Avocet Course At Wild Wing Plantation is Flying High With New Greens

The Avocet Course at Wild Wing Plantation is once again in full flight. The Myrtle Beach golf course reopened all 18 holes on August 1 after the installation of new Mini-Verde greens and the early returns are outstanding.

Wild Wing completed the project in two phases, allowing the facility to offer golfers 18 holes (using the Hummingbird nine) throughout the summer.

The front nine was replaced first, a three-week process that went flawlessly and concluded with its reopening the second week of July. Work on the back nine began immediately afterwards and the process was similarly smooth.

Like the other six Myrtle Beach area courses installing new greens this summer, Wild Wing has installed an ultra dwarf Bermuda, in this case Mini-Verde. The ultra dwarf grasses emulate the best properties of bentgrass and have very little of the grain that is often associated with Bermuda.

The result is greens that thrive during the South Carolina summers. Mini-Verde is the latest ultra dwarf and it’s what TPC Sawgrass and East Lake (home of the PGA Tour Championship) have on their greens.

“Mini-Verde putts more like bent and you can have speeds as fast you want,” Chris Seymour, superintendent of the Avocet Course, said. “Golfers will think (the greens) have been here forever.”

Eighteen years after its 1993 opening, Avocet  continues to be defined by the architectural creativity and outstanding conditions that made it a Myrtle Beach golf favorite from the outset. Avocet features ample bunkering and water, but the course is made distinctive by a double green, a double fairway, and the use of swales around its greens.

In the ultimate compliment to architects Larry Nelson and Jeff Brauer, Avocet is creative without being tricked-up, and that’s why golfers have returned year after year. In addition to its architectural flair, Avocet is a very playable layout.