The Lost Golf Courses of Myrtle Beach: Every Major Closure Since 2000
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The Lost Golf Courses of Myrtle Beach: Every Major Closure Since 2000
In 1986 the Myrtle Beach area had 38 golf courses. By 2011 it had more than 110, and the total number of rounds played in those two years was almost the same. Something had to give, and since 2000 it has: more than 20 courses and roughly 500 holes have been bulldozed, mostly for houses. River Oaks, which closed on November 30, 2025, is only the latest.
This is the full timeline, newest first, with the location, the architect, the opening and closing dates, and what sits on the land today. Every entry links to the original reporting. Where sources disagree we say so. If you played one of these courses on a trip years ago and want to know what happened to it, the answer is here.
Why Myrtle Beach Lost So Many Courses The Pattern
Two forces did the work. The first was oversupply. The building boom from 1985 to 2000 opened an average of three courses a year, and the demand never tripled to match. The second was land value. Most of the closures came in two waves that line up exactly with housing booms: 15 to 20 courses between 2004 and 2007, and a steady run from 2015 onward as homebuilders went looking for large tracts near the coast. A course that loses money in December, January and February for 15 straight years, as Heather Glen's operator put it, cannot compete with a developer's offer.
Most people in the local golf business will tell you the contraction made the destination healthier. The courses that remain are busier, better funded and better maintained than they were in 2010, and the renovations of the past few years at places like Beachwood, King's North and Wild Wing Avocet are the proof. How many are left depends on who is counting. The Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and Golf Digest still say more than 90. Golf Tourism Solutions, which runs the tee time network most courses book through, reported rounds on 64 public member courses in 2025. Add the handful of public courses outside that network, such as Whispering Pines and Beachwood, and the private clubs, and the honest total is in the 80s. That does not make it any less sad to drive past a subdivision where you once made a birdie.
Where They Were The Map
Notice the clusters. The north end around Little River and Calabash lost Bay Tree, Heather Glen, Farmstead, Marsh Harbour, Angels Trace and Carolina Shores. The Highway 501 corridor between Myrtle Beach and Conway lost Wild Wing, Burning Ridge West, Belle Terre, The Witch and River Oaks. The south end lost Deer Track, Wicked Stick and Indian Wells. In every case it was land close to the beach, or close to the fastest growing neighborhoods, that went first.
River Oaks: How a Closure Happens Now 2025
River Oaks is a good case study because it closed in two pieces, four years apart, and because the whole process played out in public. The club was never the property owner. A group of investors under the name River Oaks Golf Club LLC, including general manager Scott Taylor, leased the course from 2009 onward and built a reputation on low rates, charity events and a staff that stayed for a decade or more.
The Bear nine goes first Sept. 2021
The Bear nine, on the east side of River Oaks Drive, closed in September 2021 and was sold to developer Chris Manning for $3 million. It had been rezoned for single family homes in 2020. Manning sold it on to Mungo Homes for $9.5 million in February 2024 and is cutting 220 lots. Houses are going up now.
The other 18 are sold Feb. 2024
Manning paid $9.2 million for the 172 acres under the Fox and Otter nines. WMBF reported the sale on February 20, 2024, and the operators confirmed the course would stay open through 2025 while permits were secured for 370 lots.
A closing date, then a reprieve June to Oct. 2025
In June 2025 the club announced October 31 as the last day and promised to keep conditions up to the end. Taylor said four greens had just been resodded with Sunday ultradwarf bermuda: "I hate the comments that say we're going to cut corners because we're closing. That doesn't benefit us." In the fall the lease was extended by a month.
The last two weeks Nov. 2025
A final club championship on November 15 and 16, a farewell dinner at Angelo's Steak and Pasta for staff and regulars, and The Final Round Scramble on Thursday, November 20, which sold out within days of being announced. The course closed on Sunday, November 30, 2025, after 38 seasons.
River Oaks Drive is slated to be widened from two lanes to four, and the nearly 600 homes across the two tracts will join Waterway Plantation, Berkshire Forest, The Battery and the other neighborhoods already lining it. Manning, who has also owned Diamondback and the International Club, told On The Green he is "working hard in getting involved in more golf courses" and that redevelopment would be judged case by case. "There is obviously demand for lots and for land in Horry County, that's for sure."
