Charleston’s newest golf course is being designed with a specific target subset of players in mind — kids.
Golf Digest spotlighted First Tee-Greater Charleston’s future nine-hole, kids-only layout slated for West Ashley, highlighting the project as an uncommon approach to expanding access to the game for youngsters.
First Tee acquired a 13.8-acre site at 2275 Henry Tecklenburg Drive last year for $2.1 million, according to public property records.
The course will be open to members between 5 years old and 18, with adults allowed to play only when accompanied by a youth member. Clearing at the site is expected to begin soon, with an opening targeted for January 2028.
First Tee launched the public fundraising phase of its “Fore the Kids” campaign Sept. 11, with a $14 million goal. The campaign is already more than 70 percent funded, according to the nonprofit.
“Fore the Kids is about creating opportunities that will help change what’s possible for generations to come,” CEO Bucky Dudley said in a statement. “This campus will allow us to welcome more young people and create more opportunities for them to learn, play, grow, and thrive.”
The project is being designed by Charleston-connected architects Brian Schneider and Troy Miller. Schneider previously worked with architect Tom Doak and designed Old Barnwell and its kids’ course in Aiken, while Miller is known for his work at the Charleston Municipal Golf Course and Kiawah Island’s Ocean Course.
The planned kids’ campus will also include an 11,000-square-foot learning facility with indoor chipping and putting areas, simulators, classrooms and a nutrition center.
Founded in 2008, First Tee-Greater Charleston now serves more than 25,000 children each year but has had to turn away thousands of young golfers because of limited access to courses and practice areas, according to the nonprofit.
Growth fund
A local workforce housing acquisition fund created last year to lower apartment rents or keep them from climbing has raised more than half of its $50 million goal.
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A for-profit housing investment vehicle created last year with a public-interest twist has issued a new progress report on its $50 million fundraising goal.
Charleston Workforce Housing Fund LLC disclosed this week in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it’s brought in $33 million to date.
The initiative was announced last September. Its purpose isn’t to build new homes. Instead, the idea is to acquire as many as 1,000 existing local apartments and keep the rents affordable. After 20 years, the properties would be sold.
The fund was launched by the Charleston Regional Development Alliance to help ease what the group called one of the area’s “most pressing challenges.” To date, the effort has resulted in two acquisitions totaling almost 500 rental units in North Charleston and West Ashley under a management partnership with Ascent Housing of Charlotte.
Early investors included the Medical University of South Carolina, the College of Charleston and multiple private-sector backers ranging from banks to The InterTech Group to Boeing Co.
Curtain raiser
A German safety-products manufacturer is fanning the growth flames at its Dorchester County outpost with a $2.53 million investment that’s expected to add more than 30 jobs .
Stöbich Fire Protection Systems said the expansion at 5301 Indigo Fields Blvd. will support U.S. manufacturing and assembly of the “GX Smoke Curtain.”
Previously built in Germany, the left-safety product is designed to contain smoke at elevator openings and other critical building junctures.
Operations are expected to come online in North Charleston this month.
Founded in 1980, Stöbich produces structural and technical fire protection equipment including curtains, enclosures and hoods. The company is represented in more than 50 countries worldwide.
Roll the creditors
A screen shot shows the message posted last year on the website of South Carolina-based Epic Events and Entertainment, which filed for bankruptcy on Aug. 5, 2025.
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The final curtain has come down on a South Carolina-based organizer of celebrity “fandom” meet-ups and conventions.
The year-long bankruptcy case of Epic Events and Entertainment LLC came to a quiet conclusion after a court-appointed official couldn’t locate any assets to offset roughly $4.64 million in financial claims.
The company, which listed an Anderson Country address, filed for liquidation in August 2025, shortly after it abruptly scrubbed a Chicago show that left vendors and ticket buyers in the lurch.
The failed promoter listed debts between $1 million and $10 million. Its assets total less than $50,000. The co-owners of the business were identified as Alexis Arnold and Anna Owen.
About four years ago, the company organized a weekend event event in Charleston under the name Epix N’ Chill that included panel talks with actors and writers from various TV shows.
The bankruptcy petition identified more than 2,000 potential creditors, most likely ticketholders, from across the country and from as far away as the Netherlands, Uruguay and Australia.
The case was a box-office dud, according to John K. Fort, the court-appointed trustee. In a legal filing, he said he conducted “a diligent inquiry into the financial affairs” of Epic Events and found “that there is no property available for distribution” to creditors.
Ad it up
South Carolina has signed onto a lawsuit alleging Amazon.com illegally raised prices for advertisers by surreptitiously raising the minimum price required to place spots that promote their products.
The Federal Trade Commission a bipartisan group of 22 states filed this complaint about two weeks ago near Seattle, where the company is headquartered. They said Amazon systematically inflated auction prices for advertisers without their knowledge, costing them $20 billion or more.
The states could seek civil penalties and attempt to recover some of the money, the FTC alleged.
Amazon, in a blog post, denied the allegations. It said its policies aim to show shoppers the most relevant ads, adding that the average cost per click for advertisers remained flat from 2019 to 2024, while the sales generated from those clicks rose.
“Amazon’s approach to pricing contradicts any suggestion of consumer harm,” the company said. “We provide customers the lowest prices every day across the widest selection of products, and work to ensure our retail and grocery prices meet or beat those offered by other retailers.”
The lawsuit closely followed the recent historic settlement with Facebook and Instagram parent Meta Platforms that will deliver $347 million to South Carolina. That case alleged the company’s social media platforms were causing mental health issues among children.