The Latest in Luxury Resort & Real Estate News

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Spring Island Named to Golfweek's Best Residential Courses

(SPRING ISLAND, SC) -- For the fourth consecutive year, Spring Island's Old Tabby Links golf course has been named one of Golfweek's Best Residential Courses. Long heralded as golf course architect Ed Seay's lasting legacy, Old Tabby Links at Spring Island is described by Arnold Palmer as a walk in a nature park to which the game of golf has been subtly introduced.

Every year, Golfweek magazine's panel of golf course raters play and rate tens of thousands of golf courses across the country and around the world. From among all of these thousands of golf courses, Spring Island made the list at No. 44 in next year's look at the top 100 residential golf course communities in America.

Golfweek is not the only group to notice Spring Island. In 2009, Links magazine named Spring Island one of the "Best of the Best" private golf communities in its Premier Properties Guide. In 2007, Spring Island was named one of Golf Connoisseur magazine's Top 40 Golf Communities in America and ranked No. 23 on Travel + Leisure Golf's Top 100 Golf Communities. In addition, Spring Island's golf course is recognized as an Audubon International Certified Cooperative Sanctuary and the community as a whole has earned the Urban Land Institute's Sensitive Development Award.

The 7,004 yard, par-72 Old Tabby Links stands as testament to Palmer and Seay's sensitivity and light touch. From the great Live Oak "cathedrals" of the front nine, Old Tabby gives way to the more open feeling of pastures and green fields on the back, which was land originally cleared for quail hunting in earlier times. The final three holes parallel the spectacular marshes of the Chechessee River.

Spring Island is a 3,000-acre island community in the South Carolina Lowcountry 25 minutes from Hilton Head and Beaufort, and 30 minutes by boat from Port Royal Sound and the open Atlantic Ocean. Spring Island is limited to no more than 410 families on the 3,000 acres with 1,200 acres protected as nature preserve. Spring Island offers the finest amenities man and nature can offer, including championship golf, world class fresh- and salt-water fishing, equestrian, tennis, quail hunting, nature center, fine and casual dining options, and a wide variety of educational pursuits.

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Billy Casper Golf to Manage Ocean Pines Golf & Country Club

(OCEAN CITY MD) -- Billy Casper Golf - owner and operator of more than 125 golf courses, country clubs and resorts - has been selected to manage Ocean Pines Golf & Country Club, five miles west of Ocean City on Maryland's Eastern Shore.

The engagement increases BCG's portfolio to 25 courses in the Mid-Atlantic.

At the semi-private Ocean Pines, the firm will oversee all aspects operations, marketing and public relations, staffing and training, merchandising, clubhouse food and beverage, financial management, golf instruction and special events.

Indirectly, the BCG connection to Ocean Pines is through company namesake Billy Casper who was the club's Touring Pro when it opened in 1971.

BCG bested several golf-course management companies in the nationwide search by the Ocean Pines Association.

"We're excited to partner with Billy Casper Golf," says Tom Terry, President of the Ocean Pines Association Board of Directors.  "The company is positioned to bring fresh ideas, a strong infrastructure and operational perfectionism to further 'wow' golfers."

"Ocean Pines boasts a strong golf course and sense of community pride," says Peter Hill, chairman and CEO of Vienna, Va.-based Billy Casper Golf.  "Billy Casper Golf will build on those tenets by acutely delivering superb course conditions and enjoyable guest activities time and again."

BCG will enroll Ocean Pines in the Audubon International "Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary" program, ensuring high standards protecting the environment and preserving the natural heritage of golf.  Results include efficiencies in maintenance, insurance premiums, energy, water, pesticides, fertilizer, equipment wear and labor.

Open to the public, Ocean Pines Golf & Country Club is part of an 8,000-home community.  It features an 18-hole, par-72, 6,927-yard layout and Delmarva Peninsula's only design by legendary architect Robert Trent Jones, Sr.  Nestled amid natural wetlands and scenic woodlands with water in play on 10 holes, five sets of tees and ample scoring opportunities dare players of all abilities to challenge themselves.

The well-appointed clubhouse includes a fully-stocked pro shop, restaurant and locker rooms.  A comprehensive practice area with a double-ended driving range and sheltered tees, chipping green, two putting greens and two sand areas delight even the most ardent golfers.  Ocean Pines offers clinics, private lessons, club repair and bag storage.

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