WildeWood Country Club began in 1960, when Heath Manning and Darnell Boyd purchased several tracts of land, with acreage totaling about 1600. In 1964, construction on the Russell Breedin-designed golf course commenced, and the first home was built in 1967. The clubhouse was built in 1971.
As an avid polo player, Manning’s vision of WildeWood originated with his visit to a subdivision in Memphis, Tennessee, also named WildeWood. The community included polo fields, horse stables, and a golf course and country club. Initially, our WildeWood included not one, but two polo fields.
Pebble Creek, Duck Pond, Lame Horse, and Leaning Tree Roads surrounded the practice polo field, which is now zoned for residential housing. WildeWood Downs sits atop the old main polo field, and Polo Commons Apartments occupy the space of the old stables. Real polo games were played on Sunday afternoons and spectators from all over the state would come with blankets and picnic baskets to watch quality polo right here in WildeWood.
WildeWood grew congruously with the growth of Columbia. Until 1972, Two Notch Road was two lanes from Decker Boulevard all the way to Camden. With the widening of Two Notch, the opening of I-20, and the new Spring Valley High School (est. 1970), WildeWood became a visible, accessible, and popular option for prospective homeowners.
Today, WildeWood is still buffered by Sesquicentennial State Park, which has approximately 1500 acres. Together the contiguous 3100 acres under control offer protection from encroaching city life and create a haven for the more than 1,100 homes that dot WildeWood’s landscape.
Woodcreek Farms began in the 1940’s as a 2200 acre rural tract that Edwin Cooper, Sr., established as a hunting club for his friends and relatives. The Club comprised several cabins and cottages built around Woodcreek Lake by Columbians who used them as weekend and vacation homes.
In the early 1990’s, Heath Manning partnered with Edwin Cooper, Jr., in order to develop Woodcreek Farms into an upscale, architecturally controlled golf course community. The developers selected Tom Fazio as the course designer, and encouraged him to utilize his talents with almost total freedom. This resulted in the Woodcreek Farms golf course, which is one of the most touted in the Southeastern United States.
The first home in Woodcreek Farms was built in 1997. Since then, approximately 400 homes have been added, with additional development scheduled over the next twenty-five years.
On January 23, 2009, the members of what was then the Country Club at WildeWood and Woodcreek purchased the Club and renamed it The Members Club at Woodcreek and WildeWood. Purchase of The Members Club at Woodcreek and WildeWood is the culmination of more than a year and a half of due diligence by a group of members, led by Bill McDougall, who formed a Steering Committee to undertake the process of determining the feasibility of purchasing the two golf courses and facilities by the current membership. The Club is now owned and operated by its membership.