Just heard from multiple reliable sources that Pine Lakes is going private. Anyone else hear any rumblings on this? I'd be surprised if a course with no practice range can be successful as a full private facility.
I have not heard anything. Founders owns it and might make more $$
as a package course, unless they are certain to fill it with members.
Good point about no range. Maybe FGI would sell it to the owners of
Grande Dunes Members or other buyer. FGI could make PL private with
outside package play until membership fills.
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Drove around the neighborhoods surrounding Pine Lakes a few weeks ago.
Some nice homes to the south of the course
"King Of The Mid-tiers"
While I do think the MB area could probably use another private facility with the population growth, I couldn't imagine joining the current version of Pine Lakes over any of the other private options. It's nowhere near as good as it was before they had to build new holes and then butchered the bunkers.
If they're actually considering this, I bet they regret that bunker renovation. The whole goal was to make the bunkers easier/less interesting for public/package play; it's not something most private courses would have considered doing.
So I've heard more rumors that Pine Lakes, Pawleys Plantation and potentially Grande Dunes resort courses will go semi-private. What "semi-private" means is anyone's guess but that's what I've heard from multiple independent sources.
Semi-private usually means very little in terms of what the average golfer is going to experience there -- it just means they have members. Tidewater is semi-private, for example, but is still fully open for public tee times.
That said, the Dunes Club also calls themselves semi-private, even though I'd classify them as a private club. They obviously do offer some non-member access, but it's very restricted. It's not like you can just go to their website and book a tee time like you can for the vast majority of semi-private clubs.
I'd be very surprised if Pine Lakes etc. weren't going to be more on the Tidewater side of semi-private than the Dunes Club side, though.
My guess is if this does happen, there will be little to no noticeable change in terms of public play.
So I've heard more rumors that Pine Lakes, Pawleys Plantation and potentially Grande Dunes resort courses will go semi-private. What "semi-private" means is anyone's guess but that's what I've heard from multiple independent sources.
There might be a demand for that business model of members + package players.
Locals are complaining about enough tee times, so some might rather join, if the cost isn't too
much higher than the Prime Times card.
Maybe FGI wants to try an alternative before dynamic rates chase away too many package players.
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