Golfweek Amateur Tour’s local chapter adding players and a senior tour in 2017

The Myrtle Beach-Wilmington chapter of the Golfweek Amateur Tour is expected to surpass 100 players this

upcoming year, and a senior tour is being added in 2017.

Jason Dores, an assistant professional at Legends Golf Resort and retired 15-year Marine veteran, is beginning his third year running the tour. He started with 49 players in 2014 and had 71 by the conclusion of that season, and increased membership to 98 in 2015.

The tour has secured many of Myrtle Beach’s top courses for its events, and the best courses in South Carolina will be hosting major regional tournaments that are open to Myrtle Beach players.

Tournaments are on Saturdays or weekends.

“I’m definitely excited about the growth,” Dores said. “Adding the larger two-day events at nice courses, we’re pulling guys from everywhere. A lot of guys on other tours are looking at our schedule and I’m probably averaging six to eight visitors per event on one-days and on two-days I can exceed sometimes 15 to 20 guests from other tours.”

The new senior tour is for players 50 and older. Dores said about 25 of his regular players have committed to play the senior tour, and there is a discount to join both. “They’re definitely excited because they’ve been battling with the young kids,” Dores said.

There will be four senior flights compared to five flights on the regular tour.

The senior tour will have 17 events beginning in March that will alternate weekends with the regular tour, starting with an event at Barefoot Resort. Its two 36-hole events will be a Mid-Season Major in June at Myrtle Beach National’s King’s North Course and the Golfweek Senior Tour Myrtle Beach Championship in September at TPC Myrtle Beach.

The regular tour and senior tour will combine for a couple events – a shootout with a Stableford format on July 29 at International World Tour Golf Links, and a regular tour vs. senior tour two-day Ryder Cup style event in November.

Dores expects senior tour participation to surpass that of the regular tour within a couple years. “Demographically, the sheer volume of golfers in the Myrtle Beach area 50 and above is way over 49 and under,” Dores said. “I fully expect in three years this will be the largest Golfweek senior tour in the country.”

Dores has contacted the group leaders of some senior golfing groups in the area to inform them he’s starting a senior amateur tour.

He created the Golfweek Amateur Tour winter series this winter for two-person teams and three of the four 18-hole events remain. The first event was at the Dye Club in November and the tour moves to Eastport Golf Club on Saturday, Legends Resort in January and the TPC Myrtle Beach for the winter tour championship on Feb. 4.

The kickoff to the regular 2017 Golfweek Myrtle Beach-Wilmington Tour season is the Icebreaker event in Hilton Head Island from Jan13-16 with two rounds at the Robert Trent Jones Course at Palmetto Dunes, including a skins game, and the final round at Harbour Town Golf Links in Sea Pines Resort.

The Myrtle Beach-Wilmington Tour has 17 events beginning with the two-day Pawleys Invitational from Feb. 18-19 at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club and True Blue Golf Club that sold out last year, and Heritage Club is hosting a lead-in skins game on Feb. 17.

There will be six two-day events, including the Icebreaker next month and Southeast Regional involving multiple tour markets from July 21-23 at Kiawah Island Resort with two rounds at Osprey Point and a final round on the Ocean Course.

The others are the Golfweek Masters at Barefoot Resort in April, the Golfweek Invitational Pro-Am at TPC Myrtle Beach on Father’s Day weekend in June that is scheduled to include SwingThought Tour and Sunbelt Senior Tour members as the pros in each group, and the Grand Strand Classic on Labor Day weekend at Pine Lakes Country Club and the Grande Dunes Resort Course.

The Labor Day weekend event sold out this year with 120 players from 12 states.

A portion of the proceeds from the pro-am at TPC will benefit the Myrtle Beach Vet Center.

The Myrtle Beach-Wilmington tour will combine with the Charleston tour for a one-day combination event in August at Rivertowne Golf Club.

