FEATURE STORY

Myrtle Beach's
worries could spell
boon for golfers

(Oct. 21, 2004) - On a recent Thursday, Indian Wells Golf Club had no tee times available till after 4:30 p.m. "We're packed,'' assistant pro Chris Guwaltney said. Meanwhile, not so far away at Pawleys Plantation, you could practically name your own starting time. "This is a great chance to visit and avoid some of the crowds,'' assistant pro Ross McCullogh said.

This contrast -- same day, two similarly-priced courses a few miles apart -- is more typical than not in a Myrtle Beach golf economy that's still trying to find sure ground. Three years after Sept. 11 changed America and erased most reminders of the 1990s' economic good times, Myrtle Beach remains a golf mecca in transition. Round numbers that used to be thought of as a birth right on the Grand Strand are now pursued by prolific ad campaigns. Nothing's taken for granted anymore.

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One week your course is a hot spot, the next it can be scrapping for business.

"The competition's probably more intense than it's ever been," said Frank Coughlin, the head pro at Grande Dunes Resort Club .

That can be a good thing for the average golf vacationer. After years and years of Myrtle Beach courses feeling like the golfers would come no matter how much or how little they offered, every hacker is now regarded as a priceless commodity. Suddenly, you've got a lot more respect and even a little more power.

"You can see the difference," said Jim Kroculick, a Pennsylvania and Texas transplant who's been golfing in Myrtle Beach for decades. "Before 9-11, a lot of the Myrtle Beach courses treated golfers like numbers. After they saw how the travel stopped and what the alternative is, it's changed.

"I think it was a real wakeup call for all of Myrtle Beach. This town depends on all those Northerners coming down to play golf. If it wasn't for the golfers, let's face it, this town wouldn't be much of anything."

Myrtle Beach officials got a look at that nightmare scenario in the months following 9-11 and it shook the complacent industry to its core. And even with round numbers inching back up toward the record late 1990s figures, the urgency seems to remain. South Carolina's Tourism Department spent more money buying ads promoting golf in the state this year than they did in some five-year spans combined in the 1990s.

It's not just about luring golfers to the hot spots anymore either. More and more courses are fixated on providing those golfers with a superior experience when they arrive with their wallets. Indian Wells is just one of area courses that put its employees through extensive customer service retraining in the last few years.

"We have a detailed customer service pledge," Indian Wells' Guwaltney said. "It's something that everyone who works here is aware of and held accountable for. It's not enough to just have a great golf course anymore."

A summer of one hurricane after another gave Myrtle Beach another reminder of just how important a customer friendly approach is. Many courses thought this would be the year their profits finally approached pre 9-11 levels. Then, Charley, Ivan, Frances and Jeanne rolled in and literally blew away those projections.

Once again, the golfers largely stayed away from Myrtle Beach for several weeks, another reminder of how fickle this business really is.

What's jarring for the golf industry can be soothing for the average golfer's bank account. Hotels cut prices in the wake of the five-week hurricane run and even as Myrtle Beach approaches one of its busiest times, there are more deals than usual out there.

"The consumer has a lot more options and is in a lot more demand," said Carson Courage of Myrtle Beach Travel, an agency that puts together package trips to the area for golfers. "Even with the fall season, there's a lot of good values."

Jerry McGraw of Carolina Golf Travel, another packaging company, calls it "the calm before the storm," referring to the chance to get deals before Myrtle Beach starts pulling in near 1990s numbers again. "Though I probably shouldn't say storm around here," McGraw quickly adds.

Myrtle Beach is understandably jittery about how its once bulletproof golf industry is suddenly susceptible to the winds of change like any other business. Which just may make it an even more pleasant place to bring the clubs.

"These Myrtle Beach courses almost had it too easy for a while," Kroculick said. "I like the fact they have to worry about a little golfer like me now."