Good morning Callawassie Island. The big day is here. Final preparations are being completed this morning for the Grand Opening of the Magnolia golf course. The Agronomy Team has been hard at work completing the finishing touches this week ahead of this afternoon's FOCI rounds and tomorrow's FOCI Tournament. Our first hole locations have been cut in, and our newly made in-house tee markers are set. We all can't wait to hear what you think of our team's incredible work to bring this day to reality.
Recap of the Project:
Drainage:
Over 17 miles of drainpipe from 2-inch to 36-inch pipe was installed on Magnolia and the Practice Facility. We have seen a dramatic improvement in how quickly the course dries after rain events. This drainage will minimize cart path only days and dramatically improve the course playability. Firmer conditions will be enjoyed allowing for better ball roll and bounce around the course.
Most of this drainage was installed on our tees, fairways, and approaches. Many high-traffic areas of the rough also had drainage installed. As we continue to learn how water moves differently around the course, we are now seeing rough areas that used to be our dryer areas become our wetter areas. The Agronomy Team has already addressed some of these areas by installing additional drainpipes. More work by our Team will continue over the coming months as we identify other areas that may require drainage support. You can never have enough drainage.
Cart paths:
Nearly 3 miles of concrete paths were installed with curbing at green and tee locations. As you travel around the course, please park at tee and green areas adjacent to curbed sections of the path. Keeping the tires off the grass at these locations will help prevent the grass from thinning along the path edges. We removed the section of the path that crosses the fairway on Magnolia 8. Extra drainage has been installed in this 50-yard stretch of the fairway to ensure dry conditions even during cart path only days. On a cart path only day, exit the path flare on the right and scatter your driving across the fairway to any point along the path section on the left side. As a trial, a grass protection mat has been installed on the left side. The grass will eventually grow through and hide the mat. Other courses have had great success with this matting, and we plan to expand its usage if we see positive results.
Bunkers:
The Agronomy Team has completed our final bunker depth checking and compaction of the new sand. We are thrilled with how well the new bunkers have performed through rain events. The playability of the bunkers will be equally improved. Please remember to rake the bunkers after play and to knock off your spikes when exiting the bunkers. Always exit on the lower sides of the faces and use the entry and exit ramps built into the bunkers on many of the greenside bunkers around the course.
Grassing:
Over 2 million sq. feet of new grass was planted on Magnolia. The Agronomy Team has done a tremendous job through this turf's growth despite some callous weather conditions from August through October. Overall, the grow-in was a huge success, and outside some minor thin areas on the last couple of holes planted, we have excellent turf coverage going into our first winter. As we discussed on our course tours, think of the golf course and the grass as a 6-month-old infant. It still has maturing to do and must be nurtured along to that maturation. With the winter months upon us, protecting the turf until growing conditions return will be our focus this winter. Please help us by avoiding obvious high-traffic areas when driving on the course. We expect most cart traffic to enter holes once the curbing ends in front of the red tee. Driving beyond this point and entering the golf hole from different points will help to minimize cart traffic damage.
Magnolia putting greens will perform differently from Palmetto and Dogwood. The new greens will be firmer, and the ball roll will be slower for the first winter. We are maintaining the Magnolia greens at a slightly higher height of cut to prevent stress on the new turf. The Agronomy Team will also continue to use turning boards on the collars to protect the turf from mechanical wear.
Overall, we are thrilled with the results of the Magnolia renovation. We expect to have some minor issues pop up via soil settling, additional drainage requirements, concrete cracking, etc. We have a 1-year warranty on all work completed by the contractor, and they will address any issues that may arise.
I look forward to seeing everyone on the course, and as always, don't hesitate to reach out if you have any questions.
Thank you, and enjoy Magnolia!
Billy Bagwell
Director of Agronomy
