The owner of Quail Creek Golf Course has proposed a gift of the property to Coastal Carolina University. CCU's board of trustees agreed last week to the gifting proposal by Chestnut Holding LLC, the West Virginia-based holding company that owns the course. As part of the gift agreement, the University will assume the outstanding debt on the course.

The University, in cooperation with Horry-Georgetown Technical College, has administered the course since 2004, when it entered into a five-year lease of the property to provide a central base of operations for its PGA golf management program. CCU operates Quail Creek as a public course that also serves as a classroom and laboratory for students in its respected golf management program, one of only 20 programs in the nation that is accredited by the Professional Golfers' Association of America (PGA).

Horry-Georgetown Technical College students also play a vital role in maintaining the course as part of the college's golf course management technology program.