Architect Dan Schlegel Pleased With Progress Of Renovation Project At Myrtlewood Golf Club’s Palmetto Course
Popular Layout Is On Schedule To Reopen Labor Day Weekend
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — Myrtlewood Golf Club’s Palmetto Course is undergoing a summer renovation, including the installation of new greens and a comprehensive bunker refurbishment project, and the popular layout is on schedule for its much-anticipated reopening on Labor Day weekend.
The course is installing new Sunday Bermudagrass grass greens and the putting surfaces are being restored to their original dimensions, which will allow the course to pick up an additional 28,000 square feet of green space.
“There’s going to be a lot more pin positions,” said Dan Schlegel, owner of Schlegel Golf Design. “A lot of the existing contours that were in the ground that got pushed outside of the green envelope are now going to be back into play. With that expansion, it’ll add a lot more variety on approach shots.”
Myrtle Beach’s summer weather has provided an ideal incubator for the Sunday Bermudagrass, which will provide a truer roll and allow the greens to be mowed at a lower height.
While the greens are growing at an accelerated pace, Schlegel’s team is overseeing the overhaul of every bunker on the course.
Over time, the Palmetto Course’s bunkers had expanded and the sand lines were lost to the point where the majority of the sand traps were identical in shape. That will change as every bunker is being redefined, helping create a new look for the course.
“We’re taking some bunkers out, and we’re adding a couple bunkers,” Schlegel said on a recent visit. “Some of the fairway bunkers, we’re going to let them jut into the line of play a little bit more, put them on a little bit more on angle, and change elevations slightly. Going forward, when you’re hitting a shot, you might now see fairway beyond (the sand) and want to take a gamble to carry that bunker.”
For Schlegel, who started his career working under Edmund Alt, the Palmetto Course’s original architect, the project is a labor of love.
“I love it,” Schlegel said of being back at Myrtlewood, where he assisted on a mid-1990s renovation project. “Being in Myrtle Beach is awesome.”
The Palmetto Course closed June 24 and is slated to reopen Sunday, September 1.
Myrtlewood Golf Club is a 36-hole facility owned by Founders Group International, the Myrtle Beach area’s largest golf course ownership group. The Palmetto’s sister course, PineHills, underwent a similar project in 2018 that has been met by rave reviews.
For more information, go to www.MyrtlewoodGolf.com.
About Founders Group International
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 22 golf courses (423 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, 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.
More information about Founders Group International is available at www.foundersgroupinternational.com, www.mbn.com or MyrtleBeachGolfTrips.com
Media Contact:
Chris King
Kingfish Communications
843-685-1364
cking@kingfishcommunications.com
