FEATURE STORY

Fast times and fast greens in Myrtle Beach

Green speeds an issue during spring high season

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (March 1, 2004) -- Greens. Golfers want them rolling true and in near-perfect condition. That much we know. But more and more these days, superintendents, head professionals, and golf directors have to deal with duffers who want them fast. Real fast. Just like they see the boys (and occasionally, girls) of the PGA Tour putting on television.

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Problem? You better believe it. Cutting greens to ridiculously low levels can stress turf to the point of killing it, increase maintenance budgets, and make a superintendent's job a living hell. And greens that roll between nine and 11 feet on the Stimpmeter also can lead to three and four putts, further deteriorating pace of play.

"We have the green speed discussion all the time," says Skip Corn, general manager for the Classic Golf Group, which operates eight local courses. "That is a serious business with us. We think we know what is best for our greens and for golfers. We all love to play on greens that are 11 (on the stimpmeter) until we three or four putt a couple times."

Corn says green speeds at Classic Group courses are typically between eight and 10 on the Stimpmeter, depending on the strand of grass. Four courses have TifEagle Bermuda greens -- a newer Ultra Dwarf Bermuda -- that are kept between nine and 10. The other four have an older strand of Bermuda, TifDwarf, that is mowed higher.

"We have to keep the TifDwarf around eight or nine and ideally eight because you can put that grass under too much stress if you cut it lower than that," Corn says.

Based on the standards golfers have adopted in recent years, the Classic Group's greens are on the slow side. But Corn says they rarely receive any complaints.

"If you put a golfer on good greens, rolling around 10, he won't know and he won't care," Corn says. "A lot of them confuse speed with a green being smooth or true."

The knock on Bermuda (a thick blade warm weather grass), however, has always been that it doesn't roll as smooth or true as bentgrass (a thin blade cool weather grass). The majority of Grand Strand courses have Bermuda grass greens that are overseeded with rye or poa trivialis from November through April. So when thousands of golfers descend upon Myrtle Beach this spring, many will be putting on a cool season grass overseed.

"It is the slow winter and spring overseed that causes the most complaints about Bermuda (being slow)," says Art Stipo, a Wilmington, Del. resident who's been coming to Myrtle Beach since 1978.

According to Stipo, the speed issue is compounded when golfers from up north, who are used to putting on bentgrass, arrive in Myrtle Beach only to find shaggy, overseeded greens.

"Depending on the season, I do seek out bentgrass in Myrtle Beach mainly because overseeded Bermuda is often so slow," Stipo says.

But seeking out bentgrass usually equates to playing some of the Strand's pricier courses. Top tier tracks like the TPC of Myrtle Beach, Grande Dunes, the Dunes Club, World Tour Golf Links and Barefoot Resort have bentgrass greens, as do a handful of others. Rates at these courses easily exceed $100 for 18 holes and a cart during the high spring and fall golf seasons. Still, traveling golfers are willing to pony up for what they perceive to be faster, truer putting surfaces.

"When I'm in Myrtle Beach, green conditions and type are paramount on my selecting courses for my group," says Jeff Gehm, a nine-handicap from New Castle, Pa. "If it's a toss-up between playing two courses, and one has bent and the other one doesn't, I'll choose the one with bent first."

Gehm isn't alone. The majority of golfers surveyed in an informal, Myrtle Beach message board poll prefer bentgrass to Bermuda. Ironically, a number of high-end courses have switched from bentgrass to Ultra Dwarf Bermuda in recent years, including such immensely popular facilities as Tidewater Golf Club and True Blue. Courses making the swap have done so primarily for maintenance purposes, and most report warm receptions from golfers.

"When TifEagle is in season and well maintained, many can't tell the difference compared to bent," Stipo says. "I have seen TifEagle putt as good as bent."

The Grand Strand is one of only a handful of regions in the United States where both Bermuda and bentgrass can be successfully grown and maintained. The United States Golf Association's Greens Section used to recommend Bermuda grass for courses south of U.S. 501, bentgrass or Bermuda for courses between 501 and Hwy. 9, and bentgrass north of the N.C./S.C. stateline. USGA officials say the lines between the subsections have become blurred.

What is a Stimpmeter? The Stimpmeter is an extruded aluminum bar, 36 inches long, with a V-shaped groove extending along its entire length. It has a precisely milled ball-release notch 30" from the tapered end (the end that rests on the ground). The underside of the tapered end is milled away to reduce bounce as a rolling ball makes contact with the green. The V-shaped groove has an included angle of 145 degrees, thereby supporting a golf ball at two points ½" apart. A ball rolling down the groove has a slight overspin, which is thoroughly consistent and has no deleterious effect on the ensuing measurments. The ball-release notch is designed so that a ball will always be released and start to roll when the Stimpmeter is raised to an angle of approximately 20 degrees. This feature ensures that the velocity of the ball will always be the same when it reaches the tapered end. Read More >>

"I have a slide that shows the southern boundary of bentgrass in South Carolina and Georgia," says Patrick O'Brien, director of the of the USGA's Southeastern Greens Section. "The traditional line on the coast is Myrtle Beach, but we have one course in Hilton Head that has bentgrass greens. So where is the line now? It is disappearing. My prediction for the future is that where we had a line in the southeast, it will become so murky because of new Ultra Dwarf Bermuda grasses."

Indeed, many of Myrtle Beach's newer courses, like Farmstead Golf Links and the International Club, came equipped with Ultra Dwarf greens. Strands like TifEagle and Champion are more durable and heat tolerant than bentgrass, making them attractive to superintendents. They can also be cut to heights of 1/8 inch, thus producing greens speeds similar to bentgrass.

"A well-maintained TifEagle green will roll as fast and true as a bentgrass green," Corn says. "But to be honest, I don't think the average golfer knows what he's playing on or exactly how fast it is rolling."

If that is truly the case, superintendents may be worried about a whole lot of nothing. But at least one local superintendent believes green speed is a legitimate concern.

"Thing about Myrtle is it's a resort area and your greens are only as good or bad as the last course they played," says Jim Knaffle, superintendent International Club in Murrells Inlet. "There is a sense of pressure. This is a competitive area and the money is in the greens. If you don't have good fast greens you don't have much of a product to put out there."

Knaffle keeps International Club's TifEagle greens mowed to 1/8 inch, the lowest recommended height. He says the feedback he hears from golfers is "keep them fast."

"I haven't heard anyone say they want them slower, yet," Knaffle says.

But some industry insiders say the emphasis on fast greens is unnecessary. Carson Courage of the Myrtle Beach Golf Directors, a local golf packaging service, says his clients ask in advance about conditions, but not green speeds and grass types.

"We've been booking a lot of value oriented packages and they just want grass on the greens," Courage says. "They want a good, affordable course, a nice play to stay and some good food. It's simple."

If one thing is for sure, creating and maintaining a putting surface all golfers agree on is anything but simple.