River Bend closes to upgrade greens

It's unusually empty these days on River Bend Country Club's greens, as major improvements take place during the heart of golf season.

Installation of new grass has necessitated the course's closure for several weeks.

Meanwhile, about 15 miles up U.S. 231 North, Blackberry Ridge Golf Course is getting a real workout in its temporary role as Bedford County's only functioning golf course.

River Bend's greens are being replaced with a Bermuda hybrid, a change that club pro Tom Beaver expects to make a major improvement.

"We're using a type of Bermuda grass known as Champions Bermuda. It's a Bermuda hybrid," Beaver said.

"It's more resilient, especially in the winter. It has an excellent putting surface, is more consistent and not as grainy as the old grass. It will speed greens up during peak months in the summer and is more playable.

Champions Bermuda grass, according to its U.S. patent, "is distinguished by high rate and density of lateral stem development, low vertical growth characteristic, high density, fine leaf width, and lack of seedhead development. The cultivar is especially suited to golf greens."

As a result of two days of installation work which ended Monday, the course will be closed for at least a month, Beaver said, and two months of work is ahead for the grounds crew.

"They pulled off the old grass, had to do heavy verticutting and aeration -- a 'no-till' method," Beaver said. "We got it prepared for sprigging, removing blades of grass and killing the roots.

"We will be working heavily for two months."

Blackberry Ridge has picked up much of River Bend's business, said David Orr, an employee.

"We're offering a special family membership of $150 a month for River Bend members," Orr said. "It will run as long as they need it to.

"River Bend's a private organization, so we're reaching out an olive branch to them, so to speak," Orr said. "It'll be a good thing for them and, hopefully, for us too."

Orr said an increase in traffic at the public course is already apparent.

"Business is picking up," Orr said. "We've been building up our snack bar to accommodate the extra crowds."

The added crowds are being shoehorned into an already busy summer schedule.

"We have over three tournaments a month anyway," Orr said.

Orr said Blackberry Ridge has added a nine-hole couples' scramble at 5 each Monday afternoon.