The most difficult hole at Hilton Head Island’s Wexford Golf Club may be No. 5.
For players, it’s one of the longest. It features four sand traps and a pond filled with alligators.
But for Jordan Feathers, who maintains the 18-hole private course, the sun is his biggest obstacle. In the winter months, rays don’t touch the grass’ edge, threatening to turn the luscious greens — designed in part by golf legend Arnold Palmer — into a dull brown.
Feathers, a fast riser in the world of golf turf management, knows just what to do. His degree in the niche field from Horry-Georgetown Technical College prepared him for such a quandary.
In 2019, Feathers graduated from the two-year golf and sports turf management program, specifically designed for students aspiring to careers in agronomy — the study of soil management and crop efficiency.
He credits the program as the “backbone” for solving the challenges that every golf hole presents, like the nuances of weeding, different soils and micro environments.
The Grand Strand technical school first offered the program in 1970 in response to a burgeoning resort market in the Myrtle Beach area. Also known as the “Golf Capital of the World,” the region currently has more than 80-award winning courses.
Wild Dunes Harbor Course reopened Nov. 13 after a $9.5 million renovation that shut down the golf course for six months.
Wild Dunes / Provided
It only makes sense these golf and turf management courses are in the hub of it all.
Today, 72 students are studying for an associate’s degree from the state’s top-tier turf management school. Those enrolled in the Horry-Georgetown program must complete a gauntlet of classes ranging from pesticides, soils and pests to business practices, budgets and design.
Charles Granger, who chairs the school’s turf management department, said the program boasts a 100 percent job placement rate. His graduates work at courses around the Southeast, including Wild Dunes’ Harbor Course on the Isle of Palms and Harbour Town Golf Links, the longtime Hilton Head home of the annual RBC Heritage.