Going against the predominant trend in the Myrtle Beach golf market, the Calabash, N.C., property is installing bentgrass after testing seven different strains on a nursery green. The property will close on June 1 and reopen in early October, with other improvements to drainage, cart paths, landscaping, the cart barn, and the restaurant.
The operators of Crow Creek Golf Club in Calabash, N.C., are going against the predominant trend in the Myrtle Beach golf market, the Myrtle Beach, S.C.- based Sun News reported.
Crow Creek is scheduled to close on June 1 for a renovation project that will include the changing of its greens, which will be redone with bentgrass. The course is not scheduled to reopen until early October, and other improvements will be made during the down time, the Sun News reported.
The Rick Robbins design still has the original L93 bentgrass greens it opened with in 2000, and course operators have narrowed their list to three possibilities as a replacement grass, including an updated strain of L93 that is designed to be more heat-tolerant and recover from ball marks more quickly than its predecessor, the Sun News reported.
“It will be a chance for us to be a little more unique,” head pro Jimmy Biggs said. “Everyone else is going to Bermuda and we think we know bent pretty well.”
Once a prevalent and preferred putting surface on Grand Strand courses, bentgrass has consistently been replaced by ultradwarf Bermudagrasses with their proliferation over the past 15 years, leaving less than 10 Strand courses with bent greens, the Sun News reported.
The nursery green at Crow Creek was used to test seven different strains of bentgrass, the Sun News reported.
“We were extremely thorough and now we’re trying to determine which one will give us the longest performance,” Biggs said. “We’re trying to do something that will be good for us year-round.”
Crow Creek’s green contours, which feature some severe undulation, won’t be altered. “There’s a lot of character in those greens,” Biggs said. “There are some relatively easy shots here and those greens with all those undulations are the only defense some of those holes have.”
Drainage will be improved in several areas including some fairways and green fringes in an attempt to allow carts on fairways more often, and repair or renovation work will also be done on the concrete cart paths, wooden bridges, landscaping, a few tee boxes, the cart barn that is contained in the clubhouse, and the restaurant, the Sun News reported.
“With all these changes we think we’ll be unique and in the top condition of golf courses in the area,” Biggs said.
A grand reopening event for people in the area golf industry will precede a reopening to the public, the Sun News reported.
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