The King & Bear course at World Golf
Village in St. Augustine, Fla., held up
well during the 2017 storm season
and is in peak shape.
“Conditions are as good, if not
better, than before the hurricanes.”
WELL WORTH ITS SALT
But it was Hurricane Matthew in October
2016 that toppled 200 trees at Plantation
Bay, while spilling the Atlantic Ocean over
the mile-long dune line onto the Ocean
Course at Hammock Beach Resort, just
north in Palm Coast, Fla.
With six oceanside holes suffering dam-
age from high winds and a storm surge
that deposited salt water throughout the
stretch of holes known as “The Bear Claw,”
the Ocean Course finally reopened on Nov.
2, 2017, after a 13-month restoration of the
Jack Nicklaus Signature Design.
“We’d never had a storm that caused
that type of damage on this course or
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had the impact that Hurricane Matthew
had,” said Christine May, area public rela-
tions manager for Salamander Hotels and
Resorts. “We could have slapped a bandage
on it and reopened it, but instead, we met
with Nicklaus Design to bring it back to its
original glory with a full restoration.”
One of the changes made on the Ocean
Course was to replace the Bermuda turf
with a new salt-tolerant Platinum Paspa-
lum grass, which features thick, short-
grass blades that is also season-tolerant
year round. The grass was sewn on all
fairways, greens and rough, while tee
boxes, bunkers and greens underwent a
complete reconstruction.
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