Restoration project also included expansion of fairways, other maintenance improvements
Myrtle Beach, S.C. — Tidewater Golf Club, one of Myrtle Beach’s best and most honored courses, reopened on October 1 after an extensive greens restoration project.
The course, which plays along the Intracoastal Waterway and Cherry Grove Inlet, installed new Miniverde Bermuda grass greens as part of a broad course enhancement project.
Management also hired a company to study drainage and perform a soil analysis on each putting complex. The result was vastly improved drainage and a new, custom soil profile that ensures the course’s greens will have optimal conditions in the short and long term.
“We are extremely excited,” said Archie Lemon, Tidewater’s general manager. “At Tidewater, we have a beautiful layout; it’s second to none. Now our greens are back up to the standard we want them to be.”
Tidewater closed for the project on June 9 and also used the time to enhance the course’s playability and already dramatic aesthetics.
Among the improvements was the widening or lengthening of every fairway on the course. The notable expansions included:
— The fairway on the par 5 eighth hole was lengthened by 60 yards, bringing it much closer to the tee boxes.
— The landing area for the second shot on the par 5 16th hole was widened by 20 yards.
— The 18th hole, one of the Grand Strand’s toughest par 4s, had its fairway widened by 10 yards in the landing area.
Speaking of expanded surfaces, the greens were restored to their original size, which netted Tidewater an additional 10,000-square feet of putting surface.
There was also an additional 3 ½ acres of sod laid on the course outside of playable areas, more than 400 trees were removed, and the bunkers all received new sand.
The project was spearheaded by Kris Spence Golf Design. Spence, who oversaw the renovation of Sedgefield Country Club, host of the PGA Tour’s Wyndham Championship, is renowned for his golf course restoration work.
Tidewater, which has been ranked among America’s 100 Greatest Public Courses, was the first layout ever named best new course in America by Golf Digest and Golf Magazine, and it raised the profile of the Myrtle Beach golf community upon its 1990 opening.
Nine of the course’s 18 holes play along either Cherry Grove or the Intracoastal Waterway. Tidewater’s most famed hole is the par 5 13th, which offers a view of the inlet and the Atlantic Ocean in the distance.
The thirteenth is hardly the only memorable challenge at Tidewater. The fourth hole, a par 4 that plays along Cherry Grove, is arguably the most dramatic par 4 along the Myrtle Beach golf scene.
Contact:
Chris King
Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday
843-282-2643
cking@golfholiday.com