The Gimme Golf Podcast

Meredith:
Welcome to the Gimme Golf Podcast, powered by Myrtlebeachgolftrips.com. This is episode 44. Joining us today is general manager, Joe Dipre. We are going to be discussing the exciting changes at the resort course at Grand Dunes. Joe, thanks for coming on the podcast today.
Joe:
Thank you for having me. I'm excited to be here.
Meredith:
So tell us, what's going on up there at Grand Dunes?
Joe:
Well, first off, the golf course is in great shape. We're getting ready to have a great spring season, but coming soon, coming on May 16th, we will be shut down at Grand Dunes, the resort course, to completely redo the golf greens, the bunkers, and the clubhouse. So we're very excited. This is a time I think we're looking at just to look into the future, set us apart maybe a little bit from some of our competitors, and reinvest in our product. And we're super excited.
Meredith:
Yeah, that is. So how does this affect the golfers? So when golfers hear "Okay, renovations on a golf course," what does that mean? And at the end of the day, they basically want to know, how is this going to help my game and how am I going to score lower?
Joe:
Yeah. So the biggest thing we're going to do is make the golf course, the green's bigger, and we're going to plant tif eagle] greens. So the goal is to have a better surface, a more consistent surface, a bigger surface. So hopefully, when they come down and visit and play Grand Dunes next fall, their scores will definitely be lower hopefully, because conditions will be that much better. The bunkers, the same thing goes for that. We're going to completely redo them, put a capillary concrete in the bottom, have a more consistent surface to play out of on a day-to-day basis. It's going to cut down on maintenance from our superintendent's point of view because we won't have those washouts in the bunkers. So hopefully after a rain, we're known for playing golf in the rain or thereafter because of how well we drain, we don't have car path only days. So all this, with the new sand in the bunkers, the surfaces are going to be fantastic to play on.
Meredith:
Yeah, well, you mentioned the word consistency a lot, and I think golfers like that. When they go to a course and they can trust that the greens are going to roll pretty nicely, consistently. Obviously we have environmental factors that happen at any golf course anywhere, that can always change the way the greens roll, your ball rolls and whatnot, slower, faster, but all in all, you feel like this is going to be great for golfers when it comes to the putting green surface?
Joe:
Absolutely. This is going to set us up to have a much more consistent roll from season to season and also from day to day, taking in the factors of rains and the weather, temperature and all that good stuff. At the end of the day, what we're doing is going to set us up for success and those inconsistency for years to come.
Meredith:
Oh, that's great. And I'm excited about the bunker too, because every now and then, even as a teaching pro, I hit it in the bunker. And the thing that annoys me the most is inconsistent sand structure in a bunker. So if it's a rainy day or whatnot, and you feel like it's kind of packed, it's a little harder to get that ball out of the sand consistently. So this is going to help that issue as well, I'm assuming.
Joe:
Absolutely. The biggest thing it's going to do is keep it draining properly and not corrode the sand with the natural organic matters that are in the bunkers already. So we're creating a seal from the ground, and then the sand is going on top of concrete. It's going to be six inches all the way through the bunker, and then the lip of the bunkers are going to roll right into that. And it's going to be beautiful.
Meredith:
Oh, sounds [crosstalk 00:04:21].
Nate:
What I love about it from a photography standpoint is the sand, there's so many great places to take photos out there, and the sand and new bunkers are going to look awesome with the new green. So just making a pretty golf course even prettier, so.
Joe:
Oh, it's just going to look beautiful. Yeah. That's right. I mean, we have those 14, that's just going to look beautiful, overlook the intercourse, the waterway with the bunker, it's going to look phenomenal.
Meredith:
Yeah. It's going to look really great. And the clubhouse, I mean, one thing I love about Grand Dunes is it has a Mediterranean feel to it, just a flare of like, I feel like I'm in a Spanish country or something like that.
Joe:
Yeah. We're going to try to keep that throughout the theme still, but kind of throw a modern spin on it. And the goal there with the clubhouse is to make it much more inviting, kind of open it up, create a new bar area, and really do a lot in the outdoor side of it and create that atmosphere overlooking the 18th green that we're looking for. We're also going to expand the pro shop by three to 400 square foot. So that's exciting, but ultimately, we want people to come to Grand Dunes, go to courses, feel at home, spend their day with us, have a great round of golf, come in, enjoy a cocktail, an appetizer, a meal, just enjoy their day at a phenomenal golf course.
Meredith:
Well, it's going to be beautiful and you have one of the prettiest views on 18 there with the lake. And then you're right there on the intercoastal waterway, not many courses are on the intercoastal waterway here in Myrtle Beach, so it's such a gorgeous view. And I love that you're expanding that because now you can really enjoy maybe having a nice meal after your round, out there on the larger veranda area that you're building, and it's going to be really nice. It's a good move.
