After more than seven months of renovations and guards against increased flooding, the Harbor Course at Wild Dunes is back in business and it promises to be more challenging than ever.
The renovations cost more than $8 million and when public play resumed on Oct. 28, golfers found refurbished cart paths, rebuilt and enlarged greens and tee complexes, strategic bunkers near certain holes and a new irrigation system to allow for more efficient golf course watering, leading to water conservation.
“Holes 9 and 10 that parallel the Intracoastal Waterway were also raised in elevation to assist in seasonal tidal flooding,” said Jeff Minton, director of sports at Wild Dunes Resort. “The changes will allow for more pin placements, because the greens will have more movement and undulation and the new TifEagle bermuda green will make for faster putting surfaces.”
The beginnings of a new $1.5 million flood barrier within the course will also be present.
As the island is frequently bombarded by heavy rains, king tides and hurricanes, the city has undertaken a project to build this barrier in three phases, the first being flood control.
“This phase is a combination of earthen berms, retaining walls, drainage infrastructure and raised cart paths,” said IOP Mayor Phillip Pounds. “It is behind houses that front Waterway Boulevard.” He added that the city absorbed all the costs mainly because “putting some of the drainage infrastructure on the golf course allowed us to not have to build berms or raise the multi-use path which is phase 2.”
The upgrades mark the first big-scale renovations to the Harbor Course since its opening in 1985 from a design by renowned American golf course architect Tom Fazio. Since then, the course has been touted for its challenging design, beautiful views of marshes and lagoons and varied play and strategy that tests the abilities of even the most gifted golfers.
Golf Digest has also ranked it more than a few times among the ‘Best in State’ for golf in South Carolina, out of more than 350 courses in an annual $3.3 billion state industry.
“We average about 35,000 golfers in a year,” Minton added. “And I think the improvements will definitely increase this number.”
By L. C. Leach III
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