The allure of striping a golf ball out of a fairway bunker one minute and then lounging beachside with toes curled in sand and cold beverage in hand the next, has been a magnet pulling golfers to South Carolina’s stretch of sea islands for decades.

But on players’ Palmetto State barrier island bingo card, Kiawah, Hilton Head, Daufuskie and Pawleys are the squares that get marked most often. Known for its family-friendly vibe and a deer population that dwarfs even the number of does and bucks assembled in Netflix’s Leave The World Behind, Fripp Island Resort—situated just 65 miles north of Savannah, Georgia, and 18 miles east of Beaufort, South Carolina—features two championship golf courses that haven’t always been the main draw.

In early 2023, Seascape Hospitality Group acquired the resort from the Wardle family for $23.5 million with designs on taking the golf experience to new heights. The new owners earmarked $2 million out of a $7 million initial renovation spend to spiff up the shoreline-hugging Ocean Point Golf Course. The mother-son team Cynthia Dye McGarey and Matt McGarey were enlisted to reinvigorate George Cobb’s original design.

“They went out and looked at other golf courses designed by George Cobb back in the day,” John Scappatura, Chief Operating Officer at Fripp Island Resort, said of the mandate behind the renovation. “We didn’t have the original plans for the golf course so they viewed other golf courses that had plans and were able to use some of those original design features.”

“What instantly came to mind was we’ve got to make this course have more of an ocean vibe to it,” Matt McGarey said, underscoring his vision to better integrate the natural beauty of the surroundings and create a “barefoot golf” experience.

McGarey took his team out to the beach to show them the micro-movement of the sea oats and the windblown dunes so they observe how the breeze moves through those native grasses in a gentle, undulating fashion: “This is what we want to recreate within our waste bunkers that aren’t too crazy and are playable, not overgrown—I wanted that sparse look to it.”

The Dye Design Group’s overall efforts brought the minimalist charm and original character of yore back to the fore. They cleaned up overgrown areas to create new ocean vistas, adding to the aquatic flare of a seaside track where ponds, creeks and the lapping waves of the Atlantic now constantly come into play and keeping golf balls dry and out of the drink is an everpresent club selection consideration. Speaking of spiffed up sightlines, green complexes are now visible from the tee box on the majority of holes. They repositioned and reshaped over 50 bunkers, added 5.5 acres of waste bankers throughout, and tore up the asphalt cart paths in favor of a more aux natural aesthetic with limestone.

“Now you’re now driving through waste areas or crush and runs, so it has much more of a natural feel. Opening up those view corridors really is the way it used to look, wide open, and you can see the ocean from more places,” Ken Guerra, Chief Revenue Officer at Fripp Island Resort, said of the jazzed-up course.

In addition to course improvements, they’ve introduced beverage carts, now include range balls with green fees and added a snack bar at the turn all in the service of upping the ante on the golf experience. The improvements have helped them attract more event play, in December they’re hosting a section tournament for club PGA pros.

Shoulder Season Bookings

Strategically, from a business standpoint, Fripp Island Resort’s golf upgrades aim to draw visitors during traditionally slower fall and spring seasons. While the resort has long thrived in summer months when families vacation, it has historically experienced increased vacancies in the spring and fall shoulder seasons.

“Golf and other spring and fall activities, including ecotourism and fishing, are a really important part of our business strategy and it’s working great; the advanced bookings are through the roof,” Guerra said.

Fripp is currently in the process of adding a putting course designed by Augustin Piza, renowned for his butterfly concept. Piza, who also designed the greens for the TGL, Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy’s prime-time televised indoor golf league which debuts in January, likes to create four six-hole loops of golf, each one a varying degree of difficulty.

“You can picture guys at the end of a golf tournament going over there to have some fun and some beers and putt all night and also kids’ parties, so it is going to be a winner for us,” Scappatura enthused.

Engineers have already come out to the property to get the ball rolling on the project and the aim is for the planning phase to begin in earnest next month. The new golf amenity makes it clear Fripp Island Resort is intent on climbing up the Sea Islands stay-and-play leaderboard.

“We’ve got a lot of people now buying houses on the island for $3 million dollars that have different expectations than the people who have had houses here since the 1960s. We have to make sure that our island is ready for the next generation of families that are coming here and we continue to stay relevant while keeping Fripp as beautiful as it is,” Scappatura added.

Other upgrades on the docket, in the service of that mission, include restaurant renovations and other food and beverage enhancements. Seating will be added to the welcome center’s liquor and grocery/deli, offering patrons a spot to enjoy a sandwich with a marsh view. Recently, an ice cream truck joined the al fresco food court near the beach club, along with a new burger joint. The resort’s pickleball courts are also set to double, with six new ones planned next to the putting course.