Renovated Golf Destination?

Everyone has heard of a renovated golf course but Williamsburg is beginning to look like a renovated golf destination.  Three area courses are making significant changes in 2017.  The Golden Horseshoe Gold Course has been closed since May 2016.  The Gold course has received significant renovation and updating. Greens, fairways and tees have all been resurfaced.  Rees Jones son of course architect Robert Trent Jones is overseeing course renovations and the course is expected to re-open in time for the 2017 fall golf season.

The Bermuda Revolution

Because of the hot and humid Southeastern Virginia summers two Williamsburg area golf facilities have made the decision to transition their greens to UltraDwarf Bermuda putting surfaces.  This is a fantastic playing surface typically used by clubs further south but Southeastern Virginia’s mild winters also make this a good option for Williamsburg.  Most area courses have Bent grass greens which are wonderful late fall through spring but require extra attention and increased mowing heights to protect the plant during summer heat.  Bermuda thrives in hot and humid conditions. Therefore, golf course superintendents can be aggressive on playing conditions from late summer through late fall.  Bermuda is still a good playing surface in it’s dormant state December through March.  The greens turn brown and can get a little firm but most courses counter act that with paint and/or over seeding.

Fords Colony Country Club had great success several years ago transitioning their Blue Heron course to Champion Bermuda and after another long hot and humid summer has made the decision to do the same on their Marsh Hawk Course.  The Marsh Hawk course will close in June 2017 for Champion Bermuda sprigging and re-open early September 2017.  Their Blackheath course will remain bent grass.

Williamsburg National Golf Club is under new ownership that has also made the decision to resurface the Jamestown course with an UltraDwarf Bermuda grass.  The Jamestown greens will be sprigged in June with a re-open date in early September 2017. In addition both courses and the club are receiving a lot of much needed attention from new ownership.  Playing conditions have been consistently the poorest among area courses the last 4- 5 years.  It is clear that will change quickly with new ownership and management.  Williamsburg Golf travelers can expect high quality playing conditions on the Yorktown Course (bent grass greens) by late spring 2017 and both courses when the Jamestown re-opens in September of 2017.  Make sure you plan a fall golf vacation to Williamsburg, you won’t want to miss out on this renovated golf destination.

Trip Captain’s Log

Welcome to the Trip Captain’s log our hope is this blog becomes a source of information for our group leaders. We plan to include tips for booking golf trips and insights about our golf destinations and other things that go a little deeper than the standard marketing you find on websites, golf brochures and advertorials. Please let us know if you have any questions and we will do our best to answer them. So here goes…

Golf Date 03-08-16: When do Virginia Golf Courses reach peak conditions and what is the best time to play in the spring?

The weather is starting to break in southern Virginia, temperatures for the next week expect to be above 70 degrees each day hitting the 80’s at least once. Nighttime lows should stay above 50 degrees. This means soil temperatures will rise and the bent grass found on 95% of the greens in southern Virginia will begin to grow at a very high rate. This is the weather that the bent grass greens prefer. Most courses aerify in late February and early March to clear organic material and prime the greens for their optimal growing season. By the third week of March most greens are healed from spring aerfication.

While a large majority of greens are bent grass almost all of the fairways are Bermuda grass. Bermuda grass requires higher soil temperature than bent grass and will not begin to “come in” or awake from their dormant state until mid-April and not be consistent and in good condition until mid to late May. Some are as late as June and this depends a lot on how much a course fertilizers how good a base they started with, weather and a lot of other factors. Several of the premium courses over seed their fairways with cool weather grasses so golfers can play off green grass in the spring.

So when is the best time to plan your sprig golf trip to Virginia? Well, It depends on what you want. If you want courses in their premium conditions, temperatures consistently in the mid 70’s then Late May is the best time to plan your spring golf trip to Virginia. But the courses will also be charging their highest rates during that time frame as well.

Prices start low in March and generally increase each month through the spring at both the golf courses and the hotels. There are nice value ads in early spring like free replays, lunch, etc. to entice golfers. If you want a lot of extras and you want to keep the price down but don’t mind that the fairways will be mostly brown and weather could be 50 degrees one day then 70 degrees the next then March is the time for you. If you want optimal playing conditions and perfect weather and don’t mind paying a little more, then late May is the best time for you. April is the busiest month, with the last 2 weekends in April typically being the busiest. Hotels are still using shoulder season rates and while most courses are passing on their higher rates at that time many courses are still providing nice value ads as well.

Please let us know your thoughts and if you have any questions you would like us to answer about golf in Virginia or booking golf trips for you and your golf buddies.

Chris Hartig PGA