New greens a hit at Pine Valley

by Brian Mull

Smoke poured from the grill as more than 100 of the club’s members played a round on a golf course that had been closed for eight weeks. Pine Valley is the latest area golf course to make the switch from bentgrass to Champion Bermuda greens, and those who played Saturday discovered a plush layout that’s in excellent condition from tee-to-green.

River Landing installed Champion on its River Course last summer and its Landing Course reopens with the slick Bermuda grass on Aug.  19. Magnolia Greens will have installed Champion on 18 of its 27 holes by the end of the year.

These courses have ditched bentgrass, which thrives in cooler climates in the North, for any of several strands of ultradwarf bermuda for the same reasons: It’s less expensive to maintain, and if properly groomed, can provide a more consistent putting surface year round.

Where bentgrass greens are soft and slow this time of the year, bermuda is firm and fast. Pine Valley’s greens were probably rolling 9 or 9.5 on the stimpmeter Saturday, plenty of speed considering the small size and natural back-to-front slope.

Keith Noxon, golf course superintendent at Pine Valley for seven years, oversaw the transition. Besides providing an excellent putting surface, he sees a benefit, one that all golf courses are watching at a time when the game’s growth is flat and the U.S. economy is shaky.

“We can control our labor costs,” Noxon said. “We’re not concerned about having guys out here until 5:30 or 6 in the blazing heat hand-watering greens. This is a grass that’s meant to grow in this climate.”

Courses farther north, such as Benvenue in Rocky Mount, cover their Champion bermuda greens on nights when the temperature dips near freezing in the winter. In our area, that’s less of a concern, though Noxon said he’ll have to be “very careful” managing frost delays or any extended stretch of frigid temperatures.

“But we’re not seeing a lot of problems in this area with winterkill of warm season grasses,” he said.

Pine Valley also redesigned three of its most severe greens. A shelf was added in the back left portion of the downhill par-3 fourth hole. A steep bowl was added to the front of the No. 8 green. It will penalize longer hitters who go for the green in two shots, while rewarding those with a sharp wedge game who can control their approach.

Also, the green on the daunting par-3 12th was reshaped, giving Noxon and his staff at least two more pin placements in the rotation.

Those will be welcome changes, for sure. In all, it appears the golf course at Pine Valley is heading in a positive direction.