Why Grande Dunes, another Myrtle Beach area FGI golf course will be closed this summer
Founders Group International is shutting down a pair of its 21 golf courses on the Grand Strand this summer for renovations.
The Grande Dunes Resort Course in Myrtle Beach will close on May 16 for an extensive renovation project that includes the rebuilding of its greens, restoration and improvement of bunkers, and reconfiguration of the interior of the clubhouse.
River Hills Golf & Country Club in Little River SC is scheduled to close on June 20 in order to re-grass greens and improve bunkers.
River Hills is expected to reopen on Aug. 21.
Sept. 15 is the targeted reopening date for the Resort Course.
The Grande Dunes project
The 7.578-yard Resort Course was designed by Roger Rulewich, with staff designer John Harvey doing much of the work on site, for a 2001 opening. It features six tee boxes per hole and several holes along the Intracoastal Waterway.
Harvey has been hired to oversee the renovations and team with Max Morgan, FGI vice president and director of agronomy. Morgan was also involved with the original construction.
“We want to keep the integrity of the golf course intact, so we want to work with the person who helped lay it out or did lay it out,” FGI president Steve Mays said. “Grande Dunes is one of the best golf courses at the beach and we want to even elevate that, and I think this renovation will do that.”
The green project will include the removal of a 3-inch layer of thatch that has developed over the years and impacts drainage and the health of the grass. TifEagle ultradwarf Bermudagrass will be installed.
“There ended up being some challenges there that we don’t have everywhere that made it difficult to maintain to the standard we wanted to,” Mays said.
The greens will be enlarged back to their original size. Bunkers will regain some of their lost definition and some will be decreased in size, as edging over the years has added to their size and detracted from their definition.
“Over 20 years we’ve lost quite a bit [of green size] there and that golf course was designed with big greens, so we want to get them back fairly close to their original size,” Mays said. “This project is going to allow us to keep the greens in optimal shape.”
The Resort Course opened with bentgrass greens that were changed to Champion ultradwarf Bermuda in 2012.
Bunkers will be redone using a layer of porous Capillary Concrete, which should aid in their drainage and consistency.
“Everything has a life cycle, and to golf courses, right at 20 years or just over 20 years, that’s typically the time frame for bunkers,” Mays said. “Over time, bunkers lose their shape so I think this will allow us to go back in and recapture the shapes of bunkers as it was originally intended.”
The clubhouse has several pillars and arches, and some of those will be removed. A glass wall will be added to open up the interior. The bar will be moved and enlarged near the middle of the clubhouse, the pro shop will gain about 300 square feet, and casual lounge seating will be added to the outdoor patio, which will be enlarged.
Several TVs and an indoor-outdoor audio system will be installed to give the clubhouse a more festive atmosphere.
Some shrubbery and palm trees will be removed or moved to open up views of the 18th green and other areas of the course.
“We’ll just focus on making it more inviting,” said Joe Dipre, Resort Course general manager and an FGI regional manager for the north end of the Strand, which also includes River Hills.
“They did a great job with this building but after 20 years, styles have changed and how we operate has changed. It just makes sense to create a bigger bar and a place for people after the round to relax and watch some TVs and have a meal and some beverages.”
The River Hills project
River Hills, a 6,923-yard layout that opened in 1988, was designed by Tom Jackson, who will assist with the renovations.
TifEagle Bermuda will also be installed at River Hills and the greens will be enlarged back to their original size, which will just about double their current acreage because of the great amount of fairway encroachment that has occurred.
A less invasive no-till re-grassing method will allow the course to reopen faster than Grande Dunes.
Capillary Concrete will be used as the foundation of the bunkers at River Hills as well, and some will be reshaped and/or decreased in size, particularly ones that are on the periphery of play.
“That allows us to keep a much more consistent playing surface throughout the year, despite the rain,” said Mays, who said FGI now has a partnership with Capillary Concrete. “As bunkers age and the drainage ages in them, those rains hit them harder. All of a sudden you get a downpour that rains for awhile and you get an inch or two of rain, a lot of the bunkers will hold water. Doing this with Capillary Concrete, it allows us not to have those situations.”
The summer project continues recent improvements at River Hills. The clubhouse was renovated in 2019.
“What we want to do as a company is continue to improve our product and invest in our golf courses to make them better and keep them the best of Myrtle Beach,” Mays said.
This story was originally published March 18, 2022 at 9:11 AM.
