Foot Pointe Road Cart Path Work

As we move forward with recommendations contained in last fall's traffic and safety study, cart path work along Foot Pointe Road will begin July 16th and is expected to last two weeks.  This work will repair portions of the path and address excessive curves, making the path safer for carts, much easier to drive and incent its usage.  During the construction, heavy equipment will be used which may limit sight lines.  Golf carts will need to use Foot Pointe Road in the areas of  construction and everyone is asked to exercise caution when traveling in the work zone.

Explanation for the Early Dye Course Closure

There have been a number of people asking why the Dye Course will be closing for aerification so soon after the last closing.  It is a good question and it is important to explain some unique events leading to these changes for this year.  The Dye Course is scheduled to begin its second closure of the summer on July 16th.  While two closures each summer for aerification of all tees, fairways and greens is part of the routine schedule, the time of year is not.  Over the last several years the month of August has been set aside as the second closure for each course, with one course closed for most of the month.  Typically the Dye Course closes first, followed by the Nicklaus Course, with a long weekend during the middle of the month. 

This year, we have two events which are affecting the timing of the Dye Course closure.  First, the Hilton Head Open is being hosted on the Nicklaus Course August 10th and 11th.  This gives us an opportunity to showcase one of our great courses.  Secondly, we are doing a number of enhancements to the Dye (see Friday, July 12th's Blog "Dye Course Improvements") which are adding 7 to 10 days to our closure schedule.  Because of the timing we want to move up the Dye closure so it is complete before the event, giving our members a great course to play while the Open is at the Nicklaus.  By shifting the Dye Course up several weeks, we have moved the Nicklaus aerifications forward as well, providing an additional full week prior to Labor Day weekend for our members enjoyment.  Overall, this adds eight additional days to years past for construction and re-grassing.

We hope this helps clarify the changes to this year and the progress and improvements being performed this year to your Club.

Regards,

Tim Bakels                              Matt Lucchesi                    Bill Hirchert
General Manager, COO             Director of Golf                 Director of Agronomy

Dye Course Improvements

This summer, a number of improvements will be made on the Dye Golf Course. These changes were a result of a visit Pete Dye made to Colleton River in 2009.  He walked the entire course and came up with a series of enhancements -- some for playability, some to fix problems and some to adjust for changes in the course.  He also recommended some new tees to make up for the fact that players are hitting the ball farther than when the course was originally designed 15 years ago.

About half the changes have already been done:

• Added a fairway bunker on the left side of number 5 to make up for a tree that died.
• Added a back tee to increase the length of number 16.
• Trees were planted to the right of 11 tee adn left of 15 tee to prevent people from taking shortcuts.
• Cart path was moved left short of 11 green and a new bunker complex was added to better define the second shot landing area.
• Blue tee was expanded on 15.

The changes scheduled for this summer are:

• Add a tee to number 2 to allow for a blue tee.
• Slightly realign number 4 by moving the middle tee to the left, reshaping the first forty or so yards of the right fairway bunker and adding traps on the left side of the fairway.  These adjustments should reduce the number of balls hit out of bounds by mid and higher handicap players, and narrow the hole somewhat for longer hitters.
• Add a back tee to number 6.
• Add a back tee to number 12.
• The fiarway trap on number 14 will be reshaped and made smaller.  Pete Dye felt this hole was never right.  The smaller bunker will "tempt" players to make more aggressive drives -- and probably get into more trouble!!

We worked hard to see if the path across number 11 could be eliminated.  After a lot of discussion including consultation with the Dye architectural team, it was decided to leave it alone.  The potential solution was too expensive and would have created bottlenecks where there was the potential for too many players and the maintenance staff at the same time.

The only other change that remains a possiblilty is in front of number 12.  This area was supposed to have some "maintained" area in front of hte green.  This will be evaluated at a later date.

These changes will be done during the course closure that begins on July 16th.  We are lucky to have the golf course that Pete Dye has called -- on numerous occasions -- "the best course he ever built".  Since Mr. Dye is now 84 years old, we want to ensure we take advantage of his love for Colleton River and that our treasured course fully reflects Mr. Dye's vision for it.

Dick Anderson, Chair
Green & Grounds Committee