The 2022 Hootie Monday After Masters features John Daly, golf, music, yet is different
The Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am was held for the 26th time this past weekend in North Myrtle Beach, though the event had a different look and feel.
The golf portion of the event, at least.
While sponsor and VIP events such as a welcome party on Saturday, silent auction and pairing party gala on Sunday night, and Monday night concert at the House of Blues resembled, or will resemble, past events, the golf tournament was vastly different.
Typically held on Monday, the pro-am featuring a golf pro, celebrity and four amateurs in each group was broken up and held over two days, Sunday and Monday, at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club. For the first time, no spectators other than sponsor invitations and VIPs were allowed on the course. As many as 6,000 spectators have previously attended.
“Part of the thought was COVID-related, having to put a pause on the tournament,” Hootie & the Blowfish bassist Dean Felber said. “So we feel a responsibility to having the corporate clients happy and feeling like they’re not under pressure to put their clients in a position that might get people sick. I think part of it might have come with that, and then I think it’s just a way to ease back into doing Monday After the Masters.”
The band and tournament director Paul Graham say they will assess how well the 2022 format went before deciding on the tournament path moving forward, including spectators.
“Its unknown to us,” Felber said. “We talked about the format changes and everything, but we haven’t lived with them yet, we haven’t done a tournament with them yet.
“It was a tough call. The fans are such a huge part of the tournament and make it so much more exciting, but with everything going on it was kind of the call we had to make. The decisions aren’t like in stone, and we do that all the time with the tournament. ... This isn’t any different, and hopefully COVID is something that is definitely in our rear view mirror.”
With or without spectators, the event is likely to return to the Myrtle Beach area for the foreseeable future.
“I hope it never gets moved again,” said Felber, a Mount Pleasant resident. “... As good of a fit as we have in Myrtle Beach, I can’t see how we could ever replace that, honestly. It’s such a perfect fit.”
Pro golfers and celebrities participate
Pro golf participants included LPGA legend Nancy Lopez, former LPGA member Kristy McPherson of Conway, former U.S. Ryder Cup captain Davis Love III, and current or former PGA Tour members John Daly, Chesson Hadley, Chris DiMarco, Robert Gamez, Billy Hurley, Ken Duke, Will Wilcox, Woody Austin and Jared Wolfe.
Celebrity participants included soccer legend Mia Hamm, actor George Eads of CBS’ CSI and MacGyver, wrestling legend Ric Flair, former NFL players Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones, Santonio Holmes and Sterling Sharpe, model Paige Spiranac, former MLB pitcher David Wells, actor Gary Valentine, former NBA slam dunk champion Spud Webb, and musicians/singers Jamey Johnson, Jay DeMarcus, Colf Ford, Steve Azar, Andrew Copeland, Joey Falcone, Javier Colon and Andrew Copeland.
“It’s still something on the calendar we look forward to this time of year, getting together with everyone involved is always so much fun,” said Felber. “As we get older, it’s a little bit harder to get through the three days without some scar tissue, but it’s definitely one of the highlights of our year.”
Felber played golf Sunday to be more fresh for the Monday night concert.
“That helps me out a lot,” he said.
The event raises money for junior golf and education charities and initiatives in South Carolina through the Hootie & the Blowfish Foundation.
It has raised more than $7 million in its 25 years and is responsible for the creation of a $3 million endowment, according to organizers, and helped raise $360,000 in 2019 in conjunction with the Hootie at Bulls Bay men’s college golf tournament, with the bulk of the money coming from the NMB event.
The charity aspect of the MAM, paired with the fun of the event and reconnecting with participants each year, is what still drives the band to return to North Myrtle Beach each April.
“We didn’t know what the future was going to hold for us,” Felber said. “Starting in the mid-2000s, it was kind of unknown territory in our future, so we decided then and there as long as we’re going to keep doing this let’s do it right and get the foundation to stand on its own in case we do have to cancel it.
“That way we’ll still have the charity arm of it. As long as we keep doing MAM, that gives us even more money we can use to help people out. And it’s still going. It’s amazing to us what it has turned into.”
This story was originally published April 11, 2022 at 2:19 PM.