Joe:
I feel like I'm the luckiest man in the world. I come over that bridge every morning and I feel like just go into, and to me, it's unlike any other place in Myrtle Beach and it's special. And I believe our ownership, our upper management understands that, they're committed to keeping that tradition, that experience alive when you go over and play the resort course at the dunes.
Meredith:
I agree. Especially our founder collection courses here along the Grand Strand, our leadership definitely has the leading edge when it comes to course development, making sure that these courses are maintained after decades of being here for decades and whatnot, that you definitely are on the leading edge. So I'm biased! I love the founder collection courses.
Joe:
And I'll tell you what, we're just getting started. And there's more to come. And that's what exciting to work for a company like that, and to rely if you're a golfer back home, knowing that FGI is committed to continuing to improve their property, year in and year out. It's exciting.
Meredith:
It really is. And also additional courses. I mean, they've renovated Pine Lake's country club, and Myrtlewood, the Palmetto course, Pine Hills, TBC and more, I know that I'm missing some right now.
Joe:
Tradition. Tradition. We've got new greens down there as well, so and there's more to come. And this right here at Grand Dunes will be, I believe the biggest project that FGI has done or taken on to date, but it's definitely the most exciting as well. Grand Dunes, the resort course, the [inaudible 00:08:21] golf course today, when we add all this, it's just going to put it over the moon. and we're very excited for that.
Meredith:
I'm excited. So when is the grand opening date? I know sometimes it's hard to predict when you're doing a renovation on a course. Again, you're dealing with environmental factors. This is outdoors. So what is the projected opening date?
Joe:
September 15th is our goal. I don't want to throw the H word, hurricane out there. We don't want any of that!
Meredith:
Don't say that word! That's like saying the [shanks 00:08:54].
Joe:
But we feel very confident that given the scope of work that we have to do and everything with our contractors and architects and all that, we won't be able to open until about September. That's going to be a great day.
Meredith:
Yeah. That's going to be great. Nate, you got to have your camera ready for that one, because I know you're going to get some great pictures.
Nate:
Yeah, I can't wait. And Joe caught me out there a couple weeks ago and I kind of get in the weeds with golf course architect and that kind of thing, that intrigues me. But the one thing that's consistent with all these course redesigns and revamping is, and it's especially at Grand Dunes resort club, is how much greens shrink over time. They just keep creeping in and creeping in, and I've heard even Jack Nicholas talk about it, but you paced off. We were at, I can't remember what hole we were at, but you showed me where a green should have been a actually green side bunker. And it was like six paces. It had crept in, it had gotten that small. So when you talk about playability, I know Meredith mentioned that, the greens are going to be bigger. So if the greens are bigger, it's easier to hit greens, right? So...
Joe:
It's a bigger target. Exactly.
Nate:
It's a bigger target. But talk about, and we don't have to get in the weeds on how greens shrink over time, but it happens everywhere.
Joe:
Yeah. So especially down south with the aggressive nature of our grasses, Bermuda's a creeping grass. So over time, that Bermuda's just creeping onto from the fringe onto the putting surface, you lose maybe three inches, six inches a year. Well, 20 years now those are feet, yards. And in the case of the resort course, we've lost over 70,000 square feet of putting surface.
Nate:
That's amazing.
Joe:
It is. So, and we do have big greens as it is. We're on the bigger side of the spectrum in terms of green size, but the intent of this property, everything about it is to be great. It's in the name, the bunkers are big, the fairways are big, the greens are big. So it's a very player-friendly golf course. And that's what makes it so special. I can send you back and play 76 in a hundred yards, and it's a tough golf course, but you can also play it at 45 to five thousand. And it's a generous off the tee, big, quiet greens. And you can have an enjoyable round of golf every time out here. So we're very proud of that. And this is only just enhancing that and getting back, honestly, it's just getting back to the original intent golf course. And that's what makes me...
Nate:
I'm sorry Joe. Meredith, you're going to laugh because Joe calls it a big golf course. We've called it a big golf course in a lot of the content pieces, Joe's a big guy, a football player. He did six Joe paces from where the green should have been on one of the holes. So six big paces, so yeah.
Joe:
Seven, maybe-
Meredith:
It's like five feet.
Nate:
Yeah! It's like two of me.
