REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK

Greener pastures: Grand Strand courses work to improve putting surfaces

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (July 14, 2003) -- A frigid winter and the wettest spring in history have wreaked havoc on Grand Strand greens. While a number of courses had major green restoration projects planned before the inclement weather, a handful of courses are scrambling to make spot repairs before the fall golf season.

"It's been a tough transition," says Mac Hood, head professional at Farmstead Golf Links. "We had a severe winter and we had more rain in North and South Carolina over the past few months than we've ever had."

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"It (grass) is a living organism, so you have to deal with these types of things from time to time," says Hood.

In the South Strand, Blackmoor Golf Club in Murrells Inlet is replacing all 18 of its TifDwarf Bermuda putting surfaces with TifEagle. Unlike Farmstead, the project had been in the works for over a year. The Gary Player designed plantation course has been closed since May 19 and will reopen the first week of August.

"TifEagle allows us to be more competitive," says Bob Zuercher, Blackmoor's director of operations. "We can cut it closer and they will roll faster."

One of the Strand's most storied courses is also trading in its old greens for a new set. The Dunes Golf and Beach Club recently announced that Rees Jones will oversee the restoration of all 18 of its greens. Jones, the youngest son of the Dunes original architect, Robert Trent Jones, Sr., is considered the preeminent golf course "re-designer" based on his work at U.S. Open venues.

"It's only appropriate that Rees Jones is overseeing the project and providing insight into how to improve the course in the future," said Erick Ficken, Dunes Club president. "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."

The course will be closed from July 7 through Dec. 2 while the existing PenLinks bentgrass is replaced with A-1 bentgrass. Ficken says the A-1 is better equipped to withstand the coastal South Carolina heat and will improve the condition of the greens year-round. Jones will also make alterations to the first, eighth, 13th, 16th and 18th greens to allow for the increased speed of the new surfaces.

Resurfacing greens with bentgrass is the exception, not the norm, around the Grand Strand. Daytime temperatures in the summer months regularly exceed 90 degrees, making maintenance of the cool weather grass a tenuous undertaking. Moreover, the 40,000 plus rounds many local courses host each year generate more foot traffic than most bentgrass surfaces can tolerate.

"There are a few bentgrass greens left out there, but they will probably all switch over to TifEagle or something like it in time," says Zuercher.

Over the past five years, a number of courses have converted their greens to new heat tolerant strands of UltraDwarf Bermuda, such as TifEagle or Champion. Among the higher profile courses to make the switch are the Tidewater Golf Club in Cherry Grove and True Blue in Pawleys Island.

The Legends Group followed suit this summer with its Parkland Course. The course closed the last week May so all 18 greens could be replaced with TifEagle. It will reopen the first week of August. Aberdeen Country Club in North Myrtle Beach reopened last week after replacing the bentgrass on nine of its greens with TifEagle.

A number of other courses are taking time out during the summer to fix greens damaged by the winter freezes and spring rains. Willbrook Plantation in Pawleys Island is repairing two greens (No.'s 10 and 17) that will be completed sometime in late August or early September And the West Course at Myrtle Beach National is making repairs to two of its greens that were damaged over the course of the winter and spring.

Chip Shots

The Carolinas PGA -- the largest of 41 chapters of the PGA of America -- is contemplating a move from North Myrtle Beach. Executive director Rod Schmid says the CPGA is seeking a premier course in the Carolinas where it can develop a state-of-the-art teaching facility . the Classics Golf Group has been selected to manage Crown Park Golf Club on S.C. 9 in Longs, bringing the company's holdings to seven facilities and eight courses . three Grand Strand golf schools made Golf Magazine's Top 25 golf schools in America for 2003-04: The Classic Golf Swing School at Deer Track and Legends Resort, Phil Ritson/Mel Sol Golf School at Pawleys Plantation, and Tradition Golf School at the Tradition Golf Club.