FEBRUARY NOTEBOOK

Few answers, mystery continue to surround Marsh Harbour

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (Jan. 22, 2003) - Rounding winter's corner and racing toward the spring golf season in the Grand Strand.

Marsh Harbour, a popular North Strand course in Calabash, N.C., remains closed after owner LaDane Williamson and Legends Resorts owner Larry Young couldn't reach an agreement on a lease extension beyond March 1, 2003. Legends Resorts has operated the facility since it opened in 1980, but inexplicably closed the course in early December.

Legends Resorts continues to maintain the Dan Maples designed layout, but Williamson told MyrtleBeachGolf.com last month that she would assume operations in March. Williamson said she will reopen Marsh Harbour in late March or early April, however no advance tee times are being taken at this time. When the course does reopen, it will have to rely primarily on local play and walk-ins - a major setback considering that the peak spring season is the most profitable time of year for Grand Strand courses.

Local golf industry observers have questioned why Legends Resorts closed Marsh Harbour three months in advance of the lease expiration, thus sacrificing potential shoulder season revenue. One theory is that it could have been a savvy cost-cutting maneuver facilitated by a loop hole of sorts in the lease. The lease agreement reportedly absolves Legends Resorts from making payments to Williamson if there are no paid rounds of golf at Marsh Harbour.

Williamson could not be reached for comment. However, a representative from her office told MyrtleBeachGolf.com that she was currently interviewing professional golf course management firms and an official reopening date would be set once a firm is selected. Legends Resorts did confirm that it was actively maintaining the course but would have no stake in operating the facility after March 1.

More new greens on the Grand Strand

The Parkland Course at the Legends Resorts will be closed from June 10 to Aug. 31 while all 18 greens are changed over from bentgrass to TifEagle Bermuda. Blackmoor Golf Club in Murrells Inlet will undertake a similar project - replacing its old Bermuda with TifEagle -- and will close May 19. Course officials say they are shooting for a reopening the first week of August, but a specific date will not be set until mid-summer.

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The number of courses switching from the soft, smoothing rolling bentgrass to the hardier, heat tolerant Ultra Dwarf Bermudas has grown steadily over the past four years. Wachesaw Plantation East, True Blue, Tidewater, Myrtlewood, Bay Tree and River Hills all have made the change and the results have been overwhelmingly positive in each case. The only course to buck the trend has been the River Club, which actually switched from an older strand of Bermuda to A-1 bentgrass a couple years ago.

You lose some and you lose some

Looks like the Canadian Tour is skipping out on the Grand Strand for the 2003 season. The tour released its schedule two weeks ago and both Myrtle Beach events had been discontinued. Two Scottsdale, Arizona tour stops also were canceled, leaving the Canadian Tour with no scheduled events for March and April.

The Grand Strand now holds the dubious distinction of having three professional tours pull events from area courses: the LPGA's City of Hope Classic from Wachesaw Plantation East, the Senior Tour Championship from the TPC of Myrtle Beach, and now the Canadian Tour from Barefoot Resort.

Providing some small measure of consolation is the fact that the Gateway Tour is coming to Myrtle Beach this summer. The respected mini-tour is operated by a former player, Chris Stutts, and consists of 15 tournaments in 17 weeks from June through September, with purses as large as $270,000. The tour has a one-time membership fee of $17,500, 85 percent of which goes into event purses.

The tour was a huge success last season, selling all 168 slots and creating a $2.5 million purse pool. It already has 256 players who have sent in deposits for the 2003 season and host commitments from Tidewater, Grande Dunes, Farmstead, Myrtlewood, Man O'War, Belle Terre and Wild Wing Plantation. The tour originated in Scottsdale, and has a big name supporter in PGA Tour player Phil Mickelson.

Chip Shots

Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday announced that it will host the "Monday After the Masters" Celebrity Pro-Am Charity Golf Tournament on April 14, in addition to the six other tournaments it hosts annually in the area. The schedule of tournaments hosted in 2003 include the DuPont CoolMax World Amateur Handicap Championship, the Golf Writers Association of America Championship, the FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing, Palmetto High School Championship, Summer Family Golf Tournaments and Veteran's Classic. Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday expects the tournaments to generate more than 27,600 rounds of golf. Matt Borocz was recently promoted to Assistant Golf Professional at the Tournament Players Club of Myrtle Beach. Borocz's responsibilities include overseeing daily operations of the Outside Operations department, preparing weekly schedules, ordering supplies, and training staff.