The Oak Island Golf Course the Town Once Tried to Hand Off Is Getting Its First Night Tournament

"We don't have money to put into it." In June 2012 a town leader named Medlin gave the StarNews that reason for wanting Oak Island out of the golf business. The course cost the town about $120,000 a year. The town had already spent more than half a million dollars on it since taking it over in 2008.

Fourteen years later, the same 18-hole course at 4188 Vanessa Drive has freshly rebuilt greens and a new name. On Friday, November 27, it hosts the first nighttime tournament in its history. The town never found a way to stop spending on the Par 3. What it found was a reason to spend on purpose.

A course built for one neighborhood, then handed to the town

Most island residents never drive past the Par 3. It sits on the mainland side of town in the South Harbour Village area off Long Beach Road. It was built for that neighborhood and later deeded to the town. Local coverage in 2006 called it South Harbour Golf Links. In 2008 Oak Island took ownership from Point Associates LLC.

By 2012 the council had told its attorney to negotiate a transfer to prospective buyers. The plan was to keep it running as a public course, and any deal would go through an upset-bid process. South Harbour Village residents pushed back hard. One resident told the paper the course should go back to the people it was built for. By January 4, 2013, Mayor Betty Wallace told the StarNews that the deal had "fell through." The coverage doesn't say why.

So the town kept a course it had just tried to transfer to new owners. Everything that has happened there since follows from that.

What the town spends now, and what it gets back

The Par 3 runs as its own fund in the town budget, so the numbers are easy to follow. The FY2025-26 budget shows this pattern:

Put the 2012 complaint next to that table. The annual cost that pushed the town to seek a transfer was about $120,000. In FY24 the General Fund transfer alone was $355,329, nearly three times as much. In the same year, green fees rose about 41% over FY23. The State Port Pilot reported that course revenue grew more than 30% in 2024.

Spending more and taking in more at the same time is what a deliberate bet looks like. The Pilot tied the turnaround to closer work among town staff, the Par 3 committee and the recreation department. In 2025 the course rebranded as Oak Island Par 3 Golf, with a new logo and signs. Par 3 committee member Rhomni Williams described the change this way:

"There is still work to do, but we have more support from the town and town council now to be able to do things. For a while I think our hands were tied, but our revenue went up by a pretty big number last year."

Councilman Bob Ciullo is the council liaison to the Par 3 committee. He called the course one of Oak Island's "crown jewels" on the mainland and said he wants it to need less and less subsidy over time. The FY26 budget moves that way, cutting the planned transfer to $300,000. The FY26 figures come from the adopted budget, so they are planned amounts and not final actuals.

Why the greens had to come first

A smaller subsidy depends on more rounds played, and more rounds depend on greens that putt true. The town's draft parks master plan recorded the problem plainly. One resident's survey comment said about half the greens and many tee boxes looked like sand traps.

In June 2026 the Parks & Recreation Advisory Board minutes described a contract with Shape Master. The plan was three greens this budget cycle and four the next. The work moved faster than that plan. The town's July 14 update reported new sod, grading and leveling finished on holes 2, 4 and 5, with temporary greens in use while work went on. At the July board meeting, staff said most greens had been bowled out and resodded, with two more still to do and a quote in hand. Staff also said that since the contractors were already on site, it was much cheaper to do extra work then than to bring them back later. That extra work included shaving, hydroseeding and bunker cleanup. The town's records don't agree on exactly how many greens are finished.

At an August 28 meeting, the Par 3 subcommittee heard that the new greens had come in well. The growing period was over, the course was heading into a maintenance phase, and weed work was focused on the tees and greens. The same minutes describe the people behind the grass. Staffing was "erratic" because of wider town staffing shortages, and the goal was two full-time and two part-time workers. Shape Master had quoted $30 an hour for its crews. In March 2026 the board had voted to move a planned golf supervisor position up from 2027 to 2026. The board's September minutes record Matthew Graves as the new superintendent.

The tournament designed to come back every year

Once the greens were done, the focus turned to getting people onto them. In the July board minutes, staff said they were looking at ways to promote the course, including tournaments such as a Glow Ball event and One Club Challenges that "would bring people out year after year."

The first Oak Island Par 3 Glow Ball tournament is set for Friday, November 27, 2026, the day after Thanksgiving. The details:

• Format: four-person scramble
• Cost: $65 per person
• Equipment: illuminated tee markers, glowing pins and UV-lit golf balls
• Time: 4 to 8 p.m. in the town announcement, though the linked registration page lists 4 to 9 p.m.
• Space: limited, with online registration linked from the town's announcement

The course isn't known for night play. A 2006 StarNews report on the proposed transfer to the town listed a no-night-play condition, and current town materials don't show permanent lighting. The glow equipment is what makes the event work after dark. Neither the announcement nor the registration page names prizes or a charity.

The neighborhood relationship from 2012 still matters. At the August 28 meeting, a South Harbour HOA representative said she was waiting on approval from the HOA board for the tournament to use the clubhouse meeting room. Ciullo told the Pilot in 2025 that staying a good neighbor to South Harbour residents should be part of any decision about the course. Beer and wine sales are the clearest example. The South Harbour POAs said they had no concern, but council approval was still needed. As of the board's May 2026 minutes there were "No updates on alcohol sales" while the town attorney worked on it.

What a round costs this fall

The course page says no tee times and no membership are required. Fall and winter hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, an hour shorter than the spring and summer schedule. Adult rates from the approved FY2026-27 fee schedule:

For regular players, a resident individual annual pass is $389. A couple pass is $549, a family pass $629, and the senior, military, veteran and first responder pass $369. A resident three-month pass costs $175. The nonresident annual individual pass is $499. Club rentals and pull carts are $5 each. Seniors, military members, veterans and first responders get 10% off regular green fees. Child rates on the course webpage don't match the fee schedule, so check those with the pro shop before you go.

At the resident walking rate, a resident individual pass costs about the same as 23 eighteen-hole rounds. For anyone who plays twice a month through the cooler season, the pass covers itself within a year.

Questions about a town-run amenity like the Par 3 often come up when someone is comparing the South Harbour side of Oak Island with the island itself, from what's within a short drive to how a course next door affects daily life. If that comparison is on your mind, Marc Stollings is glad to talk it through with the same local detail. Let's Connect.

This article is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Consult a qualified professional about your situation.