The Full Timeline, Newest First 2025 Back to 2003
Twenty two closures, counted the way golfers count them: a facility that lost all of its holes, or a named course that disappeared from a multi course property. Partial losses that left a course standing, like the nine holes at Aberdeen Country Club and the nine at The Pearl in 2020, are noted at the end. Gator Hole in North Myrtle Beach, a Rees Jones course that became the Gator Hole shopping center, closed in 1999 and so misses this list by a year. Three smaller Brunswick County closures that On The Green Magazine counts, Ocean Harbour Golf Links in the early 2000s, Calabash Golf Links in 2010 and Brierwood Golf Club in 2017, are not given entries here.
River Oaks Golf Club, the Fox and Otter nines Closed Nov. 30, 2025
The most recent loss and the one our Golfmasters still get asked about. River Oaks was a 6,800 yard Gene Hamm design, one of the most affordable rounds in the market and for years host to as many charity tournaments as any course on the Strand. General manager Scott Taylor told WMBF the club played about 50,000 rounds a year. Chris Manning of Chris Manning Communities bought the remaining 18 holes in February 2024 and the operators' lease ran to the end of the 2025 season. The course held The Final Round Scramble on November 20, a farewell dinner at Angelo's, and a last club championship, then closed on November 30. On The Green Magazine photographed the carts being loaded onto trucks two days later. With the Bear nine development next door, the two tracts add up to nearly 600 homes on River Oaks Drive. On The Green Magazine, Dec. 2025 · On The Green Magazine, Sept. 2025 · WMBF News, June 2025
Carolina Shores Golf and Country Club Closed Nov. 2024
A 6,755 yard Tom Jackson layout cut through hardwoods and pines, and the centerpiece of the town that split from Calabash in 1998. Owner and operator Philippe Bureau said the course struggled through and after the pandemic as a small independent with no real estate to carry it. A residents' petition against rezoning passed 1,000 signatures. The town planning board voted against the rezoning in January 2026 and the board of commissioners denied it on February 9, 2026, but reporting since then says the property is still headed for a residential sale. Owner Philippe Bureau told On The Green he has a letter of intent with Ryan Homes for 106 houses on one acre lots, which the current zoning allows by right, and on March 8, 2026 the development company Lune De La Maison LLC sued the town to overturn the denial. On The Green Magazine, Nov. 2024 · WMBF News, Feb. 2026 · WECT, March 2026
The Witch Golf Links Closed Nov. 21, 2021
The front nine wandered through a cypress swamp on more than 4,000 feet of wooden bridges. The back nine sat in full view of the Highway 544 corridor, which has seen some of the heaviest building on the Strand. Owner Claude Pardue cited flooding problems as part of the reason for selling. A sibling of the Wizard and Man O'War, which both remain open. GolfPass, 2021 · WMBF News, Aug. 2020
Farmstead Golf Links Closed Oct. 31, 2021
Famous for the only par 6 in the area, a 767 yard 18th that started in South Carolina and finished in North Carolina. The layout crossed the state line four times. Owner W.J. McLamb sold the land to a developer in 2021. The family's Meadowlands course next door is still open. GolfPass, 2021 · On The Green Magazine, Nov. 2024
River Oaks Golf Club, the Bear nine Closed Sept. 2021
The first piece of River Oaks to go. Chris Manning bought the nine for $3 million and sold it to Mungo Homes for $9.5 million in February 2024. The property was rezoned for single family homes in 2020 and the first phase broke ground in 2024. On The Green Magazine, Sept. 2025 · Mungo Homes, Feb. 2024
Indian Wells Golf Club Closed Dec. 2019
A 6,624 yard par 72 with water on 16 holes and a big sign on Highway 17 advertising morning and afternoon rates. Founders Group International closed it while it was still profitable to clear the way for housing on the 150 acre property. Horry County's planning commission approved a rezoning in April 2019, county council deferred it indefinitely after public backlash, and five years on the Sun News found the cart paths crumbling and the holes still visible from the air. The Sun News, 2024 · WMBF News, March 2021
Possum Trot Golf Club Closed Oct. 31, 2019
