Indigo Run 2.0 Turned the Course Back Toward 1995 and Put the New Work in the Clubhouse

"I think we took the level of expectation up," Andrew Gerstner, director of golf course maintenance at The Golf Club at Indigo Run, told Forbes in November 2025, a few weeks after the club reopened from its renovation.

Expectation is a fair word for it, because the course work was mostly about bringing something old back. On the golf side, the multi-million-dollar project that Invited carried out in 2025 aimed to recover the 1995 Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II design. Most of what was actually new went into the clubhouse, the gym, and the bar. This month the club is celebrating one year of what its calendar calls "TGC Indigo Run 2.0," and both club events on that calendar take place off the course.

Greens Put Back Where They Were Drawn

The Golf Club course opened in 1995 as a father-and-son design by Jack Nicklaus and Jack Nicklaus II. When Invited announced the renovation in May 2025, it scheduled the work to run through early October. The main course closed for the summer, and members were offered reciprocal play at Country Club of Hilton Head or Golden Bear in the meantime.

The work was largely restoration. According to Forbes, crews refilled the bunkers, reshaped the greens, and expanded the putting surfaces by more than an acre to bring them "back to their original contours." The greens were reseeded with Champion G12 Ultra Dwarf Bermuda. No-mow and natural areas went into the roughs, and new plantings now frame the tees and greens.

The one hole that clearly moved is No. 6, which Gerstner picks as the most improved. "We moved that green forward and to the left and we shaped the green to sit down a little bit," he said. "It's got a nice backdrop with the collar and approach and the mounds around the green."

No. 6 closes out a stretch the club calls the Bermuda Triangle. It covers holes 4, 5, and 6 and begins after golfers cross a long bridge over protected wetlands. That name now has a second home, and it shows where the renovation's new energy went.

The Bermuda Triangle, Now Sold in a Can

The bar added a device that lets bartenders can any cocktail on demand. The club's new signature drink, also called the Bermuda Triangle, mixes Hanson cucumber vodka and blue Gatorade with a splash of ginger ale on top. Forbes described it as headed for golf-cart coolers.

That detail sums up the renovation in small form. The course kept its three-hole stretch across the wetland bridge, and the bar turned the name into something new. Across the club, the same pattern holds.

Where the New Work Landed

Here is how the 2025 project breaks down, area by area, based on Invited's announcement, Forbes's post-reopening report, and the club's current pages:

The dining room changed the most. Forbes described the refurnished main room and its wine cellar as creating "a much more modern space," with a restaurant that "embraces a contemporary Lowcountry aesthetic." Managing director Matthew Thomas named his favorite dish on Concas's menu, the Linguine Frutti di Mare with shrimp and mussels in a spicy tomato sauce.

The club's dining page still calls this simply The Clubhouse. It describes seasonal chef-driven dishes, cocktails, happy hours, and events, and it mentions the recent renovation's modern finishes and expanded patio seating. Day-to-day dining is for members and their invited guests. Select ticketed events are the exception.

The racquet complex received the lightest touch. The 2025 announcement covered landscaping and fencing work for courts that were already in place, not new courts. The club's current racquet and fitness pages list six tennis courts, eight lighted pickleball courts, the Technogym gym, and aquatics.

October's Club Events Need No Tee Times

The two club events on the October 2026 calendar both build on the off-course side of the renovation:

1. Cheers to One Year Party, Saturday, October 10, at 6 p.m. It costs $60++ per person, and registration is required. The evening features live music from The Eighty Threes, the Dough Vibes Donut Truck, an open bar, and, in the club's words, "LOTS of Champagne." Cancellations made within 48 hours of the event are charged in full.
2. Howl-o-Ween at the Pool, Tuesday, October 27, from 4 to 6 p.m. at Sunningdale Pool. This is a Halloween happy hour for members and their dogs. Costumes are encouraged, and it's the dogs' last swim before the pool closes for the season.

A club year that started with a summer shutdown for golf ends with an anniversary month centered on a band, Champagne, and a dog swim. Neither event needs a set of clubs, and both use the spaces where the renovation's new work landed.

Who the Renovation Actually Reaches

This matters for owners in Indigo Run who have never joined the club. The Indigo Run Community Owners Association lists the Invited clubs as optional memberships, with dues billed separately from COA assessments. That list covers three clubs:

• The Golf Club of Indigo Run, the private 18-hole Nicklaus course with a practice range, clubhouse dining, and member events
• Golden Bear Golf Club, a semi-private 18-hole course with a public grill
• Sunningdale Recreation Complex, semi-private, with the six Har-Tru tennis courts, lighted pickleball courts, a pool, a snack bar, and a fitness center

On the COA side, the Owners Club offers a resort-style pool enclave, outdoor gazebos, grilling stations, and a 4,766-square-foot community facility for meetings, parties, and fitness classes.

Because most of the new work sits off the course, the renovation also reached Invited's non-golf membership tier. Invited offers a Social Membership without full golf privileges. It covers dining, aquatics, fitness, racquet sports, and social programming, with access at both The Golf Club at Indigo Run and Country Club of Hilton Head. The new dining room, the Concas menu, and the Technogym floor are all within that tier.

The price of joining has moved too, though the published record is a year old. Forbes reported in November 2025 that initiation went from $20,000 before the renovation to $30,000 after the reopening. The club's membership page no longer lists a fee and asks prospective members to inquire, so the current figure comes straight from the membership office. Membership Director Stephanie Mensing appears on the club's current pages.

For an owner deciding whether to join now that the club is a year past its relaunch, the table above comes down to one practical question. The golf course is a careful restoration of a 1995 layout. The parts of the club that are actually new, the dining room, the gym, and the bar, are the parts a Social Membership covers.

If you live in Indigo Run and want to know how optional club memberships and the year-old renovation factor into what your home is worth or what you might buy next, Tyler Stone is glad to walk you through it with the same local detail. Contact Tyler.

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