Myrtle Beach Golf News

South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel Ranks Robert Trent Jones as the Seventh-Best in the State

April 23, 2008, Myrtle Beach, S.C. – The Dunes Golf and Beach Club was recently named to the “50 Best Courses in South Carolina” ranking recently announced by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel. Reviewed in the April issue of Palmetto Golfer, the Panel’s biennial ranking recognizes the state’s top resort, public access, daily-fee courses and private courses in even-numbered years.

The Robert Trent Jones design was the top-ranked Grand Strand area golf course honored by the ranking, at number seven, and moved up two spots since the 2007 ranking.

“We are excited to be recognized as one of the top 50 golf courses in the state,” said Dennis Nicholl, The Dunes Club’s head golf professional. “We strive to provide a superior golfing experience to our members and guests and this award confirms our success at creating this experience.”

 

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Some of golf’s most influential leaders and members of the game’s most prominent associations converged on the nation’s capitol to celebrate a bipartisan Congressional resolution which declared April 16, 2008 as National Golf Day.

The golf leaders discussed the game’s impact on society, in particular its role to the U.S. economy.

The golf industry is the sports and entertainment worlds’ largest contributor to our economy, generating $76 billion in direct economic impact according to a recent study, the 2005 Golf Economy Report, commissioned by World Golf Foundation’s GOLF 20/20 initiative completed earlier this year and released at the PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, Fla. 

April 21, 2008, Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday announced today that it will host the seventh annual FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing, May 18-21, 2008. The FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing is the world’s largest firefighter golf benefit and has raised more than $60,000 for the families of fallen firefighters. More than 600 firefighters from 27 states and Canada are expected to participate on 30 Grand Strand area courses during the week.

The 2008 tournament will be dedicated to the late Captain Louis Mulkey and the Charleston, S.C. firefighters who lost their lives in a furniture store fire in West Ashley, S.C., last June. Mulkey had assisted with the Golf Outing each year by bringing members of his Charleston Fire Department to cook for all of the firefighters and their families at the picnic and awards ceremony. The FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing will honor Mulkey and the fallen Charleston firefighters in a special presentation at the April 21 picnic and awards ceremony.

NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - LPGA professional Annika Sorenstam and Hootie & The Blowfish lead singer Darius Rucker survived a one-hole chip off to lead their six-person team to the 2008 Hootie & The Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament title. Sorenstam and Rucker’s team defeated two other teams on a chip off on the 3rd hole green after both teams finished 16-under-par after 18 holes.

For the third consecutive year, an estimated 6,000 golf fans packed The Dye Club at Barefoot Resort & Golf to see their favorite celebrities, athletes and musicians compete in the 14th annual Monday After The Masters Tournament in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Pace of play is an issue often discussed at the player level. But, members of the American Society of Golf Course Architects are also addressing this at the design level.

"A properly designed, well-drained course with ample playable areas, properly placed bunkers, visible water hazards and smaller greens usually plays fastest," said Steve Forrest, president. "ASGCA architects work with developers to design courses that are challenging but not overwhelming. This keeps play moving without detracting from the player’s overall experience."

Courses offering faster play usually benefit from a combination of factors including quality professional management, and the cooperation both of those playing and those directing play. However, according to Forrest, faster play also results from course designs that pay special attention to routing designs and tactical layouts of tees, greens and fairways.

On the surface, Palmetto Discount Golf looks similar to one of the dozens of outlets located throughout the Myrtle Beach Area whose inviting mottos assure you they'll do their very best to accommodate your every whim if selected to plan your next golf vacation.

Myrtle Beach and the Grand Strand has a longstanding reputation as one of America’s favorite golfing destinations and that status within the state of South Carolina is no different.

The region recently placed 11 golf courses on the list of “Top 50 Courses in South Carolina” published by the South Carolina Golf Course Ratings Panel, giving the Grand Strand more courses than any other destination.

Hilton Head’s Harbour Town Golf Links once again took home top honors as it was named the Palmetto State’s top course for the fourth consecutive year.

Pawleys Island, S.C. -Pawleys Plantation Golf & Country Club in Pawleys Island, S.C., is offering a new golf package, "Road Trip" To celebrate their appearance on The Golf Channel's new reality series, Road Trip: Myrtle Beach, the package lets golfers experience four courses featured on the show, including Pawleys Plantation, which the show's stars lauded for its "awesome" beauty.

The three-night "Road Trip" package is available through September 3, 2008 (rates vary from $433 to $714 per person, according to the season) based on quad occupancy. It includes accommodations in a spacious Pawleys Plantation villa, daily plantation breakfast, and a round of golf on Pawleys Plantation's Jack Nicklaus-designed layout, and one round each on the Tradition Golf Club, Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, and Willbrook Plantation Golf Club.

North Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters tournament organizers announced today that LPGA Hall of Fame member Annika Sorenstam will make her first appearance at the annual Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament to be held this year on April 14th at the Dye Club at Barefoot Resort & Golf in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.
 
The most successful player in women’s golf, Sorenstam has rewritten the record books during her storied 14-year career on the LPGA TOUR with 70 tournament victories, 10 Major championships and more than $20 million in career earnings. Sorenstam was inducted into the LPGA Hall of Fame and the World Golf Hall of Fame in 2003.

Myrtle Beach, S.C. – Myrtle Beach National will play host to the fifth annual Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Shootout during Easter weekend, March 21 – 22, 2008. The spring partner of the George Holliday Tournament held annually in November, the Junior Golf Shootout, hosts more than 150 boys and girls between the ages of nine and 18 years of age for the two-day tournament. The tournament entry fee is $99 and golfers from Nebraska, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina and Virginia, as well as a team from Finland, have already registered, with the entry deadline not until March 17, 2008.
 
Sponsored by Myrtle Beach National, PGA TOUR Superstore and Coca Cola, the Junior Golf Shootout features two tournament rounds at Myrtle Beach National’s Southcreek and West Course, lunch each day, a welcome gift and door prizes. The Shootout is sanctioned by the South Carolina Junior Golf Association and tournament participants can earn points towards the Heritage Classic Foundation Rankings.