Myrtle Beach native and The Dunes Golf and Beach Club member Patrick Marino holed a 9-iron on the 155-yard 12th hole Wednesday for his second ever hole-in-one.
What made the moment even more unique and special? He was playing with legendary actor Kevin Costner.
“It was very cool, especially on your home course that you grew up on. Unbelievable. Unbelievable,” Marino said. “I joked with him and said, ‘Kev, you don’t need to hit, just pick it up.’ . . . What a special moment to do that. My mom was there, my uncle was there and a bunch of buddies were there so it was pretty cool. To be able to do one like that it’s rare and special.”
The indelible moment came during the PGA Tour’s ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic pro-am, and is the result of ONEflight International CEO Ferren Rajput’s vision for the event to become more than just a four-round competitive golf tournament.
Rajput flew in approximately 20 celebrities from London and around the U.S. including California, Texas, New York, Florida, Denver and Nashville to participate in the pro-am. They included Costner, Kurt Russell, Rob Riggle, Michael Chiklis, David Arquette, Nick Swisher and Jennie Garth. Bill Murray, a Charleston area resident, also made an appearance at the course, though he didn’t play in the pro-am.
Rajput vows to continue the celebrity theme next year, and to brainstorm other ways to elevate the event.
“Now the stage is set . . . so we will continue this whole celebrity thing year to year as long as we’re here. I’ve got a lot of celebrities and a lot of great friends,” Rajput said. “. . . I’m the guy that says what I did today has to get better next year. I do that with everything. So I’ll come up with something.
“What am I going to do in addition to that? I don’t know but I will elevate it somehow, someway.”
Marino splits time between Boca Raton, Florida and Myrtle Beach, and though he’s predominantly in the Sunshine State he still does real estate and development business on the Grand Strand through his company RentylCore.
Marino is on the board of directors for the PGA Tour’s Procore Championship in September in Napa, California, for which ONEflight is the pro-am sponsor, and he helped facilitate ONEflight’s involvement as a title sponsor beginning this year. Being a pro-am sponsor was initially proposed but talks quickly escalated to becoming a co-title sponsor with Visit Myrtle Beach.
“We felt it would be a good fit, they were excited about the opportunity and we’re thankful we could get it done,” Marino said.
Costner and Russell made a splash with their arrival Wednesday morning via a ONEflight helicopter that dropped them off in a resident’s yard next to the course.
While several celebs including Swisher said they were looking forward to returning next year, Russell said he seldom plays a full round of golf and his pro-am days may be coming to a close, and Costner was noncommittal.
“If I have some serious therapy. My ego is really bruised,” Costner joked about what he perceived as his poor play. “. . . There is no [other] event when it comes to golf. I told Ferren it would be only his event I would do.”
Though attendance had not been tabulated late in the afternoon Wednesday, and wasn’t yet comparable to the Wednesday pro-am last year, tournament director Darren Nelson said “there was definitely a jump in ticket sales over the last three days because of the celebrities.”
ONEflight continues to expand its interest in golf, and has eight playing ambassadors on the PGA Tour, including Akshay Bhatia, Denny McCarthy, Patrick Rodgers, Adam Schenk, Scott Stallings and Sahith Theegala.
Added incentive
ONEFlight is sweetening the pot for the top 50 finishers in the tournament, who will each earn a five-hour flight credit with the private aviation company.
“Again, it’s something different,” Rajput said. “If they qualify in the top 50 I’m giving back something extra to those folks. It’s the kind of stuff we love to do. I want this to become a more fun event than just, ‘Hey, let’s just go there for the money.”
Comings and goings
The Myrtle Beach Classic lost one of its top players early this week as Patrick Rodgers, who is 37th on the FedExCup points list, got into the $20 million Truist Championship on Monday with the withdrawal from that PGA Tour signature event of Jason Day due to illness.
Other withdrawals from the tournament since 5 p.m. last Friday include Lucas Glover and Michael Thorbjornsen, who both qualified for the Truist Championship, as well as major champion Webb Simpson, Nico Echavarria, Jake Knapp, Isaiah Salinda, Harrison Endycott, Rasmus Højgaard, Sam Stevens, Jacob Bridgeman, Ryan Gerard and Nicolai Højgaard
Rodgers’ withdrawal allowed three-time PGA Tour winner Chez Reavie, 43, to get into the tournament.
Other alternates on Friday that now have Thursday tee times include Pierceson Coody, James Hahn, Cameron Champ, Austin Cook, Scott Piercy, Robby Shelton, Adrien Dumont de Chassart, Tyler Duncan, Kevin Tway and George McNeill.
New hardware
The Myrtle Beach Classic has a new trophy. The inaugural one Chris Gotterup won last year, which resembled a crescent moon on a base, is being retired and replaced by a sculpted trophy.
Bryan Rapp, Brookgreen Gardens’ director of the master sculptor program and resident artist, designed and created the new trophy.
It was created from clay and was finished in bronze and nickel.
The trophy is circular atop a base and has the tournament logo and title on one side, and a golf, ocean, beach and dunes themed setting on the other.
A major prize
Winners of both the Truist Championship and Myrtle Beach Classic will be the final automatic qualifiers into the PGA Championship if they are not already qualfied. The season’s second major is next week at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte.
Ten players in the 132-player Myrtle Beach field are exempt for the PGA Championship: Rafael Campos, Harry Hall, Lee Hodges, Mackenzie Hughes, Tom Kim, Patton Kizzire, Taylor Moore, Seamus Power, Davis Riley and Kevin Yu.
In the field of 72 at the Truist, only Ricky Fowler and Michael Thorbjornsen are not already eligible or within the expectation of being eligible Sunday.
On TV
Two hours of today’s opening round will be broadcast from 10 a.m. to noon on Golf Channel. The tournament broadcast schedule on Golf Channel is also 10 a.m. to noon Friday, and 3-5 p.m. both Saturday and Sunday.
