River Club Showcases
New A-1 Bent Grass Greens

TravelGolf.com Staff Report

Only Public Golf Course to Feature A-1 Bent Grass Greens along the South Strand

Pawleys Island, S.C. (August 2, 2001) - Myrtle Beach National Company's Tom Jackson signature course, River Club, will showcase its new A-1 bent grass greens for its first full fall golf season. River Club reopened October 16, 2001 after a one million-dollar reconstruction project. The A-1 bent grass was provided by Stormy Acres, a New Jersey based company, and is the same grass that was used on some of the greens that were resodded at Augusta National. The installation of the greens makes River Club the only public golf course with A-1 bent grass in the Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island area of Myrtle Beach.

Since showcasing new putting surfaces last October, River Club has received rave reviews by residents and out of town golfers. River Club architect Tom Jackson oversaw the reconstruction project which involved shelling out all of the greens and installing a sub-air drainage system.

This state-of-the-art technology provides better drainage for the greens and improves air circulation by pumping cool air into the greens during the hotter months of the year. Bunkers were also shelled out, new drainage was installed and a whiter sand installed to improve the playability and visual appeal of the course.

Greens were replaced with A-1 bent grass sod, one of the top new hybrid surfaces in the industry. A-1 bent grass provides a smoother putting surface that is more heat tolerant grasses. All of the green renovation work has been done according to USGA specifications.

"The River Club course is one of the best conditioned courses in the area since the installation of the new greens last fall," said Jim Woodring, Director and General Manager of Golf Operations for the Myrtle Beach National Company.

"The A-1 bent grass has proved to be true to its reputation of offering one of the smoothest putting surface available in the turf market. We expect the course to continue to be one of the most requested and played as we prepare to enter our first full golf season after a record 2001 Spring."

River Club is one of the premier plantation courses in the Myrtle Beach area. The course features water on 15 of its 18 holes and more than 100 sand traps and bunkers.

River Club is owned by the Myrtle Beach National Company and is one of the three plantation courses situated in Litchfield Beach and Golf Resort located in the exclusive vacation destination of Litchfield Beach and Pawleys Island area of Myrtle Beach.

The Myrtle Beach National Company has evolved into one of the leading golf and management operations in the Southeast, featuring many of the most well respected signature courses along the Grand Strand.

The company formed in 1971 with the construction of the Arnold Palmer-designed original 54-hole golf complex, which includes the West Course, Southcreek (both designed by Francis Duane and Arnold Palmer) and Palmer's newly designed and award winning King's North.

Since the originals, the company has grown to include the Robert Trent Jones designed Waterway Hills, Jack Nicklaus's Long Bay, Tom Jackson's River Club and Aberdeen Country Club, Dan Maple's Willbrook Plantation and Willard Byrd's Litchfield Country Club, all premier Myrtle Beach area signature courses.