After raising nearly $50,000 since April and sprucing up the course with donated work and equipment, the volunteer general manager said the club is on the right path.
When Mike Hardee became Conway (S.C.) Country Club’s volunteer general manager in April, he put forth the effort to rescue the 60-acre, nine-hole property from financial peril, The Sun News reported.
“It’s been a little tough struggle but we’re on the right path,” Hardee said. “The golf course is cleaned up, is neat, and is in real good shape. We have done what we needed to do to make that happen. The only thing left now is getting people back to playing.”
Myrtle Beach Golf Shop managed the par-36 course for two years but has since gone out of business. Hardee said the foreclosure process for the course has started. Shareholders own the club and Conway National Bank wants $75,000 in back payments before renegotiating the loan. Hardee said about $320,000 remains on it, the News reported.
Officials raised nearly $50,000 for the course since April, including $40,000 in stock sales and $10,000 through a fundraising golf tournament. The board added 600 shares at $250 each to raise funds and intends to host another tournament in the fall. The funds are in an escrow account pending agreement to refinance the loan, the News reported.
“We are trying to make this a great golf course for the Conway community,” Hardee said. “We’re trying to make everyone welcome, and if they have any complaints they just need to let someone know and we’ll do our best to straighten it out.”
Hardee has relied on donated time, work, equipment and products from friends and acquaintances to improve the course, including tree trimming and removal, reclaiming the outskirts of holes, clearing brush, greens aeration, chemicals to kill nematodes and take care of a salt issue and using donated loads of crushed asphalt to repair cart paths, the News reported.
“We’ve had a lot of good people step up and help us out,” Hardee said. “A lot of them are friends of mine who I’ve done things for in the past. This place has come a long way since April 1.
Conway has seen an increase in golf members from less than 40 last year to about 50 with 60 pool members, up from 20 last year. Full memberships start at $300 for the remainder of the year, the News reported.
A stockholders meeting is planned to replace three board members, but not enough stockholders have been identified or located to get the required 75 percent of the vote, the News reported.
“It’s like trying to find a needle in a haystack trying to find all these shares of stock,” said Hardee, who has agreed to remain the volunteer general manager until the club is turned around. “We don’t have a clue where some of these people are.”
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