The PGA Tour and Myrtle Beach Classic tournament operator Sportfive aren’t content with merely putting on a $4 million golf tournament at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club next week.
They are also intent on engaging with the Myrtle Beach community.
So the week will also include several forms of entertainment, interaction with special guests, player participation in community events, and collaboration with area groups and organizations on activities and operation of the tournament.
“I think it’s something that we’ll certainly grow year to year,” tournament director Darren Nelson said. “We were trying to figure out what we could do and I think involving the charities [that will benefit from the event] makes the most sense.”
The Myrtle Beach Classic is being played concurrently with the PGA Tour’s $20 million Wells Fargo Championship in Charlotte, N.C., which will feature approximately 70 of the tour’s top players.
Tournament organizers established 10,000 fans daily as a goal and have already hit that number for Saturday, Nelson said. Ticket sales may be capped at 15,000 per day, and he said it’s possible Saturday sales could reach that.
“[Ticket sales] continue to go very well. They’ve exceeded our expectations in year one,” Nelson said. “. . . Historically events sell probably 50% or so of their [general admission] tickets about the last three weeks leading up to the event.
“We’ve discussed a sellout being a term we might need to come out with at some point for Saturday. In year one, we want to make sure the fans are having a good experience, and all the stakeholders as far as that goes. We’ve talked to the PGA Tour about it and they want us to have a number in mind.”
Tournament-week events
_ Concerts will be held at approximately 6 p.m. Thursday and Saturday at the Ocean Lawn behind the clubhouse. The Swingin’ Medallions beach rock band will play Thursday and the husband-wife country duo Thompson Square will play Saturday.
Anyone who has a tournament ticket on Thursday or Saturday can attend the concerts, which will commence shortly after the conclusion of play those days.
_ Ten to 12 members of the U.S. Army Golden Knights Parachute Team will descend from planes, execute stunts and land on the beach prior to the start of Thursday’s concert.
_ North Myrtle Beach native Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune fame will be around the tournament all week, beginning with the hosting of an Ignite Women’s Brunch in The Dunes Club ballroom on Monday that will include emcee Halley Murrow of WMBF and speaker Paige Cribb of Coastal Carolina University, the 2023 Carolinas PGA Golf Professional of the Year. Tickets are $50, are available through the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce website and include a breakfast buffet and mimosa.
“A lot of PGA Tour events host something like that for women,” Nelson said. “I think it’s a way to introduce more people to the game of golf who maybe wouldn’t even know about the event or come to the event.”
White will also take part in the pro-am pairings party on Tuesday night with a draft-style selection of pros, and pro-am on Wednesday.
The Monday pro-am sold out early and the Wednesday pro-am will have up to 52 teams that will play with a different pro each nine.
_ An opening ceremony will be held at 6:20 a.m. Thursday on the first tee featuring a color guard and national anthem singer. Members of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame will be recognized.
Player involvement
_ Trick shot artists The Bryan Bros – brothers Wesley and George Bryan of the Columbia area – are hosting the Play Golf Myrtle Beach Mini Golf Championship at PopStroke from 6-8 p.m. Tuesday. There are junior (at least one member of the twosome must be a junior) and adult divisions in the two-person team best-ball event with prizes for winners. A $90 entry fee includes a drink ticket and one-day grounds ticket to the Myrtle Beach Classic. Participants can sign up online.
The event also introduces the creation of Visit Myrtle Beach’s Myrtle Beach Mini Golf Trail featuring 30 miniature golf courses.
George Bryan, who lost to Matt Atkins in a playoff in The Q Myrtle Beach – a 16-player qualifier for one reserved spot in the tournament featuring eight golf social media influencers and eight aspiring pros – has been granted a sponsor exemption into the tournament. Wesley Bryan will play in the Myrtle Beach Classic if he doesn’t qualify for the Wells Fargo Championship.
_ The tournament’s professional caddies will have a PopStroke competition as well.
_ Four players will participate in a junior clinic hosted by charity partner Project Golf at Barefoot Resort from 4-5 p.m. Tuesday that will feature approximately 50 juniors ages 9-13.
_ Two players will join volunteers with Keep Myrtle Beach Beautiful and a dozen or more members of the Boys & Girls Club of the Grand Strand for a beach cleanup starting in the area of 24th Ave North in Myrtle Beach from 3-4:30 p.m. Wednesday. A speaker will educate participants on the importance of keeping the beach, ocean and dunes free from pollution and trash.
_ Two players will visit the pediatric wing of the Grand Strand Medical Center from 9-10:30 a.m. Wednesday and will have memorabilia and gifts to give patients.
