Chicago area man takes his unique vision to South Carolina
Photographs by Jeff Marsh/Old Barnwell
This article appeared in the August 2026 edition of Chicago District Golfer.
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Hole No. 11 at Old Barnwell Golf Club is a 520-yard par 4 that features a deep trough through the center of the green.
Unlike so many scions of the North Shore, Nick Schreiber didn’t accompany his father to the country club on summer Saturday evenings to chase the setting sun with clubs and balls.
“My dad did not play,” Schreiber said. “He hated the elitism of the game.”
He found his love of golf in the caddie yard. The sibling of seven brothers and sisters was required to get a job at age 13 to earn some walking-around money, notwithstanding that his father – who had come from a modest background – was an enormously successful Chicago businessman. After learning that youngsters could make good money toting bags, he headed to Old Elm Club in Highland Park, a short bike ride from his home in Lake Forest. There, in addition to developing a passion for playing golf, he found what would become the inspiration for his life’s work.
His third or fourth loop at Old Elm was Christopher Galvin, grandson of Motorola founder Paul Galvin and son of Robert Galvin, who transformed the Schaumburg-based two-way radio company into an international conglomerate and former No. 1 cellular phone manufacturer in the world. At the time – the late 1990s – Motorola also was title sponsor of the Western Open, now the BMW Championship.
“I just remember him being so kind and engaging, asking me questions and allowing me to ask questions of him,” Schreiber said in the “Invested in the Game” podcast hosted by Mason Reed. “And that really stuck with me because, you know, the joke I make is that in any other situation, there’d be security between me and him. And here he was just having a conversation with a 13-year-old kid. It’s something I’ve never forgotten.”
Fast forward and Schreiber, now 42, isn’t just paying it forward; he’s fast-forwarding it. After being involved with a successful software startup and a life-changing stint in drug-alcohol rehab, he and his wife, Sarah, founded a place called Old Barnwell, a 673-acre property where he built – with the help of investors, including his “reluctant” father – a private golf club with a decidedly public purpose located 20 minutes outside downtown Aiken, South Carolina. There, golf course architect Brian Schneider and his associate Blake Conant of Renaissance Golf Design created a sandy soil-based course that debuted in 2023 and immediately shot to No. 51 in Golf Magazine’s Top 100 rankings.
“I’m really proud of it,” Schreiber said, adding quickly, “I had nothing to do with it.”
Schneider and Conant also built a 15-hole course strictly for juniors, with holes ranging from 75-300 yards long.
“It has become a great playground for kids of all ages,” Schreiber said.
Thanks to the success of the first course, Schneider and Conant are working on a second 18-hole track. Old Barnwell is the site of a Drive, Chip and Putt Local Qualifier, the 2027 NCAA Regionals and the 2028 Women’s Western Junior championship.
Schreiber’s mission is to use Old Barnwell to change as many lives as possible in positive, meaningful ways. First, he established a relationship with the Western Golf Association/Evans Scholars Foundation, which helped him set up a caddie program, train caddies and reach out to local kids, most hailing from the Aiken area. Schreiber approached First Tee – Aiken to recruit caddies and to help with the organization’s programs. Hundreds responded. Old Barnwell currently has four Evans Scholarship recipients in school at the University of South Carolina. He connected with Annika Sorenstam’s Annika Foundation to help young women cover the cost of following their dreams of playing professional golf. The 15-hole course is open to non-member youngsters 15 and under on weekends and adults can’t play unless a kid invites them; members’ kids play then, too.
Some years back, American Express had a famous advertising slogan: “Membership Has Its Privileges.” At Old Barnwell, Schreiber’s slogan might well be: “Membership Has Its Obligations.” From his own experience with Galvin, Schreiber understood that a golf course can be a place where people build personal connections. Old Barnwell members must be willing to buy in to the mission to not just play golf but to be the kind of connection that can improve lives.
“A golf course…has members who have a great deal of experience in various fields and who have the resources to help both financially and otherwise with the time and their experience,” Schreiber said. “We figured that if we could create a membership that understood what we were trying to accomplish and was willing to participate in that, we could create programming that would have a great impact on the community. That’s how we decided on the concept of a private golf club – an inclusive private golf club, which is an oxymoron.”
To date, some 435 local, regional and national members have joined – and there’s a waiting list.
“They’re firing on all cylinders,” said Brian Bianchi, vice president for caddie development with the WGA, who met with Schreiber early on in the process. “Nick is a visionary. He’s showing how a [private] club can be part of a community and serve outward interests. Old Barnwell is a place that is unique in golf.”
Barry Cronin is the editor of Chicago District Golfer magazine.