At last, dirt flies at Savannah Harbor

Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa is undergoing a long-overdue restoration of its greens. This the first installment of what figures to be a six-month progress report on the project.

Yes, it’s an inconvenience to frequent golfers who belong to the Savannah Harbor Golf Resort & Spa. It’s certainly a disappointment to Westin hotel guests when they learn the resort’s golf course is closed, probably until September. And the accountants at Brookfield Asset Management, which owns the hotel, spa, and golf course, will surely miss the golf revenue.

But it had to be done. The course is nearly 23 years old. Aside from routine fertilization, chemical applications to combat pests and weeds, annual aerification and top dressing, Savannah Harbor’s greens have never been touched. Courses of any stature – Savannah Harbor is ranked among the top daily fee or resort layouts in Georgia – typically undergo restoration of their putting surfaces every 15-18 years.

“They’re a little bit overdue,” acknowledges Ron Despain (right), Senior Vice President for Golf Course Development at Troon Golf, which manages golf operations at Savannah Harbor.

He should know. Savannah Harbor, was one of the first course construction projects overseen by Troon, and Despain was the construction manager. The 225-acre property on Hutchinson Island was bought and developed in 1999 by a partnership among CSX Corp., the railroad carrier; Marriott; and Troon Golf.

CSX sold its majority share to Clearview Hotel Capital in December 2017. Clearview borrowed $63.4 million to make the acquisition and proved to be a disinterested owner, not inclined to spend on golf course improvements, a situation that was exacerbated by the COVID pandemic.

The course was never closed during the pandemic, but few ventured out to play golf during the early months of 2020. Yet the grass kept growing. “At one point during COVID, from March 15 through June 5, the maintenance staff had three employees – and I was one of them,” says Lynn Childress, Savannah Harbor’s longtime Director of Grounds. “That was hell.

“With the ownership we previously had, that never would have happened,” he says. “We would have already renovated the greens. When we went through that changeover during those four or five years (under Clearview), poa had entered the greens and that’s a killer. There’s just no way to come back from that here in the southeast. It’s going to kill the rest of the green.”

The specter of a slow death caused by the appearance of poa annua, an invasive grassy weed also known as annual bluegrass, loomed larger and larger during the first half of 2021. That’s when a change in ownership took employees at Savannah Harbor by surprise. Only when representatives of Toronto-based Brookfield Asset Management visited the property one day last June did Childress and others learn that Brookfield had acquired the property from Clearview.

Brookfield is a multinational company that has $690 billion in assets under management. Among its holdings is PGA National Golf Club in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla., home of the PGA Tour’s Honda Classic. The June visitors made it known that Brookfield, which bills itself as “Pioneers of long-term impact,” intends to do what’s necessary to increase Savannah Harbor’s value – beginning with the greens renovation.

“They’ve made the commitment,” says Despain. “We’ve explained to them why certain things need to be done, they agreed to our proposal and have funded it.”

All the contractual i's have been dotted and the t's crossed. Working closely with Troon Golf agronomists, Childress has devised a detailed plan for the $1 million project.

Dirt began to fly on April 11.

Next: Project details.