Brown Acres joining Bermuda club

Gordon Hulgan practices chipping at Brown Acres golf course on Monday, Aug. 13, 2015, in Chattanooga. The greens will soon be replaced on the course, located adjacent to I-75 and Eastgate Town Center.
Gordon Hulgan practices chipping at Brown Acres golf course on Monday, Aug. 13, 2015, in Chattanooga. The greens will soon be replaced on the course, located adjacent to I-75 and Eastgate Town Center.

Bermuda is beating bentgrass in Chattanooga.

Brown Acres will joining a growing list of area golf courses that have switched from older bentgrass greens to brand-new Bermuda grass greens when the project begins in late May.

"Everybody is comfortable with Bermuda now and we're following with the trend," course superintendent Pat Skinner said. "It's going to make my job easier in the summer, and it will be a better putting surface all year round."

Brainerd Golf Course, owned by the city like Brown Acres, made the switch in 2012. Before that, the two courses had almost the exact amount of play during the previous fiscal year with more than 35,000 rounds on both courses.

After the transition, the disparity is wide with 22 percent more rounds being played at Brainerd than Brown Acres during the 2013-14 fiscal year. This fiscal year, 24,338 rounds have been played at Brainerd compared to 18,897 at Brown Acres.

"Golfers have really raved about the greens at Brainerd, and golfers are particular about their greens and you sure hear about them if they're bad," said Eddie Taylor, director of golf courses for the city. "There was a dramatic jump in numbers once we made the switch.

"We're doing it because we're going to give golfers a much better playing surface."

The project at Brown Acres will begin in late May with an exact cost of $52,821 coming out of the $1.8 million operational budget for golf this fiscal year, Taylor said.

"It's cheaper than the project we did for Brainerd," he said. "We still have to purchase winter covers, but we have not bid those out, but my experience is that it costs about $20,000 for 20 covers -- 18 holes and two practice greens.

"It's coming out of our operations funds, which come from green fees, cart fees, food and beverage and merchandise."

The desired result is a complete return to full play on 18 holes by the first of September. In the meantime, Brown Acres will offer deeply discounted green fees -- perhaps half of normal rates. There will be temporary greens on the front nine holes. Then on the week of July 13, the second phase will begin.

"It's something new and exciting," Skinner said. "We'll have to change some of our maintenance practices. I do know we'll spray a lot less chemicals because there's not as much disease pressure on the Bermuda."

The new grass will tolerate heat and humidity better than the old grass. The drawback is that the greens need to be covered when temperatures fall below 25 degrees. But having better summer conditions, when there's more play, makes the most sense.

Chattanooga Golf and Country Club, The Honors Course, Creeks Bend and Council Fire all have made the switch in the last five years.

"I talk to guys at those courses quite a bit," Skinner said. "There's no perfect grass for where we are in the transition zone. But the new grasses have worked well in our area."

Contact David Uchiyama at duchiyama@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6484. Follow him at twitter.com/UchiyamaCTFP.

Upcoming Events