The PGA Tour could be landing in the Myrtle Beach area for the first time. Here’s the latest

A PGA Tour event could be arriving on the Grand Strand in early 2024, but area tourism and economic development leaders are being tight lipped on details.

Karen Riordan, present and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and Convention and Visitors Bureau, confirmed in an emailed statement to reporters on Thursday that talks are under way.

“At this time, there are no official contracts. Any public discussions on this matter could jeopardize reaching terms and the opportunity to host and event,” Riordan’s statement said.

Duane Parrish, director of the state’s department of parks, recreation and tourism, asked lawmakers earlier this month for a one-time $3 million boost in his agency’s sports marketing division - with $800,000 going toward helping Myrtle Beach snag a PGA tour stop.

“That’s not a done deal but they need help from the state to help that happen,” Parrish told a House Ways and Means subcommittee on Feb. 7.

Riordan was in attendance at that meeting.

Parrish said the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce and North Myrtle Beach-based marketing agency Golf Tourism Solutions would foot most of the expenses.

A Feb. 15 Post and Courier article said terms of the deal would keep the PGA in Horry County through 2027, possibly under the “Myrtle Beach Classic” name.

More than 80 courses are stretched out along the Grand Strand, considered to be America’s golf capital.

If the Myrtle Beach area does land a tournament, it’ll come at a time when the sport’s popularity has never been higher in the Palmetto State.

A recent state-sanctioned analysis found golf had a $3.3 billion economic impact in 2021, contributing more than $378 million in federal, state and local tax revenues.

Parrish said the state saw a 22% uptick in business taxes collected through golf between 2021 and last year.

“We’ve always been known for beaches and golf, and that just has continued to be the case,” he said Feb. 7.

This story was originally published February 17, 2023 at 3:36 PM.