The Mississippi Development Authority (MDA) Division of Tourism today announces that the award-winning, Arnold Palmer-designed Bridges Golf Club in Bay St. Louis, Miss., plans to re-open for play Oct. 18.
Seaside Golf Development has completed removing the existing turf from the entire golf course and has now completed the final stages of grassing the entire course with more than one-hundred acres of Certified Tifway Bermuda sod from tee to green as well as repairing all drainage and bunkers on the golf course.
The Bridges, the first resort golf course in the world to be granted the Audubon Silver Signature Status by Audubon International and the state's only Arnold Palmer Signature course, is part of the new Hollywood Casino here.
Hollywood Casino opened last month with the Hollywood Hotel offering 291 guest rooms, 900 new slot machines, 20 unique table games, and a new 6-table poker room. Three restaurants are open including, Tuscany Steaks and Seafood, Jackpot Java and the all new Epic Buffet. The Bridges Grill will open later next month. The fully renovated casino operation, land-based facility has 17,000 square feet of function space and three private meeting rooms.
"It is gratifying for yet another outstanding Mississippi golf-and-gaming property to welcome guests back to the Gulf Coast," says D. Craig Ray, the MDA's Tourism Division Director. "The Bridges and Hollywood Casino are outstanding venues and part of the reason why people are increasingly choosing to visit our great state of Mississippi."
The Bridges' newly renovated clubhouse will reopen later this year.
"Overall, the golf course routing has remained untouched but some minor modifications in the way of shaping have been made to make the course more resort and player friendly," says Chris Altese, director of golf at the Bridges.
The total square footage and number of bunkers remain the same. Some bunker locations have changed slightly to improve the playability of the course and to be more conducive to the renovation process.
"Greens on hole nos. 3, 10 and 17 have been raised slightly to improve the drainage which was damaged by the storm," Altese says. "Amazingly, the one mile span of bridge work and bulkheads stayed in place and had very minimal damage from the storm."
For more information, call 866-7-LUCKY-1 or or visit www.hollywoodcasinobsl.com.
