MYRTLE BEACH FEATURE

Dunes Club continues
restoration project

By Robert Hoffman,
Staff Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (Oct. 10, 2003) -- There is an unusual silence emanating from the fairways of the famed Dunes Golf & Beach Club, the Grand Strand's most revered layout, this fall. The sound of golfers celebrating a rare birdie at No. 13, better known as Waterloo, have been replaced by the buzz of a greens restoration project that will leave the course closed until December.

While golfers will be disappointed at missing a chance to play the 7,165-yard Robert Trent Jones designed gem, it should be well worth the wait.

The Dunes Club closed on July 7 for a greens restoration project that is being directed by Rees Jones, one of the world’s preeminent architects and the son of Robert Trent Jones. Rees is overseeing a project that includes the installation of A-1 bent grass greens and the rebuilding of the first, eighth, 13th, 16th and 18th greens.

After thorough research, Jones and Dunes Club officials elected to replace the Penn Links bent grass that was installed in 1992 with A-1 bent grass. The A-1 bent has a greater tolerance for heat and disease than some of its bent grass brethren, and its watering requirements aren’t as high, making it a perfect fit for Myrtle Beach’s balmy summers.

Unlike most courses that understandably need to reopen as quickly as possible after a major greens project, the Dunes Club has been blessed with five months to install the new greens. The result is an installation process that would be the envy of any course in the country.

The Dunes Club, home to a total of 21 greens, removed the top four inches of material, which had built up excessive thatch over the previous 11 years, on the 16 greens that weren’t rebuilt. The soil mix below the removed thatch was sent off for testing to ensure the new greens would have everything necessary to thrive.

After the soil tests came back in the affirmative and the course was fumigated, the greens were restored to their original contours using the blueprints made prior to the beginning of the project. The club also used the chance to restore the greens to their original size. In the 11 years since the last greens project, Bermuda grass had encroached on the greens, in some cases resulting in a substantial reduction in size.

That encroachment has been eliminated and the Dunes Club will again feature greens that have four putt-able quadrants, a Robert Trent Jones hallmark.

"The goal behind the redesign (of the five greens) was to have the golfers come in and say they really couldn’t tell the difference," said Steve Hamilton, the Dunes Club’s superintendent. "Rees didn’t want to mess with his father’s original intent or design, and I don’t think he did."

The process of tearing up the greens, providing proper fumigation and restoring the contours to the land took approximately six weeks. At the end of August the new greens were reseeded, and as fate would have it, South Carolina’s summer heat broke at the beginning of September, providing perfect growing conditions for bent grass.

"The weather conditions have been very conducive to growing bent grass," said Brian Vest, the head golf professional at the Dunes Club. "We have had plenty of sunshine during the day and temperatures have cooled off at night, which is ideal for us."

With the new grass thriving, the Dunes Club’s greens are 100 percent covered and being mowed regularly. At this point it’s a matter of getting them mowed down to the proper height, top-dressed and smoothed out.

Though the greens project garners most of the attention, it isn’t the only endeavor being undertaken. Hamilton and his staff are working to improve drainage, prune trees that are out-competing turf grass and make minor cart path repairs.

The current project is part of a much larger effort for the Dunes Club, which was founded in 1948. The club is making a conscious effort to continually improve a layout that Golf Digest recently ranked as one "America 100 Greatest Courses." With all due respect to its Grand Strand peers, the Dunes Club carries more clout among the golf cognoscenti than any other area layout.

Most people are aware that the club hosted the Senior PGA Tour Championship from 1994 to 1999, but the layout has also hosted the U.S. Women’s Open (1962), the finals of the PGA Tour’s Q-School (1973) and annual Golf Writers Association of America Tournament.

"The greens restoration project is another phase in our long range plan to consistently improve the Dunes Golf & Beach Club," said Erick Ficken, Dunes Club president. "It’s only appropriate that Rees Jones is overseeing the project and providing insight into how to improve the course in the future. His father made this one of the nation’s greatest courses, and now Rees, the premier architect of his generation, will build on that work."

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While the recent improvements should only strengthen the club’s standing as one of the nation’s premier layouts, the Dunes Club will not be resting on its substantial laurels. As part of his current project, Rees Jones is also going to layout a master plan for the course’s future.

"He (Rees) is going to provide us with a road map to continue going forward," said Vest. "He will give us what he thinks is best for us in the near future and what will carry us forward for the next 55 years."

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.