The Dunes Golf and Beach Club

Dunes Golf & Beach Club Unveils Improvements

Courtesy of MyHorryNews.com

The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, the classic Robert Trent Jones design that put Myrtle Beach on the world golf map, reopened Aug. 31 with pristine new Champion Bermuda greens and a few other strategic changes.

Rees Jones, son of the Dunes Club's architect and highly acclaimed for his work renovating seven U.S. Open layouts, oversaw the changes on a Dunes Club course that has graced many national top 100 lists and will host the 2014 PGA Professional National Championship, June 22-25. He said he considers the Dunes Club to be one of his father's "true masterpieces."

"It has been one of the highlights of my career to have had the opportunity to restore and enhance the original design intent," said Rees Jones. "The course is now positioned for play by today's golfers."

The recent choice of many top golf courses in the Southeast, Champion Bermuda putting surfaces can be maintained at a higher quality throughout the year with faster speed than bent grass.

Other improvements completed over a 90-day period included a 50-percent expansion of the driving range; creation or extension of back tee boxes on eight holes; and new or rebuilt bunkers on Nos. 1, 7 and 11. A beautiful new brick bridge crosses over the water that runs in front of the opening tee and the 18th green.

An improvement golfers especially should enjoy is a new tee complex right of the previous tee box at the dogleg-left No. 2 that gives them a better opportunity to cut yardage off the long, difficult par-4 hole.

With 185 yards added to its back tees, the course now stretches to 7,370 yards. About 30 yards were added to the world-famous par-5 13th hole, "Waterloo," extending it to 620 yards from the back tees.