One of the original 20 or so courses on the Strand. The name came from a Golf Digest readers' contest in 1968 and the logo was a possum with a golf bag over its shoulder. The 6,966 yard par 72 was run by The Glens Group under a long term lease that the owning families chose not to renew. North Myrtle Beach annexed the property in 2020 and Pulte began building the Del Webb community in 2021. Myrtle Beach Golf Authority, 2019 · The Post and Courier, Feb. 2021 · Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, 2025
Heather Glen Golf Links Closed 2017
Twenty seven holes meant to echo British heathland golf, with peak rates over $100 and a pot bunker on the fourth of the White Course that regulars called the Devil's Mistress. The operator said the course had lost money every December, January and February for 15 years. Horry County approved the rezoning and D.R. Horton bought the land. GolfPass, 2021 · Club and Resort Business · Thomas and Hutton project update
Black Bear Golf Club Closed 2016
Opened as Myrtle West and renamed Black Bear, a woodsy Tom Jackson design with about 20 finger lakes. The club had just regrassed greens lost to winterkill when it closed and the property was listed for sale. Many of its regulars moved to River Hills in Little River. Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, 2020
Wicked Stick Golf Links Closed Sept. 15, 2015
The only John Daly signature course on the East Coast, and the driving range nets along the bypass outlived the course by years. The owners contracted with a homebuilder, Horry County Council passed the rezoning on April 7, 2015, and the closing announcement went on the course website the next day. Myrtle Beach Herald, April 2015 · GolfPass, 2021
Waterway Hills Golf Club Closed June 2015
The only course in America you reached by gondola. Golfers parked on Highway 17 and rode a cable car over the Waterway to the clubhouse and 27 holes by Robert Trent Jones Sr., one of only two Jones courses on the Strand with the Dunes Club. LStar intended to run it for another year, but when National Golf Management sold its courses to Founders Group there was nobody left to operate it. Myrtle Beach Herald, June 2015 · GolfPass, 2021
Angels Trace Golf Links Closed 2006
Thirty six holes lost at once in Brunswick County. The land was folded into Ocean Ridge Plantation's plans for a fifth course, but only nine holes were ever designed and cleared. On The Green Magazine, Nov. 2024
Deer Track Golf Resort, North and South Closed 2006
Thirty six holes on the south end that went in the same wave as Bay Tree and the Wild Wing courses. GolfPass, 2015 · North Myrtle Beach Golf blog, 2010
Bay Tree Golf Plantation, Gold, Green and Silver Closed 2006
The Gold Course hosted the 1977 LPGA Championship, won by Chako Higuchi with Pat Bradley and Judy Rankin three back, and it was the home of a lot of high stakes money games. All three courses shut together for housing, then the recession hit and the land sat for more than a decade. Sports Illustrated photographed an employee driving a cart across a green to collect the flags on the last day. GolfPass, 2021 · Myrtle Beach Herald, 2015 · Myrtle Beach Golf Trips
Wild Wing Plantation, Wood Stork, Falcon and half of Hummingbird Closed 2005 to 2007
Wild Wing went from 72 holes to 27. The Falcon was classic 1990s Rees Jones with heavy mounding and a 500 yard sculpted waste area between two holes that showed up in magazine spreads. Avocet survived and reopened on September 19, 2026 after an extensive renovation of the course and clubhouse overseen by its original architect, Jeff Brauer. GolfPass, 2021 · GolfPass, 2015
Ocean Isle Beach Golf Course Closed 2005
Listed by On The Green Magazine among the Brunswick County losses of the past 23 years. On The Green Magazine, Nov. 2024
Winyah Bay Golf Club Closed 2005
The southernmost course anyone counted as part of the Grand Strand, a sporty 6,000 yarder overlooking wetlands. GolfPass, 2021
Burning Ridge West Closed 2005
Burning Ridge was 36 holes until the West course went for housing in the 2005 wave. The surviving course is still on our tee sheet. North Myrtle Beach Golf blog, 2010
Raccoon Run Golf Club Closed 2005
Named for the area's nocturnal scavengers and closed to make room for the people moving to the Strand. Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, 2025
Marsh Harbour Golf Links Closed 2005
The course locals most often say they would play one more time. Hundreds of yards of marsh frontage, no houses, and holes in both Carolinas. GolfPass noted in 2021 that nothing had been built on the land, and that the right architect could still make something of it. GolfPass, 2021 · GolfPass, 2015 · Myrtle Beach Golf Trips
Belle Terre Golf Club Closed 2005
