Pinecrest golf owner rep: ‘Hopeful’ for community support
A representative for the owner of the Pinecrest Golf Club said the course is not financially sustainable, and ownership is seeking a solution that will generate income and satisfy upset neighbors.
Paul Puma, senior advisor with commercial real estate firm SVN, said that course owner Topper Golf World would like to keep the facility open beyond the expiration of its operating covenant this fall. However, Puma said the course currently operates at a deficit and can’t sustain itself.
“The owner looked at several alternatives, and the alternative that made the most sense was to recapture the driving range, provide multifamily apartments on that driving range and move the driving range facilities to a simulator inside the clubhouse after the clubhouse is renovated. That’s about as far as we got,” Puma said, stressing that plans are preliminary and nothing has been filed with the town of Bluffton.
But this proposal, introduced late last year to the town and the Pinecrest property owners association, faces strong opposition. Many residents of the 480-home community oppose the project, as do neighbors in nearby Shell Hall. Traffic, quality of life, and property values are the main concerns. The golf course and community are near Bluffton High School and Hilton Head Christian Academy; neighbors said traffic is already heavy during peak hours.
Topper Golf World ownership met with the town of Bluffton last year. The group also had two meetings with the Pinecrest Property Owners Association and one with the community, Puma said.
Mayor Larry Toomer met with the Pinecrest community earlier this year, letting neighbors know he also opposes the project. Town manager Stephen Steese told the Island Packet this month that ownership would have to jump through several regulatory hoops to make it happen.
At this point, Puma said the Property Owners Association has told him there’s no need for discussions to continue.
“We would like to keep the door open. We would like to re-engage the community and work out a solution that satisfies the owner and the community. We will wait for the community to see if they are open to discussions,” Puma said. “I would be naive if we thought we’d get everyone’s approval, but we hope to have the majority say, ‘we’re okay with it.’”
In a statement, the Pinecrest Property Owners Association said the board is in fact open to discussions with golf course ownership.
“We are currently keeping the lines of communication open with TGW representatives,” the statement read.
Opposition from the community has been consistent. Neighbors have spoken up during public comment at recent town council meetings.
Bluffton council member Fred Hamilton reassured Pinecrest neighbors at the August town council meeting.
“To the community at Pinecrest: Go home and go to sleep. We got you,” Hamilton said. “We’re going to take care of you.”
This isn’t the first time Topper Golf World has faced community opposition for one of its proposed projects. The company wanted to build apartments, shops and a hotel on the golf course in the Island West community, an idea rejected swiftly by neighbors. Topper ultimately lost that fight, and the community’s homeowners association ended up buying the course, according to Island Packet archives.