FEATURE STORY

Myrtle Beach's
glamour makeover:
Taking its best shot
at reeling in the fat cats

By Chris Baldwin,
Senior Writer

(April 1, 2005) - Walking on Ocean Boulevard in Myrtle Beach provides something of an old-fashioned assault on the senses. This is largely a mom and pop marketing barrage. The row of T-shirt shops, arcades, tattoo parlors and motels are largely free of corporate straight laced philosophy.

• By land or air, getting around Myrtle Beach becoming simpler • Ocean Ridge Plantation stays open while ownership issues continue behind the scenes • Future of Grand Strand comes nine holes at a time

It's kitsch over glitz. Chances are you can find every novelty T-shirt design ever made in a few blocks. Not to mention sea shells, sea rocks and shark tooth necklaces galore. If it can be produced cheap and a tourist from a Chevy Chase movie might buy it, it's here.

Rodeo Drive it's not. Which is a good thing to many people. Just not to the people trying to turn Myrtle Beach into a swanky golf destination.

That's right swanky. It's the marketing people's buzz word of choice, seen in recent Myrtle Beach travel stories far and wide, pushed by public relations flacks. Myrtle Beach is the throes of an attempted image makeover. Ready or not.

It is largely pushed by the new resorts and luxury hotels, places built around the notion that there's no reason Myrtle Beach should not be attracting the big spender golfers. The campaign centers on glamour, the kind of pampered luxury you'd see on the Fine Living network, not on Ocean Boulevard. It's plush rooms, fancy restaurants and killer courses.

"The Myrtle Beach of today definitely offers the high end, upscale experience,'' said Frank Coughlin, the head pro at Grande Dunes, one of the new mega resorts. "Both on and off the course. You can get a great meal after a great round of golf. You can stay in a great place. It's not all about little hotels on the beach anymore."

Those little hotels suddenly have some big company. A Radisson Plaza and a Marriott Resort hotel both opened within a few months of each other in 2003. These are 400-room goliaths with all the bells and whistles of the modern resort experience. They push pampering and golf. Send your wife to a luxurious day at the spa while you experience some of the best golf courses in the world. That sort of thing.

Then there's Grande Dunes, a $20 billion, 20-year building project that's only in year three. And it's already offering marina condos in the $3-4 million range. Dunes is only the most high profile of several resort plans.

Call it a cultural revolution. Or at least a cash one.

"I've seen more Lexuses and Mercedes rolling through town in the last two years than in the prior 20 years combined,'' said longtime Myrtle Beach golfer Harry Shouker.

The luxury car caravan is changing Myrtle Beach golf in all kinds of ways. There are more upscale courses, more courses in general pushing superior customer service. Of course, there are also higher greens fees, a trend that does not appear to be going away anytime soon. More than 25 courses in Myrtle Beach now charge over $100 a round. These aren't Vegas $300 prices. But it's not your father's Myrtle Beach pricing equivalent either.

Most of the triple digit courses are relatively recent additions to the Grand Strand scene. New headline makers International World Tour, TPC, Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and Grande Dunes all charge at least $160 per round.

"The quality of golf in Myrtle Beach is better than ever,'' said Jim Kroculick, a Pennsylvania and Texas transplant who fell in love with golf in Myrtle Beach and moved in. "More courses than ever are doing it right, keeping things in good shape. Yet it also gets more expensive every year.''

Does Grande Dunes $179 greens fee inspire other courses to raise their rates? It's hard to say. What is certain is that a new target demographic can make for a new ballgame. It's no longer about quantity of golfers at some course as much as it's about the quality of their wallets.

"We're not trying to cram as many golfers as we can onto the course,'' said Coughlin of Grande Dunes. "Instead we strive to provide our customers with an enjoyable, unforgettable golf experience. It's about getting the golfers who been starved for the kind of experience we offer to come back again and again."

That experience is about more than just a picturesque 18 holes. The Marriott Resort at Grande Dunes is typical of this new upscale push. This isn't the cookie cutter Marriott you'll find in ever decent-sized city in America. It features a two-tier pool that stretches forever, its own private walkway to the beach and a balcony bar with ocean views and waitresses in short skirts.

On a Sunday night in early September, four guys in expensive designer shirts sat a table over from a college kid and his date in jeans.

"I'm not staying here,'' the college kid said. "I'm staying in a piece of crap motel a few blocks over. But that doesn't mean I can't enjoy the sights."

Maybe the fat cat luring is not all bad. Then again, it might be getting a tad ridiculous.

Derriere's Gentleman Club is now advertising itself as the only upscale strip club in Myrtle Beach. Instead of pushing bring your own beer like it used to (it doesn't have a liquor license), it's pushing bring your own champagne.

For now Ocean Boulevard hasn't really changed. Ten dollars still gets you five souvenir T-shirts. The glitz will have to deal with the kitsch.

"Once Paris Hilton and her friends roll into town I'll get worried,'' Shouker said. "Until then, as far as I'm concerned, it's still Myrtle Beach. It's still the place the regular guy goes to golf with a few buddies.''

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.