The rare Strand course lost to a road rather than a subdivision. Highway 31 took the land. GolfPass, June 2025 · Myrtle Beach Golf Trips
Robbers Roost Golf Club Closed 2003
Opened months apart from Possum Trot in 1968, with pine lined fairways and the ocean breeze. The location that made it pleasant to play made the land worth far more than the golf. Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, 2025
Dates in this kind of history are slippery because a course often stops selling tee times months before the paperwork closes. Wild Wing's three closures are reported as 2005, 2006 and 2007 by different outlets. Heather Glen is 2017 in GolfPass and 2018 in a Myrtle Beach Golf Trips retrospective; we used 2017, which matches the industry trade reporting at the time. River Oaks opened in 1987 according to On The Green Magazine's detailed account and 1988 according to a GolfPass news roundup; we used 1987. Waterway Hills is credited to Robert Trent Jones Sr. by the Myrtle Beach Herald and GolfPass, and to Rees Jones in one marketing retrospective; the Jones Sr. attribution is the better documented one. Black Bear's opening year is 1989 in one retrospective and 1990 in course directories. Carolina Shores' acreage is given as 156 in 2024 and 149.6 in 2026 reporting. Belle Terre is sometimes listed as closing in 2004, but the Sun News reported the executive course losing nine holes to Highway 31 and the whole property closing in 2005, so we use 2005. Architects and opening years for Angels Trace, Deer Track, Burning Ridge West and the Wild Wing courses come from course directories that agree with one another. Where we could not confirm an architect or opening year anywhere, the entry says so rather than guessing.
Close Calls and Partial Losses Still Standing
Not every course that closed stayed closed, and not every property lost everything.
If You Miss One of These, Play This Planning
Our Golfmasters hear this every week: "We used to play Possum Trot every trip." Here is where we send those groups, based on what the old course did well.
Play the Ones That Are Left
Send your dates and group size. A Golfmaster will build a lineup from the courses still standing, priced for your group and ready to book, usually the same day.
Sources Original Reporting
River Oaks: On The Green Magazine, "Final farewells have been given to River Oaks Golf Club, which closed on Nov. 30" (Dec. 2025); On The Green Magazine, "Myrtle Beach market to lose another golf course to redevelopment this fall" (2025); WMBF News, "Popular Grand Strand golf course announces official closing date" (June 13, 2025); WMBF News, "River Oaks Golf Club property sold but will remain open through 2025" (Feb. 20, 2024); Mungo Homes, "Mungo Homes Purchases Former Golf Course" (Feb. 22, 2024); GolfPass news and notes (June 2025). Carolina Shores: On The Green Magazine (Nov. 2024); WMBF News (Feb. 16, 2026); WECT (March 13, 2026). The Witch, Farmstead, Heather Glen, Indian Wells, Possum Trot, Bay Tree, Marsh Harbour, Waterway Hills, Wicked Stick, Wild Wing Falcon, Winyah Bay: Tim Gavrich, "The 12 most notable closed golf courses in Myrtle Beach," GolfPass (2021). Indian Wells: The Sun News, "A Garden City golf club has been closed since 2019. Will it be re-developed?" (2024); WMBF News (March 18, 2021). The Witch: WMBF News, "Back nine at The Witch Golf Links proposed to become housing development" (Aug. 28, 2020). Possum Trot: Myrtle Beach Golf Authority (2019); The Post and Courier (Feb. 2021). Heather Glen: Club and Resort Business; Thomas and Hutton project update. Waterway Hills: Myrtle Beach Herald, "Waterway Hills Golf Club near Myrtle Beach closing at end of June" (June 2015). Wicked Stick: Myrtle Beach Herald, "Wicked Stick Golf Links near Myrtle Beach closing Sept. 15" (April 2015). Bay Tree: Myrtle Beach Herald, "Developer buys former Bay Tree Golf Club in Little River for $9.25 million" (2015). The 2005 to 2007 wave: GolfPass, "Gone, daddy, gone" (2015); North Myrtle Beach Golf, "Myrtle Beach golf courses that have been closed" (Dec. 2010); Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, "Robbers, Raccoons, and Gators" (2025); Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, "Five Myrtle Beach Golf Courses We'd Like to Play One More Time"; Myrtle Beach Golf Trips, "Miss A Particular Closed Myrtle Beach Golf Course? Try These Substitutes" (2020). Photographs are credited in their captions to Golf Tourism Solutions, David Williams, Alan Blondin of On The Green Magazine and Myrtle Beach Golf Trips. Information current as of October 2026.
