Miserable weather cuts the Hootie Monday After Masters Celebrity Pro-Am short
The show must go on.
Or it must at least start.
Hootie & the Blowfish altered the show business mantra on Monday, as organizers started the 24th annual Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am in steady rain, wind and cold at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club, but canceled the event after about an hour and three holes.
“People paid to play, so we try to play as much as we can. It’s miserable out here, but we’ll play a little bit of golf,” said Hootie lead singer Darius Rucker upon teeing off. “The show must go on, I guess.”
There weren’t a lot of people complaining about the cancellation because of the chilling conditions.
A few hundred spectators still attended the event that annually draws a sellout crowd of more than 6,000, though many stayed near the clubhouse. Presold tickets accounted for another sellout, and sponsorships, a gala and auction Sunday night, and star-studded concert Monday night at the House of Blue will account for much of the event’s fundraising.
The tournament was cut short by several holes in 2015 by rain that got worse as the day went on, but it has generally enjoyed good weather, including warmth and sunshine last year.
“One thing I’ve learned over the years is the weather doesn’t dictate the success of the event,” Hootie guitarist Mark Bryan said. “I mean it can definitely affect the golf, for sure. But the money is still raised for charity and everybody that’s here is still having a good time and that’s really what it’s all about. So if the golf doesn’t happen or gets canceled, it doesn’t ruin the event, and that’s a nice thing to have.”
SiriusXM Radio broadcasted multiple shows in a tent on the first tee box throughout the morning, but all other first tee events including a celebrity long drive contest, long drive exhibition, ball drop from a helicopter – which will now become a random drawing – and national anthem by Rucker were canceled. Teams teed off nearly 30 minutes late around 10:30 a.m. and played for an hour.
Good seating areas weren’t hard to find, as Kay Wagner of Surfside Beach discovered with her husband and friend Sharleen Olsen of Eagle, Idaho. They took the first shuttle bus from the parking area at the Alabama Theater at Barefoot Landing at about 8 a.m., and sat along the rope on the first tee, pretty much alone for a couple hours until play started.
“It was pretty much straight in and grab your seat,” said Wagner, who was attending for the fourth time. “We have a very good VIP friend from Idaho who wanted to experience it so we couldn’t hold off the rain. It was worth it, but it’s pretty wet, pretty cold.”
Olsen came to the Grand Strand this week specifically to attend the Hootie MAM. “I was still looking forward to it even in this weather,” said Olsen, who was most looking forward to seeing PGA Tour member Troy Merritt, who played at Boise State in Idaho.
The tournament benefits the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation, which supports the educational needs of children in South Carolina and the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation either directly or through an endowment that exceeds $3 million.
Last year’s event raised $300,000, according to tournament director Paul Graham.
In addition to the band’s junior golf contributions, Rucker is the host of the Darius Rucker Intercollegiate women’s college tournament at Long Cove Club in Hilton Head Island, and the Hootie at Bull’s Bay men’s college tournament at is held annually at Bull’s Bay with South Carolina as a host program.
“This event has been great for junior golf,” said Mount Pleasant attorney Joe Rice, the owner of Bulls Bay who has played in the Hootie MAM for about two decades. “South Carolina has one of the best junior golf programs in the country, and there are a lot of reasons for it, great people and great leadership, but these guys, Hootie & the Blowfish have been major supporters of junior golf.”
The MAM has been held at the Dye Club for the past 16 years after starting in Columbia and moving to Kiawah Island.
“It’s been really good up here in Myrtle Beach,” Rice said. “We’ve had a few rainy days. This might be the first time we’ve teed off in this weather.”
Champions Tour member and former PGA Tour member Woody Austin played in his 23rd MAM on Monday, and recalls only four bad weather days.
“Nineteen good ones, that’s not bad,” Austin said. “I think this is the best pro-am around, so I don’t have a problem with one bad one every once in a while. It’s for a good cause, great people, a good venue, and [the concert] tonight will make up for today.”
This year’s golf participants include basketball hall of famer Rick Barry, hockey hall of famer Grant Fuhr, football hall of famer Bruce Smith, sports announcers Dan Patrick and Mike Golic, and pro golfers Davis Love III, Tommy Gainey, Woody Austin, Ken Duke, D.J. Trahan and Robert Gamez.
This story was originally published April 9, 2018 at 3:03 PM with the headline "Miserable weather cuts the Hootie Monday After Masters Celebrity Pro-Am short."