The Woodcreek Club's Biggest Change This Year Wasn't the Golf Tournament
September 24, 2026
September 24, 2026
In May, the Korn Ferry Tour rolled into Elgin for the first time. Leaderboards went up along the 18th green at The Woodcreek Club, a course that had spent the better part of a year quietly getting ready for its close-up, and for four days the neighborhood had a golf tournament with a national broadcast and a million-dollar purse sitting inside its gates.
If you live in Woodcreek Farms, though, the change that will actually reshape how you use the club this year isn't the one that came with a leaderboard. It's happening on the other side of Club Ridge Road, where eight pickleball courts and a new fitness building are going in for members who may never pick up a golf club at all.
The Colonial Life Charity Classic was the club's biggest week in its history, and it didn't happen by accident. The renovated clubhouse held a soft grand opening for members just weeks before the tournament, giving staff a trial run before the Tour's cameras arrived. The course itself, a Tom Fazio design stretching 7,032 yards at par 70, had Bermuda greens installed back in 2023, work that turned out to be preparation for exactly this moment.
The golf lived up to the setup. Bryce Lewis carded an 8-under 62 in the opening round, a new course record, hitting 15 of 18 greens on his way to the first-round lead. He cooled off over the weekend, but Cole Sherwood closed with four rounds in the mid-60s to win the inaugural event at 16-under. Proceeds went to United Way of the Midlands, and the tournament arrived with a five-year commitment from both the Korn Ferry Tour and title sponsor Colonial Life, meaning this isn't a one-time visit. It comes back.
Club owner Harold Pickrel put it plainly when the partnership was announced:
"We're honored to host the Colonial Life Charity Classic at The Woodcreek Club. It's a great opportunity to showcase our course and support impactful charitable work in the Midlands."
That's the postcard version of the year, and it's a real one. But a tournament that visits for four days each May, even on a five-year contract, isn't what most people inside the gates will interact with on a random Tuesday in October.
The other build happening at Woodcreek Club started long before the Tour agreement and has nothing to do with golf at all. Back in February 2025, plans went before Columbia's Planning Commission for eight new pickleball courts sited west of Club Ridge Road, close to the existing tennis courts, with a shaded pavilion attached. That filing has since grown into something bigger. The club's own current description of the project calls it a state-of-the-art Sports Complex, and it includes:
The timing tracks with what's happening across the Midlands generally. Pickleball has been called one of the fastest-growing sports in the country, and the region has been building to match that demand, from a 46,000-square-foot indoor facility on Two Notch Road to a 16-court complex in Cayce that's already hosting Professional Pickleball Association events. Woodcreek's version is smaller in scale but says something bigger about who the club is building for now. A golf tournament serves the members who golf and the town that hosts it for a week. A fitness center and eight courts open every day serve the member who wants a workout before work or a pickleball match with a neighbor on a Tuesday evening, whether they've ever set foot on the back nine or not.
None of the tournament buzz has touched the club's weekly rhythm, and that's worth knowing if you're picturing Woodcreek as a golf-first, everything-else-second kind of place. Every Wednesday at 10am, Mahjong Mania draws members in for a game that has nothing to do with tee times, open to beginners with instruction built in. That same day, Ladies Day blocks tee times starting at 9:30am for members who do want to play, running as a standing weekly program rather than a seasonal special.
The club has also leaned into live music as part of its regular calendar. Its summer concert series closed out its run with performances from Larry Fleet and Dave Kennedy, drawing members out for an evening that had a stage and a crowd but no scorecards. Put together, these are the events that actually fill most weeks at the club. A member who never enters a tournament pool still has a standing Wednesday.
Life in Woodcreek Farms doesn't stop at the clubhouse door. For everyday errands and easy dinners, residents lean on a small cluster of local spots: Groucho's Deli and San Jose Mexican Restaurant for casual meals, Cafe Strudel Elgin and The Haven Coffee House for something slower. A short drive out puts you at Village at Sandhill, the retail corridor that handles the bigger grocery runs and the occasional movie night.
None of that changed this year. What changed is that the neighborhood now has a golf story people outside Elgin are paying attention to, and a recreation story that most of the people living here will actually use.
A golf tournament, even a good one with a five-year contract, is a headline that shows up once a year and then packs up its grandstands. The pickleball courts, the 24-hour fitness center, the Wednesday Mahjong table, and the tee times reserved for Ladies Day are the parts of the club that don't leave. They're also the parts that tell you more about where Woodcreek Club is headed than a course record ever will. A club that spends 2025 filing plans for pickleball courts and 2026 hosting a Tour event isn't choosing between golf and everything else. It's building for members who want both, and for the ones who never wanted the golf part in the first place.
If you're already inside the gates, that's probably good news no matter which side of the fairway you fall on. And if you've ever wondered how updates like this factor into what a home in Woodcreek Farms is actually worth right now, that's a conversation Mackenzie Robertson has often, usually over coffee rather than a spreadsheet. Reach out anytime to schedule a free consultation and talk through what's changing in your corner of Elgin.
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