Pawleys Island courses host young adults in a Nextgengolf national championship

True Blue Golf Club and Caledonia Golf & Fish Club hosted 120 golfers this past weekend in the Nextgengolf City Tour national championship, which featured players from numerous states.

Players represented cities in the states of California, Michigan, Ohio, D.C., Massachusetts, New York, Texas, Florida, Pennsylvania, Georgia and the Carolinas.

The tour is geared toward young adults and is open to players ages 18 to 39.

“The event went well and it’s a great demographic to reach out to,” said True Blue and Caledonia director of golf operations Bob Seganti. “That’s a group that every golf course operator would like to get in front of. An association like that with events all over the country, why not have Myrtle Beach be their home base? We have everything to offer any age group but we’ve got a lot to offer that age group in particular between the golf courses and nightlife if they’re interested in that.”

Seganti said he has already offered to host the 2018 City Tour national championship, and hopes it at least returns to the Grand Strand. Nextgengolf co-founder and chief executive officer Kris Hart said a championship site hasn’t yet been selected, but in the past it has moved cities each year.

Seganti said there was music and a bar on the True Blue driving range Friday night during registration, a putting contest, and appearance by PGA Tour member Harold Varner III, who played on the courses while in college at East Carolina in the annual Golfweek Program Challenge.

In the national finals, teams of up to six golfers broke into twosomes, and the top two scoring twosomes in each round counted toward the team score.

The City Tour launched in 2014 and features monthly events in 20 cities. About 15,000 golfers were expected to participate this year.

Nextgengolf, which is headquartered in Boston, also operates the National Collegiate Golf Club Association for college students.

Marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday has a national sponsorship with Nextgengolf that includes a minimum of four events on the Strand, including the national championship, and the Myrtle Beach market will have a marketing presence at 185 Nextgengolf events across the nation. Hart said he plans to return to Myrtle Beach for spring break, college and other events.

This story was originally published September 18, 2017 at 10:03 PM with the headline "Pawleys Island courses host young adults in a Nextgengolf national championship."