Bay Point Golf Club at Sheraton Bay Point Resort and KemperSports announced today that The Nicklaus Course at Bay Point will temporarily close for play beginning June 25, 2018 to convert the greens from Tif-Dwarf Bermuda grass to new Ultra-Dwarf Tif-Eagle Bermuda grass, making it the premier golf course in the Florida Panhandle. By closing the course, contractors and the course and grounds team can work without interruption to make a quicker transition to the new playing surfaces. The greens renovation will improve course playability, green speeds and green receptiveness year round.
“Being able to pair a championship golf course with the best available ultra-dwarf technology for these greens is a game changer that will elevate the Nicklaus Course to one of the top in the Southeast” said General Manager Ryan Mulvey, who is helping oversee the renovation project for KemperSports, the club’s management partner.
The Nicklaus Course greens conversion will involve the full-till process where the current sod will be stripped from all greens and 6 inches of soil will also be removed. New soil and sand will be introduced, tilled, and then fumigated to remove any fungus, disease, nematodes, or other issues in the soil to create brand new greens. After the full -till process is completed the soil will be graded to the original Nicklaus specifications and sprigged with Tif-Eagle Bermuda. The grow-in process will take approximately 60 – 90 days depending on weather, following which the golf course will reopen. During the renovation The Meadows Course will remain open and accept public play.
Originally designed by Bruce Devlin in 1986 (as Lagoon Legends) and renovated by Nicklaus Design in 2005, Bay Point Golf Club is the only Nicklaus Design golf course in Northwest Florida. With 36 holes of Championship Golf, Bay Point Golf Club at Sheraton Bay Point Resort is one of the top resort destinations along the Emerald Coast. The par 72 Nicklaus Design championship layout stretches over 7,100 yards from the back tees with a challenging course rating of 74.3 and slope of 143 and has hosted numerous regional and local events including the USGA U.S. Open Qualifier in 2016.
KemperSports was selected in 2015 to manage the overall golf operation at Bay Point Golf Club, part of the Sheraton Bay Point Resort, which opened in fall of 2016 after a $30 million renovation. Bay Point Golf Club has won the Panama City News Herald’s “Best of Bay” for the golf course category for three consecutive years (2016-2018). Bay Point was also nominated for Resort Merchandiser of the year for the Dixie Section of the PGA in 2017 due to the transformation of its retail shop. In recent years the property has added a new fleet of EZ-Go carts, the only Golf Boards in the Florida Panhandle, as well as the renovation of the clubhouse, restaurant, and a new outdoor patio space.
Bay Point Golf Club is owned by Torchlight Investments, LLC and managed by Northbrook, Ill.-based KemperSports. For more information about Bay Point Golf Club or Sheraton Bay Point Resort, visit www.baypointgolf.com or www.sheratonbaypoint.com or visit the Bay Point Golf Club social media channels on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/BayPointGolfClub/ or on Instagram @baypointgolf.
