Belfair, a private golf club community in Bluffton, South Carolina, recently reopened its award-winning East Course following a four-month enhancement and bunker renovation project. The East Course renovation is part of Belfair’s long-term strategic plan which will reinvest more than $20 million into the club and community over the next 10 years.

Enhancements on the Tom Fazio-designed East Course included updating green complexes to their original size by utilizing GPS coordinates gathered from Fazio’s original design. Greens were resurfaced with Tif Eagle grass, while fairways, tees and collars were resurfaced with Latitude 36 Bermuda grass. Bunker renovations included updating the drainage in all green-side and fairway bunkers utilizing a new capillary concrete bunker system. The new bunkers are filled with G-Angle bunker sand.  Belfair’s Director of Agronomy, Keith Einwag and Troon’s Senior Vice President of Golf Course Development, Ron Despain oversaw the project, with Maryland-based McDonald and Sons serving as the general contractor. 

“The West Course at Belfair already ranks as one of the ‘Top 100 Private Residential Courses in the US,’” said Ray Pilch, President of the Belfair Property Owners Association.  “With this renovation and enhancement, we are hopeful of achieving similar recognition for the East Course as well.”

In 2019, Belfair will host the 2019 PGA Professional Championship, the world’s largest all-professional event and with a 312-player field, April 28-May 1. This field will be comprised of players who advanced from the 41 PGA Section Championships, along with past champions. The low 20 scorers at Belfair will earn a berth in the 2019 PGA Championship to be played May 16-19, 2019 at Bethpage Black in Farmingdale, New York. All four rounds of the PGA Professional Championship will be broadcast live on Golf Channel.

The par-72 West Course will host play during all four rounds of the PGA Professional Championship and plays to 7,111 yards from the championship tees. Belfair features two championship golf courses designed by Tom Fazio that exemplify Lowcountry beauty. The West Course opened in 1996 with Links Magazine proclaiming it “…the finest set of golf holes in the Lowcountry, if not on the East Coast.”  Belfair’s East Course opened in 1999 and is reminiscent of the links courses of Scotland while showcasing the area’s deep-water views, fresh water lakes and lagoons. The par-71 layout measures 6,900 yards from the championship tees. Golfweek Magazine ranks both courses among the “Best Residential Courses” in the United States in their 2018 ranking.