Tour membership for 2017 is $95 for the regular tour or senior tour – $75 if registered before Feb. 1.

Regular tour tournament entry fees are generally $90 for one-day and $225 for two-day tournaments, and senior tour entry fees are generally $80-$85 and $200. Events have optional $25 skins and pin proximity entry fees, and prizes are paid in Visa gift cards.

Players are divided into five flights, with handicaps between 0-3.9 the championship flight and handicaps of 19 and above the highest flight, and the competition is gross scoring within those flights. Over time, tournament scores establish handicaps for tour events. “It can appeal to anybody,” Dores said.

Dores said he wants to schedule more events in the Wilmington area this year.

The national championship for both the regular tour and senior tour is held in Hilton Head Island on successive weeks in October. Golfers interested in joining the tours can visit www.amateurgolftour.net or call Dores at 703-474-0920.

BMW courses announced

The Web.com Tour’s BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation in the Greenville area has added Furman University Golf Club to its three-course tournament rotation.

The college’s course joins 10-year host Thornblade Club in Greer and The Preserve at Verdae, which joined the rotation last year, and replaces four-year tournament host site The Reserve at Lake Keowee.

The tournament will be held May 18-21 and will be in the second year of a three-year agreement with the PGA Tour. As the only Web.com event with a celebrity pro-am format, its future appears bright.

An economic impact study by Clemson University’s International Institute of Tourism Research and Development estimated that the tournament annually generates total direct spending of $4.712 million, supports 139 jobs, generates net local government revenues of $541,048 and net state government revenues of $868,479, and yields $6.744 million in total output/impact.

The tournament has donated more than $12 million to more than 200 charities since its inception in 2001. Playing and sponsorship opportunities are available.

A player favorite

For the second consecutive year, the BMW Charity Pro-Am was awarded the Web.com Tour’s “Best Player Experience Award” at the PGA Tour’s Tournament Meetings last Wednesday in Las Vegas. The award is determined through a player vote.

The tournament’s unique player experience includes the pro-am format over three courses with a number of players competing alongside celebrities; a BMW Performance Center driving session for each participant; a Sister Hazel concert; free meals at select restaurants in downtown Greenville during tournament week; and a free BMW to the first player recording a hole-in-one during tournament week at the primary host course.

Making the lists

The Golf Advisor website created a list of the best 19th holes to watch golfers finish their rounds, and Caledonia Golf & Fish Club is one of a dozen on the list that also includes the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island.

The scenic Pawleys Island course features an idyllic clubhouse setting with a bar and outdoor porch set beneath live oak trees and overlooking an 18th hole that features an approach shot over marsh. The porch has several rocking chairs.

Senior staff writer Jason Scott Deegan writes about Caledonia: “I vividly recall the fear I felt looking at my approach shot to the 18th green at Caledonia a few years ago. Not only was I afraid of the marsh guarding the green, but also I saw all those spectators lounging on the verandah. Instead of stepping it up, I stunk it up, drowning my iron shot.”

Three Grand Strand courses have been named to the Top 100 Resort Courses in America for 2017 by Golfweek magazine, and a nine were listed among the top 200.

The Dunes Golf & Beach Club is 24th, Caledonia Golf & Fish Club is 27th and True Blue Golf Club is 63rd.

The magazine also released the “Next 100,” and those courses included Legends Resort’s Moorland Course (116), the Myrtle Beach National King’s North Course (120), Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club (142), the Grande Dunes Resort Course (149), Barefoot’s Love Course (193) and Barefoot’s Fazio Course (194).

Golf Channel travel expert Matt Ginella unveiled his list of the top 50 public courses in the U.S. on Golf Advisor, and three Strand layouts are included.

Caledonia is No. 16, The Dunes Club is No. 23 and True Blue is No. 41.

This story was originally published December 12, 2016 at 6:57 PM with the headline "Golfweek Amateur Tour’s local chapter adding players and a senior tour in 2017."