Myrtle Beach "Goes Low" in 1999 - the Year in Review

By Shane Sharp,
Contributing Writer

MYRTLE BEACH, S.c - It's the end of the year; end of the millennium; end of the world as we know it.

Its time to dream up bogus resolutions, make plans to party like its 1999, and soberly lineup a New Years Eve kiss for a drunken moment.

Or if you're in the computer industry, its time to cross your fingers, hold your breath, and think about updating your resume for a job in organic wheat farming.

But most importantly, its time for the proverbial, ubiquitous "best of lists" that seem to dot every publication in the nation.

And even this dot.com is not immune to the temptations of compiling such all encompassing, authoritatively resounding, journalistically deprived lists.

It was an exciting year at MyrtleBeachGolf.com. Readership grew by close to 100%, over forty Grand Strand courses were played and reviewed (three pairs of soft spikes, a couple hundred Titleists, five golf towels, and twenty golf gloves were consumed in the process), and dozens of "Hole of the Week" and "Pro of the Week" pieces covered our pages.

• Past Myrtle Beach course reviews and features

The River's Edge opened in Shallotte, and according to early reviews may become of the best tracks in the Grand Strand. In late 1999, a portal to the world's greatest golf holes opened with the ribbon cutting of the International World Golf Tour in Myrtle Beach.

But no year can be all birdies with no bogeys. Hurricanes seem to hit the coast of the Carolinas with more frequency than Chipper Jones was hitting high fastballs in 1999.

The Senior Tour Championship was moved to the newly opened TPC of Myrtle Beach from the Dunes Club, and then back to the Dunes Club following the aftermath of hurricane Floyd.

But through the birdies and the bogeys we persevered to post an excellent round. In short, we of the Myrtle Beach community "went low" in 1999.

Now, the question for we the residents of Golf-aholics-ville becomes not what to do about Y2K, but rather Where2Play in the year 2000.

Hopefully, our onslaught of insightful articles and reader input this week will put you on the right "track" (no pun intended) for the next millennium.

Shane Sharp, Editor