Quixote Club—formerly Sunset Country Club—in Sumter, S.C. enlisted Jack Nicklaus II and Kris Spence Golf Design to design all new greens, tees and fairways, as well as a complete rerouting of the back nine. A new clubhouse is in the works, too.
After brothers and business partners Greg and Lewis Thompson purchased Sunset Country Club in Sumter, S.C. almost a year ago, key staff have been hired, and a complete renovation is now underway, The Sumter Item reported. That redesign will include a name change—to Quixote Club—and “all greens, tees, fairways, a total rerouting of the back side, everything, including the clubhouse,” said Chuck Green, Quixote’s Director of Operations, on January 15.
The course was closed for the redesign January 2, and Phase I club renovations are projected to be complete toward the end of this year, Green told The Item. The golf course may reopen before the clubhouse, he added.
A new main entrance from is also on tap, as is a small amphitheater, and the course will feature a much more open landscape, Green told The Item. Architectural course renderings are complete and were a collaboration between Jack Nicklaus II, son of the legendary Jack Nicklaus, and Kris Spence Golf Design.
Selective clearing of trees has already taken place, according to Green.
“The vistas through this golf course now are phenomenal,” Green said. “We are trying to open it up to where you can see through the golf course. Now, when you look out there, you see these gorgeous live oaks and red oaks.”
Green joins Quixote highly regarded, The Item reported. He was previously Golf Course Superintendent and oversaw the building of Sage Valley Golf Club in 2000 in Aiken County, S.C., considered one of the best courses in the world with an international membership. Green served at Sage Valley for 19 years before Greg Thompson brought him to Sumter last spring.
Phase I renovations total $13 million, and clubhouse changes will include new men’s and women’s locker rooms, a new dining area, new golf shop and other amenities, The Item reported. In Green’s words, members who have stayed on with the club “are pretty darn excited” about having an entirely different course and venue.
The course’s last renovation was 26 years ago in 1994, The Item reported. The club’s new name comes from Don Quixote, the Spanish novel from the early 1600s with an emphasis on knighthood.
Green said Thompson’s vision for the new club is “to give back to the community” and to involve children and their families with a goal of attracting young adults back to their hometown.
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