_ Two players will take part in an outing with charity partner Champion Autism Network at PopStroke and possibly the rides area of Broadway at the Beach on Wednesday morning.
Community outreach
_ Nine charities have been selected to receive a share of $225,000 in donations from the event.
_ Youth groups including The First Tee of the Coastal Carolinas are providing some of the standard bearers for each grouping of players.
_ The Fan Zone located between the 17th green and 18th tee box will include: a Michelob Ultra tent with a bar; a bar featuring Diageo spirits including Kettle One vodka, Don Julio tequila and Bulleit bourbon whiskey; concessions; Cadillac cars on display; and a gaming area with a handful of putt putt holes sponsored by Myrtle Beach Attractions.
_ Saturday is Family Day, which will include face painting for children in the Fan Zone and foam alligator visors with the tournament logo for the first couple hundred kids through the gate.
_ With Sunday being Mother’s Day, representatives of charity partner Blue Star Mothers of America will be handing out roses to attending mothers beginning around 10 a.m.
_ Approximately 20 students in the agronomy program at Horry-Georgetown Technical College are working on the course maintenance staff leading up to and during the tournament.
_ First Tee starters who will announce players and their hometowns will include area media members Brandon Dunn, Chris Parks and Ed Piotrowski.
_ An Horry County Schools Day for approximately 200 juniors and seniors interested in marketing, hospitality and turf management was held at The Dunes Club on April 22 to give the students a behind-the-scenes look at tournament preparation.
_ The 18th hole has six private suites and the 17th has 10 private suites at the green and six cabanas along the side of the hole. There are very few private VIP tickets remaining. In addition, shared VIP venues have been created on the 17th and 18th holes called Club 17 and Club 18. Club 18 sold out quickly, resulting in the creation of Club 17. Clubhouse tickets are also sold out.
“We’ve been pleasantly surprised with the corporate support here, too,” Nelson said. “We sold out all the hospitality on 18, that’s the reason we built on 17. We didn’t know if we would even build on 17 in year one but the demand was there. I think 17 could really grow in year two as well. There’s space on the players’ left too. They cleared out a bunch of trees in the past month or so, so you could build some sort of hospitality over there.”
_ Official partners of the tournament include Pepsi, Grand Strand Health, Cadillac, the Southern Crown Partners beverage distributor, and Diageo spirits.
Tournament particulars
_ Field: The tournament will host 132 players. The top 60 scorers and ties after the second round will make the cut to the weekend rounds.
_ Purse: The payout is $4 million and includes $720,000 to the winner.
_ FedExCup Points: The Myrtle Beach Classic is one of 36 events offering FedExCup points in 2024 and offers 300 to its winner, compared to 500 for winning a regular tour event and 700 for winning a Signature Event, such as the Wells Fargo Championship.
_ Yardage: The Dunes Club is playing as a 7,347-yard par-71 and can be stretched longer with tee marker and pin placements
_ Tee times: Begin at 6:50 a.m. Thursday and Friday and should begin about 7 a.m. on the weekend, and play should conclude between 5-6 p.m. daily.
_ Tickets: Are digital only and available through the MyrtleBeachClassic.com website. General admission grounds tickets are $35 Wednesday, $55 Thursday and Sunday, and $65 Friday and Saturday. A weekly grounds ticket is $240. A Club 17 shared hospitality venue ticket is $325 per day and includes beer, wine, food and non-alcoholic beverages, and a cash bar is available. Email Travis Galowski at travis.galowski@sportfive.com with VIP ticket inquiries. Up to four children ages 15 and under are admitted with a ticketed adult. Military and first responders receive free tickets Wednesday and a 25% discount on up to two daily grounds tickets Thursday-Sunday. The course is closed to the public Monday and Tuesday.
_ Public parking: Is at the site of the former Myrtle Beach Mall at 2400 North Oak Street and is $15 per day (cashless). That is also the location for ride sharing pick up and drop off.
_ TV: Golf Channel and Peacock will broadcast live from 9:30-11:30 a.m. Thursday and Friday, and 3-5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Golf Channel says it is available in 82 million homes in the U.S. and 120 million homes worldwide.
_ Volunteers: Nearly all approximately 1,500 volunteer opportunities sold out within six hours with 20 states represented. The trash removal ecology committee is still accepting volunteer positions that offer several perks including food and drinks in a tent throughout a shift. Register at KeepMyrtleBeachBeautiful.com.
_ Merchandise: Tournament and Dunes Club logoed items will be sold in the clubhouse pro shop and a tent in the Fan Zone.
_ Etiquette: Cell phones should be on vibrate at all times and items such as umbrellas and folding chairs are prohibited.
