After a successful first year, the PGA’s Myrtle Beach Classic golf tournament returns to The Dunes Club with a few tweaks
The PGA professional golfers will be returning to the Grand Strand for the second annual Myrtle Beach Classic golf tournament at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club on May 8-11.
Last year, 38 Professional Golf Association Tour winners were in the field of pros to start the Myrtle Beach Classic and by the end of the week one more name — Chris Gotterup — was added to the list of champions. Perfect weather, a pristine golf course, great golf action and a lot of dedicated individuals combined to make this event a crown jewel for “The Golf Capital of the World.”
Tournament director Darren Nelson couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.
“Year one exceeded our expectations. The volunteers, fans, club members and sponsors came together as a community to make this a great event,” says Nelson. In addition, the PGA nominated the Myrtle Beach Classic for two of its end-of-season awards: “Most Engaged Community” and “Best in Class Element.”
The tournament started with beautiful weather and large crowds. Fans could mingle not only with the professional golfers, but also with local personalities such as Vanna White from “Wheel of Fortune” and Greg Rowles from “The Greg Rowles Legacy Theatre.”
Professional golfers Beau Hossler and Robert McIntyre got off to fast starts and finished the first day tied at 7-under-par with a score of 64. (McIntyre would later fall back in the field and finish 13th for the tournament, but would go on to claim his first PGA victory a month later at The Canadian Open.) Shooting a 72, but having one of the largest followings of fans, was 16-year-old phenom amateur Blades Brown. The course would prove to be a challenge all week as almost half of the players each day would fail to break par 71.
The Dunes Golf & Beach Club Director of Golf Dennis Nicholl and Course Superintendent Steve Hamilton were pleased to hear first-round leader McIntyre praise the event, saying “It’s unbelievable. This is top drawer. The greens are absolutely perfect.”
The weekend once again featured great weather days and the local community responded in droves. Event organizers were hoping for a crowd of between 8,000-10,000 patrons on Saturday, but attendance soared to 15,281.
Golfer Thorbjorn Olesen came out firing on Sunday and shot a blistering 61, which was a new Dunes Club single-day record. Gotterup, however, shot a stellar round of 4 under 67 to propel him to a final score of 22-under par, a new Dunes Club record four-day total of 262 and the first winner to hoist the custom-designed Myrtle Beach Classic trophy and wear the ocean-blue winner’s jacket.
Gotterup is originally from Easton, Maryland, and only turned pro in 2022 after a college career at The University of Oklahoma. His mom, dad, and brother made the trip to see him hoist the win ner’s trophy.
“I’m in the circle now. This was a great first event,” Gotterup said in the media room afterward. It couldn’t have gone any better. I set the alarm for 9 a.m. and woke up at 6 a.m. so I walked the beach for about an hour. On the course I was a lot calmer than I thought I’d be.”
Gotterup says he plans to be back this year to defend his title and spend more time on the beach.
When Gotterup returns, the changes to the course that he sees will be subtle, according to Nicholl.
One of the few course changes, however, will be raising the length of the rough from two inches to about three inches, which means there will be a much higher price to pay for an errant drive that doesn’t find the fairway.
The Dunes Club has Bermuda grass on its fairways and greens. Bermuda grass is popular in the South and especially on The Grand Strand, where the summers are hot and the winters are mild. It is drought-resistant and very durable, making it ideal for courses that see steady play. It can be grainy, but it provides a fast, firm surface that will hold a putting line. Knowing if the grain is with or against you when playing on Bermuda is crucial.
Bermuda grass rough can be plain nasty, especially at three inches or above. It poses one of the biggest challenges in playing from the rough when it is allowed to grow above two-inches high. Looking down from above it just looks like dense, thick blades of grass that don’t look too intimidating. Below the surface is an interwoven web of stems and roots that will grab the club face at impact and cause the ball to go anywhere except its originally intended target. It grows both laterally and horizontally to create a labyrinth of nasty vegetation ready to punish a wayward drive.
At last year’s tournament, Hole 14 was the most difficult hole to score on and most difficult fairway to hit as was accurately predicted prior to the tournament by local golf authority Brandon Lavin. Lavin believes No. 14 will again be the biggest challenge and predicts an accurate driver like Patton Kizzire will have an advantage with the thicker rough.
With over 40,000 fans in attendance last year, officials expect an even larger turnout in 2025. Last year, there was another PGA tournament held at the same time only four hours away at Quail Hollow in North Carolina, but not so this year. The coinciding event, the Truist Championship, has been relocated for one year to Philadelphia.