Joe:
The biggest spot you're going to see is, the biggest green change will be hole 17. And that's what they're referring to. We're going to double that green size from what it currently is today. So you're going to see that green really expand. It's a par five. It should be that big, I believe. If you're trying to get there in two, it gives you a bigger surface to get there. So it's exciting. The playability, the consistency of the roll, I'm super excited about the clubhouse renovation. That's just going to be fun. It's going to be a place where people are going to want to hang out after a round of golf, enjoy a cocktail, enjoy a soda, and just enjoy it. Maybe a sunset overlooking the... it's just a beautiful area, so we're super excited.
Meredith:
Yeah, it's going to be great. Now if golfers want to book for fall golf, can they go ahead and do that?
Joe:
Yes, you go right online to Granddunesresortclub.com or mbn.com and put for around the golf starting right now.
Meredith:
Okay. So I'm just going to throw this out there. If you're listening to this podcast, I would actually go ahead and do that because I would want to be one of the first golfers out there when you guys open, because there's not going to be any divots. Have you ever thought about that?
Joe:
Yeah. I'm super excited, but I don't know what that will look like. At the resort course, especially in the summer, we do a lot of rounds of golf. So to have the resort course without divots on the [inaudible 00:14:10] box is without divots and fairway, I'm sure it's been a few years since that's been a possibility. So yeah, that mid-September to early October, the course is going to be prestige. So come on, book those rounds now, get on the books. We're super excited.
Meredith:
Yeah. You could also go to Myrtlebeachgolf trips.com to book as well.
Nate:
I've been a part of a couple course major renovations, and it gets kind of stressful. Sometimes there it's like, you're excited when it happens. And then you get a couple, I know you mentioned the H word, but summertime can be kind of rainy and you get behind. And so it's a lot of fun at the same time. There's never an exact science where it's like "We're shooting for this day. We're hope it's going to happen," but you just never know.
Joe:
Yeah. We had built in about a two week window in case we have any issues arise in terms of weather to get the sprigs on greens from about July 1st to July 15th, that's very important for us. So we have some time built in to hopefully ensure that we'll get that done.
Nate:
And I've been part of a clubhouse renovation too. And sometimes that can get tricky too.
Joe:
Yeah. So I've done two of those with Aberdeen and River Hills. So this will be my third clubhouse renovation. So yeah, both of those were challenging, and we definitely have some hurdles in that regard with some production issues, some materials that we'll be buying. So it's just forcing us to do things quicker on our end and make decisions, I think a little faster, which isn't a bad thing. It's just our commitment's there because you have to start buying stuff earlier than probably years past.
Nate:
Yep. Hey, when it's all said and done, you go out back on one of those rockers, put your feet back.
Joe:
Oh.
Nate:
Drink beside you and just rock and take a look at the view, and it's all worth it.
Joe:
Did you know there's a fire pit? It's going to be awesome. So the fire pit's out there. Yeah. It's going to be awesome.
Meredith:
Yeah. It's going to be great, exciting changes there at the resort course at Grand Dunes. Joe, I know the course is bustling right now. You guys are booked, we're in the middle of spring golf, so I don't want to keep you too much longer, but I do appreciate you joining us on the podcast, giving us these updates. We're super excited about this. And again, for those of you that are listening, go ahead and start booking your fall golf. There is still time to play Grand Dunes. Now, we're talking about it right now, but the course is still open. So it's not expected to close down for the renovations until, what day Joe?
Joe:
Our last day you can play will be May 15th and we will be closed May 16th. The golf course, as it stands today, is in phenomenal shape. We're booked, we do have some openings throughout the Spring still, would love to have you out, it'd be kind cool to be one of the last groups to play it and the first ones to open it up, so maybe that's something that someone can think about doing, but we're very excited for the Spring, but super, super stoked for the Fall.
Meredith:
Well, when we were out there the other day, I was thinking "The course is in perfect shape!" And then it's getting ready to have these renovations. And isn't that the case sometimes when you're playing a course and it's in such great shape. And then they go into their aerification and it's like "Wait a minute. Why do we have to do this?" And yeah, the science behind keeping the courses in good shape.
Joe:
Yeah. And that shows the commitment of FGI for the future, knowing where golf stands and how well and how good a shape we are in, that speaks for where we're trying to position Grand Dunes for the future. And to me, that's the most exciting, is get this thing back open and let the customers come out, enjoy it, and is going to be a beautiful place, so very excited.
Meredith:
Great. Yeah.
Nate:
Excited for it.
Meredith:
Well again, thanks... yeah, it is. Thanks so much for your time Joe.
Joe:
Thank you!
Meredith:
Send our best to Jordan and your beautiful family.
Joe:
I will.
Meredith:
We appreciate all you do.
Joe:
Thank you so much.
Meredith:
Okay. Have a great day.
Joe:
You too.