After more than six months closed down for maintenance, the Highlands Golf Course in Bella Vista is back open, and receiving great reviews.
The course was shut down March 1 to replace all of the fairway grass from Bermuda to zoysia.
The course reopened on Sept. 12. This is the first of the POA’s seven golf courses to get the new surface.
“We closed for the fairway project, from Burmuda grass to zoysia, to give a better playing surface and to handle the cart traffic,” said Darryl Muldoon, golf operations manager for the Property Owners Association. “It is doing great. We have had nothing but compliments on the surface itself. People are enjoying it being open, because it was closed for so long.”
Zoysia is a thick-bladed, hearty grass that stands straight up, even after a drenching rain, allowing the ball to nearly always sit right on top of the grass.
“It’s changed up the dynamic of the golf course, because that grass doesn’t allow the ball to roll out, so it plays a little tougher — plays a little longer, when I mean tougher — and allows the ball to sit up,” Muldoon said. “So it’s really easy to hit off. Everybody is loving it.”
With so much rain early in the spring, it delayed the project about a month. They were also able to add some additional drainage and water sprinklers, where needed.
“Zoysia thrives on the summer heat, so it was a good time to put it in,” Muldoon added. “Every week you just see more spots growing in.
“The common Bermuda is just a bad playing surface through winter. The zoysia is going to give our members better playing surfaces. And that’s why we did it.”
While the grass continues to fully grow in, carts are allowed on the paths only.
Tentative plans are to gradually replace all the fairways on the POA’s courses, possibly beginning a new course next year.
As golf continues to grow across Northwest Arkansas, Muldoon knows the importance of keeping the courses maintained for future growth.
“When I started here, about 15 years ago, we were doing 112,000 rounds of golf per year in Bella Vista, and last year there were 260,000 rounds of golf ,” Muldoon said. “There were more than 100,000 more rounds, and we’ve got to keep up with the product. That way we can make it all good and can keep moving forward as we keep up with play.”