“One of the pleasant surprises (in the 2024 event) was that there were no real surprises.” recalls Nicholl. That can only come from assembling an experienced team with plenty of planning and maybe just a pinch of luck.
One of the main gauges to grade the performance of the event is the reaction from fans and players. Players gave rave reviews of not only the golf course, but of the amenities, staff, spectators, and Myrtle Beach in general.
Fans were pleasantly surprised at the ease in which they were able to park and shuttle to the course. They were further pleased with the amenities on and around the course.
David Yockey and Lee Williams provided examples of spectator reactions from last year’s tournament. Yockey is an experienced golfer who has played The Dunes Club and has marshalled at TPC Sawgrass, while Williams is a golf newbie who was stepping foot on a golf course for the first time. Both are locals who decided to attend the tournament. They were amazed at how efficient and streamlined the entire experience unfolded. It was only a short drive on a Friday morning to the parking area next to the convention center where they almost immediately boarded a bus to the course after parking. From there they entered the gates, got screened and proceeded to follow the crowd to the course while taking in the beautiful ocean views.
“Everything was smooth and efficient. We never heard a negative word from anyone all day,” says Yockey. They ultimately walked all 18 holes, but not without taking breaks and sitting at some of the many bleachers set up around the course. Both were amazed by the quality of the golf shots being struck, but Williams was equally amazed by the beauty of the course.
“Everything on the course looked great. The day was a “10” and we will be back,” notes Williams.
The fans, golfers and local businesses were not the only ones who benefitted from the tournament. The PGA donates a portion of the net proceeds each year to support local charitable organizations, totaling almost $4 billion to date. This is more than all other major sports leagues combined.
Last year, nine local charities received a total of $225,000 as a result of the Myrtle Beach Classic.
“This was a game changer for us,” recalls one of the recipients, Becky Large, executive director of Champion Autism Network.
It’s hard to believe that things could get better for this year, but that is the goal for Nicholl and Nelson.
“We were blown away by the response from the community in our first year and we are working hard to add to the overall experience for our fans, sponsors, volunteers and all of our stakeholders,” says Nelson.
There are plans for an expanded Fan Zone beyond the area located between the 18th hole tee box and 1st hole green. Also included in the plans will be areas offering food selections from local restaurants and vendors. An opportunity will exist this year for local businesses to entertain their customers and employees with private corporate hospitality tents and cabanas located around the course.
Last year, the Club 18 private area located behind the 18th green sold out immediately and Club 17 was added.
This year, another public option is being added, which is the Clubhouse Lounge. This private venue is located inside The Dunes clubhouse with a private buffet, cash bar, tabled seating and spectacular views of the Atlantic Ocean. There will also be opportunities for fans to play in the pro-am held on Wednesday. Teams of 3 amateur players will be teamed with 1 professional for the event with a pairing party held the night before. The options to join in the fun are limitless.
Myrtle Beach Classic tickets remain one of the best bargains on the PGA Tour with daily grounds tickets starting at $30. Those spectators 15 years old and under are always free and police/first responders get a 25 percent discount.
For more information, contact myrtlebeachclassic.com
Brown (pictured above) is from Nashville, Tennessee and is the #1 men’s amateur golfer in the United States. In 2023 at the age of 16 as a sophomore in high school, Brown broke the 103-year-old record held by the great Bobby Jones for being the youngest medalist at stroke play in US amateur history. He accomplished this by shooting a course record 64 at Colorado Golf Club during the 123rd US Amateur golf tournament. Also in 2023, he went on to shoot a 62 in a tournament at the Franklin Bridge Golf Club. About the Myrtle Beach Classic he said “This is the most fun I’ve ever had at a golf tournament, from the fans, to my play, to my family being here. I’ve never had that many people following my group before.”
The Myrtle Beach Classic golf tournament trophy was designed by local sculptor Bryan Rapp. Rapp is the Director of The Wallace Master Sculptor Program at Brookgreen Gardens. He obtained a Bachelor of Arts from Muskingum University and a Master of Fine Arts in sculpture from The University of Oklahoma. He taught at Coastal Carolina University from 2016-2019 and fabricated a 12-foot tall Chanticleer mascot which adorns the entrance to the football stadium. Rapp joined Brookgreen Gardens in 2019 and as Director of the Master Sculptor Program he coordinates educational programing and week-long sculptor workshops.
Go to myrtlebeachclassic.com and pgatour.com
Watch It Live: Golf Channel will air coverage of the Myrtle Beach Classic all four days. The tournament coverage will also be streamed on Peacock.
