Kiawah Island Resort has made the cut, earning itself a spot among GolfAdvisor.com’s top golf destinations for 2018.
The upscale seaside getaway came in at No. 10 on the review website’s rankings, partly because its five courses have been reworked either just before or following its hosting of the 2012 PGA Championship, the first major ever played in South Carolina.
“With the completion of a Cougar Point renovation last fall, the courses on this narrow, sea breeze-laden island are now re-grassed with varying degrees of design renovations and updates,” Golf Advisor said.
Just last week, resort officials announced that the Cougar Point layout will be getting a new clubhouse ahead of the 2021 PGA, which will once again be played on Kiawah’s famed and famously difficult Ocean Course.
It also noted that the Jack Nicklaus-designed Turtle Point course features a new outdoor patio that is becoming a popular 19th hole.
In addition, the resort's "bold" decision to convert the Ocean Course to a durable turf called “platinum paspalum” before the 2012 PGA has “paid off in spades, especially weathering storm surge from recent hurricane activity,” according to Golf Advisor.
The only other U.S. destinations that made the top 10 were the Village of Pinehurst in North Carolina, Wisconsin’s Sand Valley and northern Michigan. And the top place in the world to travel to for a round this year is St. Andrews in Scotland, the home of golf and site of the 2018 Open Championship in July.
The State Ports Authority’s Columbus Street Terminal was the first in Charleston to handle containerized cargo. The cranes that did the heavy lifting have since been removed. File
They're baaack
Container ships have returned at the Columbus Street Terminal for a temporary engagement.
In recent weeks, after a lengthy absence, a few of the big box-ferrying vessels have tied up at the downtown Charleston wharf.
It's an unusual sight, given that the last time the State Ports Authority loaded or unloaded a container ship at Columbus Street was 2011. The final crane was removed from the property in 2016.
Container ships are heading back downtown because one of the three berths at the Wando Welch Terminal is out of commission for repairs.
As a result, container vessels that have already been worked in Mount Pleasant are being moved to Columbus Street if they require repairs or refueling, said Barbara Melvin, the SPA’s vice president of terminals and operations.
The idea is to free up space for other working ships at Wando Welch, which should be back to full capacity by June.
Columbus Street was the Port of Charleston’s first terminal to deal in containerized cargo. It now mostly handles the big car carriers that take Upstate-made BMWs to dealers around the world.
Flip the script
Construction firms typically enter the scene after a developer has already secured a tenant and both sides have decided on what and where to build. But in the case of IFA Group's new manufacturing campus in Berkeley County, the process was reversed.
Alan Lewis, development partner with The Keith Corp., said his Charlotte-based firm was looking for the first renter at its Charleston Trade Center project near Summerville when Frampton Construction came knocking with a ready-made deal.
"They said, 'We've got a company that might be a good fit here'," Lewis said. That company turned out to be IFA, which cut the ribbon earlier this month on a $60 million site that will make propshafts and constant velocity joints for automakers throughout North America.
"Normally, as the developer, we're working with the tenants and picking the contractor," Lewis said. "In this case, the contractor picked us to try to sell this project on this land."
Having a manufacturer as the first tenant perfectly matched The Keith Corp.'s hopes for the industrial park off Interstate 26 near the Jedberg exit.
"We did not want it to go all distribution," Lewis said of the park. "We are economic development-focused and we like to see manufacturing as well as distribution in our industrial projects."
AirAsia CEO Benyamin Ismail posted a photo to his Instagram account showing him holding a model 787-10 in the airline's livery during a recent meeting with Boeing Co. officials in Seattle. The photo has led to speculation that the Malaysian carrier is getting ready to order the plane assembled exclusively in North Charleston. Provided/AirAsia
Dash-10 dealmaking
AirAsia could be the next airline to sign a deal for the 787-10 Dreamliner, assembled exclusively at Boeing Co.'s North Charleston campus.
Benyamin Ismail, the carrier's chief executive, posted a photo to his Instagram page recently that shows him holding a model 787-10 in AirAsia livery. The mockup was presented to Ismail when he and another AirAsia executive visited Boeing in Seattle to talk about adding planes to the Malaysian carrier's long-haul fleet.
A potential deal could be announced as early as July at the upcoming Farnborough Airshow in the United Kingdom.
The low-cost carrier currently has 91 planes in its fleet, including 32 of Boeing's 737 single-aisle aircraft and 3 of its 747 wide-bodies. The Dreamliner order would be a first for the airline.
The first Dash 10 was set to be delivered Sunday to Singapore Airlines.
Hot dog
A food show has a taste for a Charleston hot dog eatery.
Jack's Cosmic Dogs will be featured on "The Bucket List" episode of Food Paradise on The Travel Channel at 7 p.m. Sunday.
The hot dog restaurant is on U.S. Highway 17, just south of Highway 41, in Mount Pleasant.
Hotel Bella Grace at 115 Calhoun St. is set to open in June. Photo provided
Coming soon
A former Marriott executive who opened a boutique hotel on Kiawah Island four years ago is ready for an encore, this time in downtown Charleston.
Hotel Bella Grace at 115 Calhoun St. near Marion Square will open in June, according to an announcement.
The artsy 50-room lodging is next to the 1830 Delaney House, which will serve as the breakfast room and meeting space. The guest rooms also will have built-in kitchens.
Although locally owned and designed, the hotel will be affiliated with industry giant Marriott, meaning it will offer reward points as a booking incentive.
The owner is Donald Semmler, a former Marriott executive vice president who founded Local Hotel Adventures in Charleston. This is his second hotel, following the 100-room extended-stay Andell Inn near Freshfields Market in 2014.
Tennis matchup
The high-level tennis action in Charleston won’t end when the Volvo Car Open wraps up April 8 on Daniel Island.
An industry trade group representing the business side of the sport is bringing its annual meeting to the region for three days of discussions. The fifth annual Tennis Owners & Managers Conference is set for April 9-11 at Wild Dunes Resort.
Organized by the Hilton Head Island-based Tennis Industry Association, the Isle of Palms gathering will bring together tennis business owners, managers and decision-makers, with a focus on innovation, growth, leadership and development. The conference also will feature a “manufacturer-retailer-technology hub” to show off new and innovative racquets, ball machines and other products, with coaching legend Nick Bollettierie on-hand during some of the on-court demonstrations.
“We’re excited to offer these ‘learn-try-test-demo’ sessions so facility owners and managers can learn about the latest products, innovations and technology,” said Jolyn de Boer, the association's executive director. “It’s important for staff and players to understand the importance of using the right equipment.”
