Rumbling Bald, a 36-hole golf resort on North Carolina’s Lake Lure, has selected Champion bermuda turf grass for the greens on its Apple Valley course.

Designed by golf course architect and Pinehurst native Dan Maples, Apple Valley will start its transition from its original bentgrass greens to smooth-rolling Champion bermuda in June. Champion was chosen for its superior performance profile, heat tolerance and maintainability. It has speeds up to two feet faster than other ultradwarf cultivars as measured by stimpmeter.

“We provide our golfers with the best possible experiences and Champion bermuda checked all the boxes,” says Rumbling Bald general manager Jeff Geisler. “Dan Maples’ layout and routing at Apple Valley is so pure from tee to green that smooth, true rolling Champion greens are the perfect fit.”

“We did our homework and Champion came out ahead by a longshot,” says Rumbling Bald director of golf course maintenance Matt Lovell, CGCS. “We’re excited to see golfers’ reactions and receive their feedback once the conversion is complete this summer.”

Located along the eastern escarpment of the Blue Ridge Mountains, golf is played year-round at Rumbling Bald. Champion demands less irrigation, fertilizer and pesticides than bentgrass, and is suitable to North Carolina’s warm summer nights and temperate winter climate. Apple Valley will close in early June and is scheduled to reopen in late August.