Myrtle Beach area golf courses reopen and assess conditions from the winter freeze

After up to a week of inactivity and likely some consternation, golf course operators along the Grand Strand were getting back to business on Monday as their courses thawed from one of the worst winter freezes on record in the area.

Courses reported being closed anywhere from three days to eight days, and though most reopened by Monday afternoon, most in the Georgetown County areas of Pawleys Island and Murrells Inlet remained closed as heavier snow cover was still melting.

Many of those courses, including Heritage Club, True Blue and Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, expected to reopen Tuesday afternoon.

High temperatures are expected to be near or exceed 60 degrees every day through at least Saturday so courses will continue to recover.

The freeze has had an impact on revenue and potentially on course conditions, the extent of which won’t be known in most cases until warm-weather Bermudagrass bounces back from dormancy around May and June.

“Everyone’s still chomping at the bit to get open and get back to normal,” said Heritage Club superintendent Jim Huntoon. “Then we’ll have to see if we have any damage.”

The loss of business came at the least detrimental time for courses, as the first week in January is typically among the slowest weeks of the year and green fees are as low as they’ll be all year. Most of the play comes from members and discount card holders.

Golf package play will pick up slightly around the third week of January and continue to be significant through May.

“Any revenue loss is significant to a business, but if you’re going to have a week to be closed this would be the week,” said Bob Seganti, director of golf operations for True Blue and Caledonia. “The slowest weeks of the year are the two weeks before and after Christmas as everyone tries to recover from the holiday.”

Barefoot Resort general manager Dave Genevro said the only disappointing day that was lost was New Year’s Day. His four courses were closed from Monday through Sunday with the exception of the Norman Course on the weekend.

Courses generally expect to lose a few days in January due to weather conditions, and they could begin to make up for lost time this weekend, which is a long weekend for many with Martin Luther King Day on Monday. It often attracts some package and drive market play.

“If I had to pick a week in January to miss it would be the day after New Year’s and the few days that follow,” Genevro said. “We’re cautiously optimistic we’ll be able to make some of this up in the rest of the month if the weather stays good.”

Some diehards braved the cold temperatures this weekend and a number of courses accommodated them by opening for afternoon rounds once temperatures rose above freezing and frost dissipated.

A group of 15 played the Barefoot Norman Course on Saturday and Sunday and a group of about a dozen played Long Bay Club from Saturday through Monday.

“We’ll stay open for visiting golfers so they don’t have to sit in their hotel rooms with nothing to do,” said Max Morgan, president of agronomy with Founders Group International, which owns and operates 22 Strand courses including Long Bay. “And they usually really appreciate it.”

The condition of greens is the greatest concern coming out of traumatic weather events, and all but about 10 courses on the Strand now have warm-weather Bermuda on putting surfaces.

Those that have the cool-weather bentgrass should be okay, according to Steve Hamilton, superintendent at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club and past president of the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association who has handled both bent and Bermuda greens at The Dunes Club.

“The cool-season grasses should be fine,” Hamilton said. “Any of the guys that still have bentgrass, as long as they’re careful as they thaw – and most people have been closed I’m assuming – the turf will thaw today and tonight.

“People with warm-weather greens will be anxious and nervous about it. This is the first long cold snap we’ve had in recorded history, as far as the duration, so for warm-season grasses it’s going to be interesting. Only time will tell.”

Courses that don’t overseed their Bermuda greens with poa trivialis, and in some cases their fairways with ryegrass, will know sooner if their Bermuda was damaged by the freeze. Courses that overseeded will know a little later after the transition back to Bermuda is completed.

This will be a test for the ultradwarf Bermuda grasses that have become prevalent on area greens over the past 15 years, including TifEagle, Champion and MiniVerde.

“I think you’ll see that line drawn down the East Coast,” Hamilton said. “It got really cold in some places north of us and got below that level of survivability. But many of the places got snow, and that’s the best thing you can have. It will be a good test.”

Snow can act as insulation between the cold air temperatures and the ground, so courses on the south end of the Strand may benefit from that, and several area courses also have tarps to cover their greens during cold spells.

Fairways, tee boxes and rough could also be impacted. “You’ll probably hear about it from some of our guys inland and in North Carolina, they could definitely have winter kill,” Hamilton said. “I haven’t seen a lot of it at the beach but it could happen here.”

Because the first part of the winter has been favorable to grass health, Morgan believes courses will be able to withstand the tough week.

“It’s early in the year and the plants were still in great shape going into the cold spell, so we should be okay,” Morgan said.

Course operators are hoping the remainder of the winter will be mild.

“This is only the beginning,” Hamilton said. “We could receive some more cold weather over the next six weeks. It will be interesting to see how people green out in the spring and summer. Hopefully we won’t hear any horror stories.”

Free military clinics

Instructor Joe Carbonell and The Golf School of Myrtle Beach located at River Oaks Golf Club want to give back to those who have protected our freedoms, and they will do so for the entirety of 2018.

Carbonell and fellow golf academy co-owner Russ Brown have created the Thank You Golf Academy, which will be giving free one-hour lessons from 10-11 a.m. every Wednesday this year to all active and retired military members.

“I make my living through the game of golf thanks to the freedoms I have, and I can give it back through the game of golf,” Carbonell said. “If I see a guy in a veteran’s hat in Walmart, I thank them for their service. However, a thank you is great, but I’m in a position to do more. There have been a lot done for veterans in golf but nothing that takes them from point A to point B like I’m going to do. I’m expecting to see these guys shooting better scores by the end of the year.”

Carbonell has reached out to military and veterans associations from Wilmington to Georgetown to spread the word and has been encouraged by the response. He has heard from a lot of veterans’ family members who want to bring them to the clinics.

“I imagine as it gets warmer it will get bigger, but I wanted to offer something all year long so I wanted to get started right away,” Carbonell said.

Carbonell has been consulting with retired Army major Ed Pulido, the senior vice president of the Folds of Honor Foundation veteran’s charity, on how to best relate to veterans with post traumatic stress disorder and some physical ailments.

The driving range at River Oaks is equipped with a wheelchair ramp and features the Folds of Honor Military Memorial on the range, which was recently christened the American Veterans Memorial Driving Range. “We built the wheelchair ramp and we’re going to put it to use,” Carbonell said.

Club-fitting is included in the free clinics and instructors plan to have complimentary lunch set up each day following the clinics.

“We’ll do as much as we can for them and if they want to hang out here all day Wednesday we’re okay with that,” Carbonell said.

The instructors include Carbonnel, director of the Thank You Golf Academy, Brown, Kevin Hollen, a 25-year Air Force veteran, Scott Tanguay and club-fitter Franklin Bursick. Carbonell hopes to regularly have guest instructors offering specific lessons, and Crow Creek pro Jimmy Biggs is among them.

This summer, the academy will have events for the students and their families, including children.

“I’ve been inspired by the freedoms we’ve been granted, and by offering something like this I’m hoping to inspire others to do the same,” Carbonell said.

Active and retired military can register for the schools or learn more information by calling Carbonell at 843-467-7191 or through the Heroes tab at http://www.thegolfschoolofmyrtlebeach.com.

This story was originally published January 8, 2018 at 7:02 PM with the headline "Myrtle Beach area golf courses reopen and assess conditions from the winter freeze."