With rain in forecast, Harbour Town’s new turf ready for whatever falls

The skies at daybreak Tuesday left Jon Wright and his crew wondering if Mother Nature would let them complete their morning tasks.

“It didn’t look like we were going to get past 7 o’clock,” said Wright, superintendent at Harbour Town Golf Links. “We were halfway through when it looked like we were just going to get destroyed.”

Far from it. Threats of showers and thunderstorms hardly materialized all day, producing nothing more than a light drizzle on practice rounds for the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

Should the heavier stuff come later in the week — and rain chances hover between 40 and 50 percent during the first three days of competition — the new turf that was installed last summer should be well equipped to take it on.

“We’ve been taking the rainfall very well of late,” Wright said. “The 2  1/2 inches we seem to get every weekend, it seems to just disappear by Tuesday. We’ve got moisture in the golf course, but it can take quite a bit when it gets wet.”

Every blade of grass is new at this RBC Heritage, following five months of shutdown in which all of the old turf was torn out.

Tees and fairways now sport a new strain of Celebration Bermuda that thrives better in warm weather. Harbour Town’s greens received a fresh covering in TifEagle Bermuda, the same breed used at the course since 2001.

“We haven’t heard too many negatives, so that must mean we’re doing something good,” Wright said. “Everybody’s been very complimentary.”

The new turf received an early test not long after Harbour Town reopened, when unrelenting rains dropped more than 10 inches on the course in October. That kept some of the turf that was installed last from growing in tight, though the effects this week should be minimal.

New turf, though, does bring firmer greens in the first year or two after installation and competitors will have to be mindful about how well approach shots hold.

However, Wright pointed out that a number of PGA Tour venues have also recently replaced their turf.

“Bay Hill just had a redo and they had firm greens,” he said. “They know what to expect. That’s why they have practice rounds.”

This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 9:19 PM with the headline "With rain in forecast, Harbour Town’s new turf ready for whatever falls."