On November 9, 2026, the Bald Head Island Club closes holes 10 through 18. On January 4, 2027, the front nine closes too, and the island has no golf until the Club's target reopening of October 5, 2027. That works out to roughly eleven months with no holes at all and about two more months with only nine. The Club calls it the Golf Course Rejuvenation Project and says it is meant to improve course infrastructure, playability and long-term turf health.
The architect has been plain about what he plans to change and what he plans to keep. That answer shapes the course that comes back in 2027. It also explains why the best stand-in for the next year is a mainland course with the same designer's name on it.
The Calendar, Phase by Phase
The Club's published timeline runs in five stages:
- November 9, 2026: Back nine closes, holes 10 through 18.
- January 4, 2027: The remaining front nine closes, holes 1 through 9.
- By June 20, 2027: Construction completion anticipated.
- Summer 2027: Course grow-in and preparation.
- October 5, 2027: Target reopening.
The Club labels every one of these dates "subject to change as the project progresses." If you plan a season of golf around them, check back often.
The fourth stage matters most for island summers. Construction is scheduled to end by late June. Then the new turf spends the rest of the summer growing in before anyone plays it. So the summer of 2027 passes with the course built but closed. For anyone who counts on early-evening rounds in July and August, that is the stretch to plan around.
The Golf Shop at 910.457.7310 is the Club's stated point of contact for questions. The maintenance and closings page is where staff post updates.
Same Corridors, Different Greens
Andrew Green is the architect. In a September 2025 town hall, Club leadership said Green was chosen after a selection process because he understood they were not looking for a championship-style redesign. They wanted a course that would challenge better players and stay enjoyable for higher handicaps.
Green described his own approach in a separate presentation to members on YouTube:
"We're not going to reroute the golf course. We're not going to play the golf course backwards. We're really looking at the corridors and the golf holes that you have and how to make them better."
He also talked about more variety in green size, contour and hole locations, plus playable fairway-turf surrounds. He framed periodic reinvestment as the way to protect the course and keep its golf experience going for the next generation.
These remarks are from the design stage in 2025. By 2026, a candidate statement for the Club's Board of Governors called the rejuvenation "the most significant near-term initiative" and said "planning is complete, materials are arriving." The same statement said the Club aims to minimize disruption and protect its financial strength. The Club's public pages do not name a contractor or give a budget or member assessment. They also give no final specifications for grass type, irrigation, bunkers or drainage. Until the Club publishes those details, the plans in Green's presentations are the best guide to what the course will look like.
A Course That Has Been Reworked Before
The routing Green is keeping belongs to George Cobb, whose course opened on the island in 1974. A January 2016 history from Bald Head Island Limited says Tim Cate was selected in 2007 for a renovation of nearly $4 million that widened fairways and reshaped greens. The Club's golf page says that earlier work replaced acres of turf with natural areas and opened up the views.
The Club describes the setting as maritime forest, freshwater lagoons and a dune ridge, with sabal palms and wildlife such as foxes, herons, egrets, ospreys and alligators. Green's first impression matched that description. He spoke of being "blown away by the way the golf holes twist and turn, how you get lost in the maritime forest" and of the elevation change.
Keeping the corridors means the forest edges, lagoons and dune ridge that frame each hole stay where they are. The holes that reopen in October 2027 will sit in the same places on the island map. The changes will be at ground level, in the greens and the turf around them. The Club has not published plans for cart paths, walking access or habitat during construction, so those questions remain open.
Where the Cobb Lineage Leads on the Mainland
For a year of off-island golf, the course history narrows the choices in a useful way. George Cobb also designed Oak Island Golf Club, which was built in 1962 on the Oak Island and Caswell Beach side of the river. Its site says daily-fee golfers are welcome. Of the courses near Southport that take outside play, it is the one by the same architect as the island course, and it predates Bald Head's by twelve years.
The other courses that publicly advertise outside play:
- Carolina National Golf Club, Bolivia: A Fred Couples design that opened in 1999. Its site says "Public Welcome" and offers public tee times.
- The Lakes Golf Club, Boiling Spring Lakes: A George Riccaboni design that opened in 1962. It describes itself as semi-private, serving members and guests, and takes tee times online.
- Lockwood Folly Country Club, Supply: A Willard Byrd design toward the Holden Beach side of the county. Its official site has tee-time booking.
Tim Cate, who led Bald Head's 2007 renovation, shows up on the mainland as well. He designed The Players Club at St. James and the nine-hole addition at The Members Club there. He also designed Cape Fear National Golf Club in Leland. St. James describes itself as a private residential golf community with four courses: The Founders Club by P.B. Dye, The Members Club by Hale Irwin with Cate's nine, The Players Club by Cate, and The Reserve Club, a Nicklaus design. Golf there is offered through membership. Cape Fear National promotes membership and outings and does not advertise visitor tee times. If you have a friend who is a member at either, guest play may be worth asking about directly. Their public pages do not say.
Tee sheets and access policies can change during the year, so confirm with each course before setting up a recurring game.
What the Club Has Not Announced
As of early October 2026, the Club's public maintenance and news pages say nothing about reciprocal play, discounted off-island golf or a temporary practice or short-game area for the closure. The only practice-area closure on the maintenance page is the August 2026 aerification schedule, which has passed. The 2025 town hall promised more in-person and Zoom question-and-answer sessions for members. Those sessions are the likeliest place for any arrangements to be announced.
The rest of the Club continues on its standing schedule. The croquet program describes three Greenswards and year-round play. Tennis lists four courts with tennis and pickleball programming. The aquatics page lists lap, plunge and leisure pools. The dining page lists The Grille, The Palms and Horizons. None of these pages mentions the golf closure. The Club has not yet published closure-period hours for these amenities.
The Last Weeks With All 18 Holes
The island calendar keeps going through the final stretch before the back nine closes and after it. The second annual BHI Surf Fishing Tournament runs October 9 through 11, with awards at 2 p.m. Sunday. Proceeds go to Kids Making It, Inc. The October Howl at the Moon gathers at East Beach Access 39 on October 26 at 5:30 p.m. The November edition meets there on November 24 at 4 p.m., about two weeks after holes 10 through 18 close. On November 27 at 5 p.m., the Light Up the Holidays decorated-tree auction at the BHI Club benefits Old Baldy Foundation programs. The next morning, the Conservancy's Thanksgiving-edition Turtle Trot 5K starts at 8:30 a.m.
Through November and December, the front nine is the only golf on the island. After January 4, there is none until the target reopening on October 5, 2027.
If you own on the island and want to know how the renovation timeline might affect a sale, purchase or rental plan for next year, David Wray can walk through it with you. Request a private consultation with David & Suzanne Wray.
