South Carolina Golf Course Goes “Wall to Wall” with Celebration Bermudagrass

Celebration Bermudagrass has been chosen as the mainstay for an extensive renovation of the Sea Marsh course at Sea Pines Resort in Hilton Head, SC.

Sea Marsh is an 18-hole Pete Dye course, one of three premier courses at the resort. Sea Marsh is currently being renovated, and is expected to be ready for play in September. 

Sea Marsh course at Sea Pines Resort Celebration Bermudagrass is an improved warm season turfgrass developed by turf developer Sod Solutions, Inc. of South Carolina. Celebration is one of the improved varieties that the company has successfully brought to market over the last decade in the U.S., Australia and Brazil. Celebration has been available in the U.S. for about 6 years, and is increasingly specified for golf, sports, commercial and home sites across the southern half of the U.S.

Sod Solutions emphasizes Celebration’s performance and aesthetic benefits in its marketing efforts. Celebration has a unique blue-green color, rapid prostrate growth, improved drought tolerance and superior durability.

Green Acres of Furman, SC is supplying the turfgrass for the renovation. According to Gary Youmans, co-owner of Green Acres, the initial bid from Sea Pines included St. Augustines and zoysiagrasses, but the course’s needs evolved to specification of 100% bermudagrass, and Celebration was the “grass of choice”.

Sea Pines Golf Superintendent Jim Cregan said that the decision to use Celebration throughout the course evolved from previous trial and observation of the grass.

“We experimented with it for a couple of years in limited areas,” says Cregan, “and we just kept coming back to Celebration. We have seen that it is very good at surviving wear, and the color is outstanding. We started sprigging the course last week, and already we can see that the runners are really taking off: this is an aggressive lateral-growing grass.”

Celebration will be used throughout the course, essentially “wall to wall”, according to Cregan. While many courses in South Carolina and other states are using large amounts of this bermudagrass, this is the first course in South Carolina known to be using Celebration exclusively.