And then, poof, it all seemed to vanish in a cloud of "progress" when the course closed last November in anticipation of a new housing development and a total rebuild of the layout. The developers pledged to keep a course on site, albeit a dramatically changed Pine Lakes, but local folks were skeptical, having watched in recent years as a dozen courses in the area closed permanently to accommodate housing. The threat of a course closure at Pine Lakes ended when the plans of Burroughs & Chapin, the local developers, were approved by the Myrtle Beach City Council. Those plans included a golf course.
Today, according to the Myrtle Beach Sun Times, plans to totally change the Pine Lakes course have been shelved, for the most part. Burroughs & Chapin, with advice from local and national preservationists, decided that the course's National Historic Registry status should be retained, and to do that, only minimal changes could be made to the course. To accommodate a main road into the new community, only holes 17 and 18 will be rerouted, moved to a wetlands area at the edge of the property, according to the Sun Times. That could afford some interesting finishing-hole challenges. Otherwise, Burroughs & Chapin have committed to rehabbing the course in its current configuration, and installing new saline-resistant grass on the greens; Pine Lakes's underground wells have a high salt content, and growing grass on the course's greens had been a perpetual challenge.
The Grandaddy's clubhouse is also getting a sprucing up. It and the course are expected to be ready in 2009.