MYRTLE BEACH GOLF COURSE GRASS

          Golfers enjoy grass. And why wouldn’t they? Grass is the basis from which they play the game of golf. Without grass there would be no golf, well, not good golf, anyway. This will help to inform you of some of the different types of grasses found in the Myrtle Beach area.
          There are many, many courses along the Grand Strand and not all of them have the same types of playing surfaces. This is due to several factors including time, location, money and demand.
          Let’s start out with the most popular golf course grass in the south, Bermuda. Bermuda is a “creeping grass” that does well in the heat. We all know that the south has some heat to it and this is why Bermuda grass is so abundant in the Myrtle Beach area. Not only is it found on greens, but on tee boxes, fairways, rough and even in some hazard areas. Bermuda does well in temps above 65 degrees but it does have a breaking point. That point is at the first hard frost of the fall. The first frost will cause the grass to go dormant (which we will get to later). This results in overseeding.
          Bermuda grass is a very versatile grass as it heals injuries very well. It is called a “creeping grass” for a reason. When there is a ball mark or other injury to the green, or a divot in a fairway, the Bermuda “creeps” across it from several directions at once. (Sand definitely helps the process, too). Hence, it can heal in a short matter of time. Golf courses are supposed to be flawless, right? Bermuda works.
          There are several different strains of Bermuda grass. This means that the different types of dominant Bermuda grasses have been crossed with the more recessive traits of other Bermuda grasses until the scientist (a golfer) gets the desired strain. This was first used to fight the effects of disease and then evolved into a whole other profession of grass fornication. Some of these different strains of Bermuda grass in the Myrtle Beach area include TifDwarf, TifEagle, and Champion. Champion is the hottest thing going in Myrtle Beach. Several courses over the last three years have replaced their greens with Champion Bermuda and have had rave reviews.
          Everyone agrees that Champion Bermuda requires higher maintenance than other strains of Bermuda. But, the advantage to a higher maintenance grass yields more normal irrigation, especially in the summer heat. You should rarely see someone hosing the greens with water to cool the grass. In the winter, Champion Bermuda provides a nice platform for a good taking of overseeding with Rye grass. Remember, Bermuda grasses have a breaking point, and nobody wants to putt on brown greens. The extra attention to Champion Bermuda is worth the time and money to the courses that choose to use it. Some courses in Myrtle Beach that have Champion Bermuda are Long Bay, Brunswick Plantation, Heritage, Willbrook Plantationand Legends’ Heathland. If you play one of these courses, take note of how the greens play.
          TifEagle, on the other hand, is another popular grass in the Myrtle Beach area. The leaf blades on TifEagle greens are very fine, which makes putting truer, fights bluegrass and again, accepts overseeding with Poa trivialis well. TifEagle also keeps better color in cooler conditions. It also has a tolerance to close mowing which means faster and truer putting conditions. Myrtle Beach has several courses that feature TifEagle greens. Blackmoor, Farmstead, Legends’ Moorland, True Blue and Tidewater are just to name a few.
          TifDwarf Bermuda is more of a workhorse grass. It requires the least attention because it is highly adapted to heat and overseeding with many other grasses in the winter. It will be topdressed more often than other Bermuda grasses, but is necessary because it gets more traffic than the others strains. TifDwarf requires less water than others depending on soil conditions, and the course superintendent should have this down to a science. This is probably the most abundant grass on Myrtle Beach greens as it does well with tolerating air and water salinity. It is Myrtle Beach! TifDwarf greens are the slowest at recovering from injury. So make sure that when you book your Myrtle Beach golf trip, there has been no maintenance for at least 10 days. This brings up a good time for this quote, “Please repair ball marks.” I’m sure you have heard this before. Some of the courses in Myrtle Beach that have TifDwarf are Glen Dornoch, Myrtlewood Palmetto, Myrtlewood Pinehills, Arcadian Shores and Heather Glen.
          These are a few of the Bermuda grasses in Myrtle Beach. There are only a couple others, but these are the most popular. This should give you something to tell the guys about the courses that you are playing this year and if not, maybe something to tell them about past vacations. Feel free to ask your Myrtle Beach Golf Director what course has what type of greens, he has all of that information.