Golf makes Mustang Island debut

Sneak preview STAFF PHOTO BY MURRAY JUDSON Area golf pros, media and others were among invited guests at a pre-opening round of golf at the Newport Dunes Golf Club on Wednesday, Sept. 2. Taking a swing at right is Thane Emerson, pro at the Rockport Country Club. From left, they are Gary Hargrove of Corpus Christi, Alan Harwell of K-III TV and Bill Kirk, general manager of the Rockport Country Club.

Prepare to be pampered.

From making your reservation for a tee time to the moment you're tucked back into your car, the Newport Dunes Golf Club's mission is to create a golf experience like none other, Newport General Manager Kevin Michael said.

The first 18-hole golf course in the history of Port Aransas opens at 7:30 a.m. today, Thursday, Sept. 4. It is located between Beach Access Roads 1 and 1A along State Hwy. 361.

"We're taking it to the next level," Michael said. "It's the difference between a Toyota and Lexus. It's the service, the image, the experience - all first class," he said.

Assistant golf pro Craig Hunt checks out the fleet of 60 golf carts.

Golf clubs will be cleaned between the time they are whisked from your car when you arrive to the time they are loaded into your tee-stocked golf cart. Along the course, ice-cold mangoscented towels will be available to cool and invigorate golfers.

"It's the attention to detail of a world-class golf course" that will make the difference, Michael said.

"It's not just golf, it's the experience," he added.

Two forces are combining to create that kind of experience.

First, golf legend Arnold Palmer has his name on the course. It's an Arnold Palmer Signature course, which means he kept an eye on the design and, during a visit last April, gave it his blessing.

Second, the developers, Texas Gulf & Harbor, Ltd., secured the services of one of the premiere golf course management companies in the country, KemperSports, to manage and operate the course.

Included in KemperSports portfolio are such courses as Bandon Dunes Golf Resort, Chambers Bay, Harding Park, Dorado Beach Resort & Club and Desert Willow Golf Resort as well as others in the U.S., Puerto Rico and Latin America.

Golfers come off the golf cart bridge at the Newport Dunes Golf Club on their way to the first three holes on the west side of State Hwy. 361 where the driving range is also located.

The ambiance of the Gulf of Mexico and Mustang Island combined with the Arnold Palmerapproved design and management company seek to make Newport Dunes Golf Club a golf course destination.

So far, it's working. Golfers are calling to make reservations for tee times a month in advance, Michael said.

Already, seven or eight tournaments or golf events (20 or more golfers), are booked, including Mission 911 (200 golfers), a charitable organization that helps the homeless in Corpus Christi, and the Texas Gas Association board of directors (about 180 golfers).

The first tournament on the course will be Saturday, Sept. 13, when the Port Aransas Kiwanis Club hosts a fundraiser that is nearing its 120- player capacity.

The course will be open 365 days a year - but Michael leaves open the option to close on Christmas Day.

Assistant pro Craig Hunt takes a swing on the 15th hole.

Michael, a Class A golf pro, is backed by assistant golf pro Craig Hunt, and a second assistant pro should be on board soon.

Michael expects to begin offering golf clinics for beginners within a couple of weeks.

With five sets of tees, all skill levels will be accommodated.

The links style course is a par 71 course with more than 7,000 yards of fairways and greens. Fairways average 75 yards in width. Links courses can vary some in appearance, but a traditional links course typically is seaside, with sandy soil, a natural layout, natural seaside grasses, few if any trees, and many small, deep bunkers.

Newport Dunes boasts droughtand salt-resistant turf and a computerguided irrigation system that controls nearly 2,000 sprinkler heads.

Turf areas are planted entirely with a grass called paspalum that is especially tolerant of dry, salty conditions. In Texas, there are only about 35 acres of land where paspalum is cultivated, and the Newport golf course is covering far more acreage than that with the turf.

Groundskeepers rake the bunkers, which they maintain on a daily basis.

The course is maintained by a sophisticated irrigation system. A weather station on the course computes, daily, how much water a plant consumes based on wind speed, temperature, humidity and solar radiation.

