CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Golf will soon return to a long standing Lowcountry course at the City of Charleston municipal course. A 3 million dollar upgrade and renovation project will be complete in less than a month.
Changes from tee to green, its a project some say has been a long time coming. For golfer Paul Weinestien, he says it’s his version of Augusta National.
“It is, just like the masters,” says Weinstein. “The muni, you can’t beat it. It’s the one and only.”
“It’s been a project more than a year in the making with construction lasting ten months. News 2 jumped on a golf cart for an exclusive look.
“Redoing all of the greens, tees, bunkers, all new fairway grass,” says golf course architect Troy Miller. “So tee to green the golf course has been completely re-grassed and you’ll notice a lot of changes visually.”
As the man who is overseeing the project, Miller says the renovations will allow for more teaching moments for younger golfers while still providing a challenge for some of it’s most senior players.
“This really has an opportunity to become a crown jewel of that park system,” says Miller. “And it’s a great opportunity to provide golf at an affordable level for all of our residents.”
“The projects weren’t as easy as a chip and a putt. Several holes were raised and elevated while ponds were excavated to prevent flooding, an issue that has plagued the course in the past.
“By using some of that material to elevate these fairways, greens and tees we’ve been able to improve the drainage and improve the conditioning of the golf course,” says Miller.
The projects restored many of the Raynor Macdonald course’s original features dating back to it’s 1929 opening. It’s something Miller thinks golfer will flock to.
“This place has always had great bones and we didn’t change that,” says Miller. “The only thing we really did was knock 90 years of dust off of this place and show what it was originally intended to be.”
As the sun rises on a new era of golf at the Muni, golfers say they can’t wait for the sight of fresh dew and newly cut grass before teeing it up once again.
“I’ve been driving all over town just trying to chip and putt,” says Weinstein. “Now we’ve got paradise at our hands and I just can’t wait to put the ball in the hole.”
And while golfers can expect new changes when the course reopens, Miller says it’ll have the same Fore Y’all feeling.
The course is set to reopen on December 10th.