The grass does matter at Tidewater Golf Club

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (June 18, 2002) -- They roll true and fast. Their surfaces are an emerald green hue that glistens in the midday sun like some kind of grassy mirage. They are bentgrass greens, the preferred putting surface of the discerning golfer.

But will they be a rarity in the Grand Strand in the years to come?

Tidewater Golf Club and Plantation closed the first week of June to replace its A-1 bentgrass greens with TifEagle, a popular new strand of Ultra Dwarf Bermuda that is more heat tolerant than its climatologically sensitive cousin. The award-winning Ken Tomlinson designed layout is not the first Myrtle Beach area golf course to make the switch from bentgrass to TifEagle.

True Blue, a Mike Strantz designed course in Pawleys Island, underwent a similar swap in October of 2000, and Wachesaw Plantation East in Murrells Inlet blazed the bent-to-TifEagle trail over two years ago.

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According to superintendent Bob Graunke, the reason for Tidewater's conversion was all about water, or the lack thereof. The course's water supply had become increasingly salty due to the three-year-long drought wreaking havoc on the southeastern U.S., and the lack of natural precipitation caused salt levels to build up to dangerous levels on the putting surfaces.

"It was a preventive measure based on current meteorological and environmental conditions," Graunke says. "But I actually think the change will take us to the next level."

To get to the proverbial next level, Graunke and Tidewater officials had to choose between two extreme options: spend every waking hour of the day coddling and monitoring the bentgrass, or cut their losses and install a strand of Ultra Dwarf Bermuda grass that would be able to stand up to brackish (salt and fresh water mix) irrigation water and the course's 40,000 plus annual rounds.

Based on the experiences of other top shelf courses in the southeast, Graunke says the decision was a no-brainer. True Blue and Wachesaw Plantation East's conversions met with considerable success, and a handful of highly regarded courses in the Hilton Head area, including Harbour Town Golf Links, recently rebuilt their greens with TifEagle.

"These greens were still some of the best in the Grand Strand," Graunke says. "We caught the problem early on and actually, we could have lived with it. But who knows when the drought will let up. We haven't had significant rain here in three years since (Hurricane) Floyd. Plus, this grass is being used on some of the best courses in this region and the players enjoy it as much or more than bentgrass."

It will be a bittersweet unveiling, however, when Tidewater reopens the first week of August sporting its new TifEagle greens. Just two and a half years ago the course installed A-1 bentgrass greens as part of a major remodeling project that kept the layout closed for nearly three months. Many golfers regarded the new putting surfaces as the best in the Grand Stand, and the revamped greens reaffirmed Tidewater's ranking as one of the best tracks in the state.

But as rainfall dramatically decreased and the water table fell to unprecedented levels, the greens became increasingly difficult to maintain. After a couple of close brushes with completely losing the bentgrass, Graunke, Tidewater golf director Archie Lemon, and the club's ownership decided it was time to pull the plug on a bentgrass dream gone bad.

Graunke says that he and other Tidewater officials have no regrets about their decision to install bentgrass during the course's first makeover. Installation of the TifEagle greens is relatively inexpensive, and the six week time period required to grown them ensures that Tidewater will be fully operational and in peak condition for the fall season.

"We considered the TifEagle the first time, but we were still looking at the research on the Ultra Dwarf grasses and we felt it was inconclusive," Graunke says. "It is not like any other Bermuda grass. It requires intense maintenance including weekly top dressing."

Despite the dangerously low fresh water table and all the maintenance headaches that come with it, a handful of Grand Strand courses still maintain bentgrass greens. The four courses at Barefoot Resort, Grande Dunes, Kings North, the River Club, the Surf Club, and Rivers Edge feature strands of bentgrass on their greens. Barefoot Resort and Grande Dunes both get their irrigation water from the Waccamaw River where fresh water is still abundant.

But Rivers Edge, with its location on the banks of the brackish Shallotte River, faces many of the same water issues as Tidewater and other coastal courses.

"Our greens are in perfect shape, but we've made a decision to use our limited water on them and not the fairways," says Rivers Edge head professional Bruce Harper. "Our situation is similar to Tidewater in that our access to fresh water is limited. We are approaching the red zone and if we get there, we'll have to make a decision."

With no signs of drought relief on the way, and TifEagle making a name for itself in the turf industry, is it only a question of time before the remaining bastions of bentgrass opt for Bermuda? Harper believes that facilities like Grande Dunes and Barefoot Resort will persevere.

"As long as you can grow bentgrass here, someone is going to have it in hopes of obtaining that competitive advantage," Harper says. "They've got the water supply and the player demand."