Myrtlewood Golf Club in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, has closed its Palmetto course for renovation work being overseen by Dan Schlegel.

Golf operator Founders Group International, which manages 22 courses in the area, hired Schlegel’s firm to restore the greens to their original sizes and shapes and replace the grass with new Sunday ultradwarf bermuda. Bunkers will also be reshaped, with new sand added.

FGI’s management team found drawings from Edmund Ault, the original designer of the course. Schlegel previously worked for his firm – Ault, Clark & Associates – and was part of a team that completed two renovation projects on the Palmetto course in the 1990s.

Using the drawings as a guide, Schlegel plans to expand the greens by an average of 28 per cent, increasing pinnable areas and making it a much more dynamic design.

“Golf courses go through a lot of changes over the years – it’s a slow process, almost imperceptible at times, but it was time for the Palmetto course upgrades,” said Schlegel. “The Palmetto course’s design is very strong, the routing is very good, and it’s a playable layout. We don’t want to reinvent the wheel. We want to make sure everything gets rebuilt, reshaped, re-edged and put back to perfect condition.”

The course closed this week and is scheduled to reopen at the start of September.

The Palmetto course is the sixth in FGI’s portfolio to have received significant capital investment in the past two years. Myrtlewood’s PineHills course – originally designed by Arthur Hill in 1966 – was renovated in 2018.

“The Palmetto course has a fantastic layout and golfers love it, so when we started looking at all of our facilities, it was one we immediately targeted for renovation,” said Steve Mays, president of Founders Group International. “This renovation will significantly enhance the course visually and from a playability perspective. When golfers return to Myrtlewood to play the Palmetto course, they are going to enjoy a dynamic and innovative design we are excited to showcase.”