Tiger Woods has an opening date for his second business venture in Myrtle Beach.
Woods is a partner in PopStroke – a restaurant, bar and golf putting course business that is scheduled to open in Broadway at the Beach at noon on March 4, according to company spokesperson Dylana Silver-O’Brien.
PopStroke includes two 18-hole putting courses over 54,000 square feet, an 11,000-square-foot clubhouse and adjacent 3,500-square-foot kids’ playground, according to plans that were submitted to the city.
The business has a motto of “Eat, Putt, Drink,” and is located next to The Hangout.
It also includes a full-service restaurant, multiple bars in sports bar themes with a multitude of beverages, a 24-flavor premium ice cream and milkshakes shop, outdoor gaming area, beer garden, and private event spaces.
PopStroke has a downloadable app that manages rewards and can be used to place food and drink orders that can be delivered on the courses.
Technology further enhances the experience with LED-lit holes and JumboTrons throughout the courses.
A burgeoning concept
PopStroke was founded about five years ago by former Wall Street executive Greg Bartoli, who is the brand’s CEO. He has been joined in ownership of the business by Woods and TaylorMade Golf, whose balls can be kept by customers.
Food and beverage offerings are fairly consistent at all PopStroke locations, Bartoli said, though there will be local craft draft beers specific to the Broadway location. “So that we kind of pay tribute to the local breweries in the various areas that we go into,” Bartoli said.
Each PopStroke course is uniquely designed, complete with synthetic turf greens, mounding, and bunkers and rough that are higher versions of the turf and a different color.
PopStroke has a team of golf course builders, shapers and superintendents that construct the courses.
“It’s a collaborative effort,” Bartoli said. “. . . The actual putting experiences themselves will be different and unique.”
Bartoli said the synthetic turf being used by PopStroke will differentiate it from other miniature golf and putt-putt courses along the Grand Strand. It is designed to mimic natural grass and will feature breaks and undulations and roll up to an estimated 11 to 12 on a Stimpmeter, which is a quick and challenging speed.
Woods was previously among the celebrity owners of All-Star Cafe that opened in the 1990s, and he made an appearance for a ribbon-cutting and lunch at the short-lived restaurant near Broadway at the Beach the day after his record-setting victory in the 1997 Masters Tournament.
Will Woods make another appearance in Myrtle Beach for PopStroke?
“We’re hoping he’ll visit Myrtle Beach when the schedules align,” Bartoli told On The Green Magazine last March. “I don’t know if it will be the grand opening or not, but certainly once we get our doors open and the schedule allows. . . . To be determined, I would say.”
There are currently 10 PopStroke locations, including six in Florida, and PopStroke is expanding rapidly, as Myrtle Beach is one of 14 locations in five states that are planned for openings between now and the end of 2025.
PopStroke is the latest of a plethora of golf-related businesses on the Grand Strand. In addition to more than 80 golf courses and numerous par-3 facilities, driving ranges, miniature golf courses, golf instruction businesses and golf retail stores, a 72-bay TopGolf venue has been open since March 2019 nearly across the street from PopStroke.
