Top 25 Spotlight: English-inspired Shaftesbury Glen’s new and improved set-up
Ranked #22 on Coastal Golfaway’s Top 25 Myrtle Beach Golf Course Rankings, Shaftesbury Glen Golf Club, a 6,935-yard Clyde Johnston design that opened in 2001, closed its doors in June and is scheduled to reopen in August with Sunday ultradwarf Bermudagrass on the greens, along with a series of other changes to improve the golf experience at the club.
Shaftesbury Glen’s iconic stone-clad entrance and English-styled clubhouse welcome players to this championship course. With tee boxes, fairways and greens that are large, and plenty of opportunities for players to hit some magnificent shots, the English-inspired course has received numerous accolades for its playability.
Now, that high level of playability will be elevated by numerous renovations made to the course and its facilities. When Shaftesbury’s management considered different kinds of ultradwarf Bermuda grasses, they settled on Sunday Bermuda, which has become a popular playing surface and has been installed successfully at several Myrtle Beach-area courses, including Arcadian Shores Golf Club, Rivers Edge, Tradition, Myrtlewood-PineHills and International Club.
Bentgrass was once considered the best putting surface in the Carolinas and was featured on many golf courses, but in recent years many Southeast region courses have transitioned from it to warm-weather Bermudagrasses that provide similar putting surfaces but aren’t stressed in the summer heat.
Along with the new greens, the driving range will receive a remodeling including a new chipping and putting green with Sunday Bermuda. And a project to add waste bunkers to fairways throughout the course will also be completed this summer with another 250,000 square feet of waste areas on nine holes that will improve drainage and allow increased cart traffic (the other nine was done in 2016).
Shaftesbury Glen, already one of the best courses on the Strand, just got a whole lot better this summer. Be sure to check it out on your next Coastal Golfaway!
