in Beaufort County and Debordieu in Georgetown County have suffered drastic shoreline erosion but have not been able to use public renourishment funding. Debordieu property owners have spent millions of dollars on private renourishment, including one project last year.

While the legislation’s language is not entirely fleshed out, Elko said the intent is to use the money for the state’s publicly accessible beaches. Davis agreed with Elko about the purpose of the renourishment fund.

Hancock said private-access beaches would not qualify for the fund — only beaches that provide full and complete public access fit the bill. If it’s behind a gate, it’s not eligible.

For example, the Isle of Palms’ county park, which includes a beach, would qualify. But the Wild Dunes area, an oceanfront resort in the city, wouldn’t qualify, because its lack of full and complete access.

“There’s lots of boxes to check,” Hancock said about the fund.

Part of the requirements would include the project being permitted by OCRM and the local government having the funds to meet the dollar-to-dollar match, he said.

Davis said he does not believe the bill allows for funds to be used to remove hazardous structures on the state’s shorelines. In December, The Island Packet reported on the legal wrangling over three abandoned Harbor Island homes that sit near the ocean at high tide.

Elko said because dilapidated structures can a pose risk to the public access beaches, amending the bill to pay for removing structures is “certainly on the table.”

On Wednesday, the bill for the proposed beach preservation fund passed out in the Senate Fish, Game & Forestry Committee.

This story was originally published February 16, 2023, 5:00 AM.