Four Myrtle Beach Golf Courses to Reopen in August with New Greens

This has been the summer of new greens along the Grand Strand, and four more courses are poised to re-open in the coming weeks. The warm weather has provided an ideal environment for growth and reports from the quartet have been universally positive.

After a conversation with management at each facility, here is a look at the Myrtle Beach golf courses that will reopen in August:

— Diamondback is in the second year of a three-year renovation project, and general manager Patrick Wilkinson couldn’t be happier with the work being done, including the installation of new Sunday Ultradwarf Bermuda greens. The greens are growing in beautifully, according to Wilkinson, and will be ready for Diamondback’s grand re-opening celebration August 16-18.

In addition to greens, the course is improving irrigation and renovating bunkers, work that comes on the heels of a project last summer that saw the removal of more than 200 trees and a general softening of the layout.

“Golfers are going to see ideal conditions this fall,” Wilkinson said. “We are going through a transformation, and players that haven’t been here in a while are going to be surprised with the way this place looks.”

— New Sunday Ultradwarf greens have enjoyed a seamless grow-in at the PineHills Course at Myrtlewood, and the layout is on target to reopen August 6, meaning the ever-popular Arthur Hills design will be in prime condition when fall golfers begin rolling into town.

— The Bay 9 at Sandpiper Bay Golf Club will reopen on August 5 and players can expect to see greens in superior condition immediately.

“They are in the best shape I’ve ever seen them in and I’ve been here 10 years,” head pro Brett Thomaswick said of Sandpiper’s greens. “We are in great shape from top to bottom.”

Thomaswick showered the maintenance staff with praise when asked about conditions at the 27-hole facility, noting they placed 15,000 sprigs by hand, helping ensure success.

In addition to the greens, Sandpiper used the time to re-sod select common areas, fairways and tees.

Sandpiper could’ve reopened in mid to late-July but with 18 holes open and heavy rains that hit the area, management, exercising an abundance of caution, opted to wait until Aug. 5.

— Tradition Club is restoring its greens to their original size and resurfacing them with Sunday Bermuda. Like its sister course, PineHills, the process, under the supervision of Max Morgan, Founders Group International’s VP of agronomy, has gone smoothly.

“The whole golf course is in spectacular shape,” said Christa Bodensteiner, who oversees golf operations. “Being closed for eight weeks, there are no divots and there is nobody out there, so the grass is growing in wonderfully. They’ve already started mowing it, rolling it and fertilizing it. We’re just so excited about how great this golf course is going to be as soon as we reopen.”

Tradition Club is tentatively schedule to reopen on August 15.