JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. -- — The reopening of Jacksonville Beach Golf Club this weekend on Nov. 10, for lack of a better phrase, is a really big deal.
It opened in 1960, so generations of golfers learned and fell in love with the game here.
It's also the only true municipal golf course on the east side of the Intracoastal Waterway, meaning it's the only course that's accessible to every single player because of cost prohibition or privacy at other facilities.
But even for the non-golfer, and those who live in the neighborhoods around the golf course, it's an investment of $1.5 million from the city council that's coming to life.
In short, the course for some used to be tough to look at, but now:
"We've got green grass," said new Jacksonville Beach Golf Club general manager Bruce Mohler.
"Green grass is good."
Mohler has been in Jacksonville golf as a PGA professional for a couple decades, and most recently as head pro at Ponte Vedra Inn and Club.
The city of Jacksonville Beach hired Mohler as well as Superintendent Trevor Hughes, who was also at Ponte Vedra Inn and Club.
“Well I played here one time, 7-8 years ago in a charity event and I said I’d never come back," Mohler said the condition of the course was to blame.
"I’ve been here 23 years and that’s the only time I’ve ever been to this property and I said I’m never coming back. It was rough.”
But Mohler says making the move from one of the most beautiful courses in Florida at Ponte Vedra Inn and Club to one that was "rough" is actually very exciting.
He decided to come back after all.
“What we’ve got an opportunity to do here is unique," he said. "There’s not that many places that were in the shape that it was in and the shape it is in now. What we can make it is great, and an opportunity to make this fun and special is why we're here."
The renovated, and in the case of some holes re-imagined, course will open November 10.
GPS in all the golf carts, a renovated club house and new practice areas will be noticeable to everyone.
To the golf novice, different hole layouts and green grass will be a highlight.
And to the all-knowing golf expert, details like more environmentally sustainable grass strains and irrigation techniques, plus new green and tee areas will really pop.
For instance, the course has transitioned to Paspalum grass for the greens.
While it's a somewhat more expensive grass, it can handle irrigation methods that are friendly for coastal courses since it is salt resistant.
But enough about grass and irrigation, the thirst from the public is real.
"The community is out here every single day, they’re beating on the doors to see what it looks like," Mohler said.