Founders Club Named Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association Course of the Year
Founders Club was named 2011 Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association Course of the Year.
Myrtle Beach’s newest golf course wasted little time rising to the top of the leaderboard. Founders Club, a South Strand gem, has earned 2011 Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association Course of the Year honors. “To be selected the best among the abundance of golf courses in the Myrtle Beach area is a tremendous honor,” said Tommy Smothers, general manager of Classic Golf Group. “Founders Club has only been around for three years and it is always in impeccable condition, so this award is a testament to all of the hard work the staff there has done to earn this award.”
A Thomas Walker design, the beauty of Founders Club resides in the land’s uncommon elevation change and abundant, native sand.
Located on what used to be Sea Gull Golf Club, Walker bulldozed the old course – completely – and crafted a design that allows it to take a seat comfortably alongside its Pawleys Island neighbors.
From a visual perspective, Founders Club, which opened on Feb. 1, 2008, is defined by the waste bunkers that run alongside side practically every fairway, providing visual contrast when set against the lush, green fairways. But the waste bunkers provide more than aesthetics.
The bunkers also double as cart paths, meaning the only pavement on the course is around the greens and tee boxes. More importantly to golfers, the sand, combined with elevated fairways and outstanding drainage, means carts ride on the fairways 365 days a year.
The Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owner’s Association evaluates Golf Course of the Year nominees on four criteria: exceptional quality of the golf course, exceptional quality of the ownership and management, outstanding contribution to the community, and significant contribution to the game. By virtue of winning the Myrtle Beach Course of the Year award, Founders club becomes a candidate for state honors.
A Classic Golf Group course, Founders Club is a sponsor of the Grand Strand Adopt-A-Highway program and the Ocean Highway Beautification Project. The course’s 18th hole is visible from Highway 17 South and stretches 7,007 yards from the championship tees. The course hosts numerous charity events throughout the year and regularly donates complimentary vouchers for rounds to other charity golf events throughout the Myrtle Beach area.
The National Golf Course Owners Association implemented the award in 1996 and the MBAGCOA has since nominated courses from the Myrtle Beach area. Past recipients of the award include Sandpiper Bay (2010) Shaftesbury Glen (2009), Grande Dunes (2008), Wachesaw Plantation East (2007), Burning Ridge (2006), TPC of Myrtle Beach (2005), Indian Wells Golf Club (2004), World Tour Golf Links (2003), Wild Wing Plantation (2002), Blackmoor (2001), Tradition Golf Club (2000), Bay Tree Golf Plantation (1999), Arrowhead Country Club (1998) and Myrtle Beach National’s King’s North (1996). Five of the Myrtle Beach regional winners - Burning Ridge, TPC, Wild Wing, Tradition, Arrowhead and King’s North - also captured the state award. World Tour was named as the national “Golf Course of the Year.”
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