More than a mile of perforated piping lies underground at the golf course. Irrigation water seeps down through the soil, is collected in the pipes and is pumped back into the irrigation system for use again on the course. said only simple table salt and one insecticide approved by the Audubon Society have been used on the course.

Once the course opens, the five-part Course superintendent Jim Brown said only simple table salt and one insecticide approved by the Audubon Society have been used on the course.

Once the course opens, the fivepart application process for becoming an Audubon certified sanctuary site will begin, Brown said. He says he has no doubt the course will easily qualify.

A group of golfers do a 'test drive' of the course to help work out the kinks before opening day, which is today, Thursday, Sept. 4.

Among plantings at the course are 2,500 endangered sea oats, 25,000 Gulf muhly's, 10,000 cord grasses, 20,000 wedilia and 5,000 purple fountain grass.

The portion of the course that bor- ders State Hwy. 361 is planted with native seagrapes, Hawaiian hibiscus, bougainvillea, green island ficus and 10,000 blue dune grass plants.

In addition, 5,000 pounds of seaside weeping lovegrass has been planted throughout the course, Brown said.

"This is the hardest thing I've ever done because of the environment, the scope of the work and the size of the project," Brown said. "It is the most environmentally friendly golf course within hundreds of miles" perhaps with the exception of the Barton Creek course in Austin.

Food and beverage manager Betty Gilbertson, foreground, goes over equipment with staffers, from left in background, Lizzie Dupnik, Kelsey Picou, assistant manager Audra Messick and Kassidy Hill.

"What I'm proudest of is that it's unique and it's done right because of the level of commitment, and everyone strived to recreate a native environment. They could have just bulldozed it," Brown said.

The first three holes, on the west side of State Hwy. 361, are connected to the remaining 15 holes on the east side of the highway by a bridge that provides enough clearance to allow the largest kinds of vehicles to pass under, including tractor-trailers and motorhomes.

A residential development bordering the golf course eventually will include 95 single-family residences and 500 multi-family units as well as some commercial space.

The course, open to the public, offers several levels of green fees from standard to senior, junior, military and twilight rates. They range from a high of $90 for holidays to a low of $50 for juniors (under 18) Monday through Thursday.

General manager Kevin Michael, left, and Cody Coleman of the outside/pro shop staff prepare rental equipment for opening day.

Weekend (Saturday and Sunday) green fees range from a high of $85 to a low of $70 for seniors and juniors, and $60 for the twilight rate.

Those are introductory rates, Michael said, and will be adjusted in early 2009. A rate schedule can be found at www. newportdunesgolf.com.

Golfers will be able to take advantage of the food and beverage service that will prepare breakfast, appetizers and lunch items that will be packed and ready to take on the course. According to food and beverage manager Betty Gilbertson, the offerings range from kolaches, muffins and breakfast tacos to an array of appetizers, sandwiches (with a panini style option), salads, wraps and even fish tacos.

Coffee, beer, wine, orange juice, milk, sodas and energy drinks will be available as well as "The Arnold Palmer," an iced tea made the way Palmer likes it with a splash of lemonade.

Palmer's signature on the course is significant in the world of golf. He owns 92 professional championships, 62 of them on the PGA Tour. He has won four Masters and two British Open titles, and one U.S. Open crown. He was the PGA Tour leading money winner in 1958, 1960, 1962 and 1963. He is a member of the world, American, PGA and college golf halls of fame, and he was named the Associated Press Athlete of the Decade for 1960 through 1969.

Green team COURTESY PHOTO The Newport Dunes Golf Club groundskeepers line up with their equipment that helps them keep the greens green.

He's seen golf courses around the world, and while standing on the t-box to hole 14 at Newport Dunes last April he was asked if he had ever seen a hole like it.

"Yes, Pebble Beach," the golf great replied.

And, yes, Arnold Palmer will give the course his final blessing at a small private event in October.

(South Jetty reporter Dan Parker contributed to this story.)