Avid golfers know that there are a few areas in the country that are truly known as vacation destinations: Alabama with its Robert Trent Jones Trail, Myrtle Beach, Hilton Head, and Scottsdale—to name a few. Now, one local developer wants America’s golfers to discover Brunswick County.
Without a doubt, Brunswick County is already a golf haven. It boasts more than 30 championship courses, many offering picturesque views of marshes or the Intracoastal Waterway. The golf boom on this side of the Carolina state line started in the 1980s as overflow from the Myrtle Beach explosion. Planned developments, complete with golf courses, began to emerge in Calabash, Ocean Isle, and Sunset Beach.
One of North Carolina’s earliest golf communities was Sea Trail in Sunset Beach, which alone features three separate 18-hole golf courses. Robert Hill, co-owner of Riptide Builders, believes that with renovations and repairs, these courses would be the perfect setting for a golf resort that could rival Pinehurst.
This summer, Hill received approval from the Sunset Beach town hall for a master development plan spanning 22 tracts, totaling about 130 acres. With the approval, Hill, alongside a group of investors, will acquire the Maples, Byrd, and Jones golf courses, along with their clubhouses. Alongside the golf courses, the master development plan will include short-term rental facilities.
Hill’s plans encompass the construction of a 450-unit condo development for out-of-town golfers to rent, as well as a 150-room hotel. Other projects comprise a driving range, a golf practice facility featuring Top Tracer technology, restaurants, entertainment venues, and a golf cart rental facility.
Work is set to commence after the sale of the golf courses concludes in the fall. The project is expected to be completed by 2025.