Based on early ticket sales and interest, the Myrtle Beach area has been starving for a PGA Tour event.
Some of the VIP packages for the inaugural $3.9 million Myrtle Beach Classic are selling out, volunteer response has been strong, and dozens of nonprofit organizations are vying for charitable dollars from the tournament.
The first PGA Tour event on the Grand Strand will be held the week of May 6-12 at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
The tournament has both private and shared VIP hospitality offerings.
The seven private hospitality suites at the 18th green are sold out.
Because they went so quickly, 10 private suites at the 17th green were created and seven have already been sold.
The 17th hole also has private cabana and tailgate venues. “So we’re really concentrating on selling those private venues right now,” said tournament director Darren Nelson of the international sports marketing agency Sportfive, the tournament operator.
Shared hospitality venues that are available to small groups include Club 18 on the 18th green, which is already sold out on all but Thursday.
Club 18 will have a sports bar vibe with food, beverages and TVs. Another shared hospitality venue is coming.
“With the demand and popularity of Club 18 at the 18th green we’re going to create a new shared hospitality venue, and that will be announced here probably in the next two weeks,” Nelson said. “We weren’t sure what the popularity of those would be in Year One, but those went really fast.”
Clubhouse tickets that allow access to the clubhouse’s indoor ballroom lounge featuring various amenities including restrooms, food and beverage are sold out Thursday and Friday and are close to selling out on the weekend.
General admission tickets are also ahead of the expected pace, Nelson said. More than 14,000 daily grounds tickets Thursday-Sunday, sold as either weekly or daily tickets, have been sold, he said.
“Typically you sell around 60 percent of your total ticket sales for general admission in the last couple of weeks leading up to the tournament when folks start looking at weather forecasts and look at their social calendars, I guess. So we’re off to a really good start,” said Nelson, who spent the past two weeks at the PGA Tour’s American Express Championship in Palm Springs, California, which Sportfive also operates.
The Dunes Club is closed to spectators Monday and Tuesday of tournament week, and tickets can be purchased for Wednesday’s pro-am for $25.
Daily tickets are $45 Thursday and Sunday, and $55 Friday and Saturday, and weekly (Thurs-Sun) ticket books are $200. Clubhouse tickets are $200 each and Club 18 tickets Thursday are $350.
Up to four children 15 and under are admitted free with at least one ticketed adult. Military service members and first responders can receive two free Wednesday tickets and 25% discounts for two general admission tickets per day, which will become available to them beginning April 1.
More than 1,500 volunteers registered the first day registration was open to the public, according to tournament title sponsor Visit Myrtle Beach. They will provide support to more than 40 different volunteer committees leading up to and during tournament week.
Team opportunities for the Monday and Wednesday pro-ams are available. Tickets can be purchased and volunteers can register by visiting MyrtleBeachClassic.com. For hospitality and pro-am opportunities, contact sales director Travis Galowski at travis.galowski@sportfive.com.
Every PGA Tour event contributes at least $225,000 annually to local charities,
Charitable 501c(3) nonprofit organizations based in Horry or Georgetown counties had until Friday to apply to receive proceeds from the 2024 tournament, and Nelson said more than 40 did.
He said tournament organizers will sort through the applicants over a few weeks and select the charities that will benefit. He’s not yet sure how many will be chosen.
“We want it to have an impact on each of the charities that we do select, so we’ll limit it in Year One for sure,” Nelson said. “We’d love to support 40 but we’ll probably limit it to a number where we really think the dollars will go to really help impact the community and impact those charities that receive those funds.”
The tour has donated close to $4 billion to charities to date through its events, which is more than all other major sports leagues combined, according to the tour.
