Myrtle Beach's
glamour makeover:
Taking its best shot
at reeling in the fat cats
(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.
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.''
FEATURE STORY
MB National West