Since its opening in 1985, the Harbor Golf Course at Wild Dunes has received a lot of kudos: challenging design, beautiful views of marshes and lagoons and varied play and strategy to test the skills of even the most avid golfer. Now, this Tom Fazio-designed course is getting a more than $8 million makeover, with the intention of not only maintaining its top level of play, but to keep the course from eventually falling to growing floodwaters and storms.
“This is the first renovation on this big of a scale since the 1985 opening,” said Terri Haack, managing director for Wild Dunes Resort. “Renovation will happen to varying degrees on all 18 holes.”
The scope of work, which began March 3, will include rebuilding and enlarging greens and tee complexes, renovating cart paths and a new irrigation system to allow for more efficient golf course watering, leading to water conservation.
“Work is scheduled to be completed at the end of October 2025,” Haack said. “Holes 9 and 10 that parallel the Intracoastal Waterway will be raised in elevation to assist in seasonal tidal flooding.”As flooding has become an ongoing issue across the island, the City of Isle of Palms is seeking to enter into an agreement with Wild Dunes to earmark $600,000 to incorporate flood protection work into the course renovations.
This desired arrangement came on the heels of the city’s intention to implement a stormwater resiliency project that includes the construction of a flood barrier elevated to 6 feet across central portions of the island – later upgraded to 7 feet after a December 2023 storm. However, this potential arrangement has stalled due to a legal review of how the money would flow from the city to Wild Dunes to the contractor.
“That legal review put the ownership in an uneasy position,” said City Administrator Douglas Kerr during the March 11 IOP City Council workshop. “Their ownership feel like if it’s their contractor and their property, it’s going to be seen as their project – and that there is additional liability that they’re assuming by participating with us.
”At this point, Kerr recommended two possible courses of action: to either salvage the potential agreement, by the city working with Wild Dunes to appease their concerns, or to fall back on the original plan of protecting up to 6 feet.
“Unfortunately, that plan puts that protection on the wrong side of those properties that they are concerned about,” Kerr said, adding that the only way to realistically go from 6 feet of protection to 7 feet “is to do it within the limits of the golf course.”
“And there’s a very short window here to have all this pulled together,” Kerr said.
Haack, however, believes that the partnership will eventually be worked out. “We have a strong desire to work with the City of Isle of Palms,” she said. “Long-term liability issues for both sides need to be resolved before moving forward.
By L. C. Leach III
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