COLUMBIA - The governor and state comptroller voted against it, but Coastal Carolina University won approval to lease Quail Creek Golf Course for its golf-management program.

The state Budget and Control Board voted 3-2 Thursday to allow CCU to lease the course.

The college's plans show the project will make a small amount of money, but Gov. Mark Sanford worried about what would happen if it did not and voted against it along with Comptroller Richard Eckstrom.

CCU is the only university with a Professional Golf Association-approved program that does not have its own course to use. The course also will be used by students in the turf-management program at Horry-Georgetown Technical College.

The golf course was for sale, but CCU asked if it could lease the property instead. The course is adjacent to both CCU and HGTC, so it is ideal for the golf programs, CCU Vice President Sally Horner told the budget board.

The board must approve all leases by public agencies even if they do not cost the state anything.

CCU's figures show a yearly operating cost for the course of $353,794. The course income in recent years has averaged $363,000.

Sanford said he had the state Parks, Recreation and Tourism Department prepare some figures on the course operation and those showed CCU losing $435,000 a year.

Horner said those projections did not seem to take into account lower operating costs because students would manage and maintain the course under the supervision of professionals.

Student fees for the golf programs also would support the golf course, along with private and corporate memberships and public play, Horner said.

She also said CCU will have to spend $350,000 to $400,000 to use other golf courses if it does not get access to one of its own.

Sanford asked who would pay if the course could not cover its costs. Horner said CCU could increase public play or raise fees for the golf course students if that happened.

"There's a glut" of golf courses in Myrtle Beach and some are going bankrupt, Sanford said. The CCU plan did not include enough advertising to ensure that the course would make money, he said.

Afterward, CCU officials said they are not worried about the course being able to pay for itself. Current memberships will be honored and new ones will be solicited, but the cost is not set yet, Horner said.

CCU attorney Eddie Dyer said he has played the course, which was designed by Gene Hamm, and that it is popular with both tourists and residents.

"It's a really fun place to play golf," Dyer said.

CCU's lease will begin July 1.