On Grand Strand Golf: Area instructors settling into improved digs

Two Grand Strand golf instructors have moved to golf courses with impressive practice facilities, while a third has upgraded the facility where he is located.

Former PGA Tour member Hugh Royer III has moved from the South Carolina Golf Center that he helped open at Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club to Possum Trot Golf Club. Both are Glens Group courses and Royer expects to give some instruction at all four Glens Group courses, which also include Heather Glen Golf Club and Glen Dornoch Golf Links.

Nick Bradley, who is the swing coach for 2014 European Ryder Cup Team Captain Paul McGinley and previously instructed U.S. Open champion Justin Rose, has moved into the S.C. Golf Center with a focus on corporate group instruction outings.

Glen Davis, who has been a golf instructor on the Grand Strand for 28 years, now has an upgraded facility at Indigo Creek Golf Club with a newly-built building housing three hitting bays on the driving range and a classroom in the clubhouse equipped with a computer and large video screen for video swing analysis.

Hugh Royer

Royer has moved to one of the busiest practice facilities on the Strand at Possum Trot off U.S. 17 in North Myrtle Beach.

Possum Trot has a short game area with six different target flags from about 15 to 70 yards, an indoor golf academy building, a simulator that can be used for teaching or for playing simulated rounds at courses around the world at $25 per hour when it’s not being used for instruction, and a teeing area on the opposite end of the driving range that can be used for lessons and clinics. Possum Trot has punch cards for use of the practice facility.

Royer has brought some of his existing clients there and has picked up many more from the traffic. He shares the academy building with club-fitter Al Cloyd.

“It has been a great combination of people who have made this thing work and we’re just getting cranked up,” said Royer, who is still determining how much he’ll use Glens Group’s other courses. “There are a lot of people who come through there. Everyone has been great. It’s a nice atmosphere. We have fun things in the works this summer for junior golfers.”

Royer said Glens Group is making junior camps or lessons part of vacation packages it’s selling to tourists, and is working with companies such as CondoLux, where his wife Heather is the golf director.

Nick Bradley

Bradley has filled the void left by Royer at Shaftesbury Glen.

The South Carolina Golf Center opened in November. It’s building is in the style of the Shaftesbury Glen clubhouse and features a pair of hitting bays, V-1 Digital Coaching System computer swing analysis, FlightScope launch monitor, a pro shop with Nike equipment and attire, offices, a couch and television, and wraparound deck with chairs and tables.

The left side of the driving range has been extended and an extensive short-game area is in the process of being added. Range memberships are available.

Al Hogan partnered with Royer to build and open the center, and said he spent more than $200,000 on the facility with business partner Chris Taylor. “I’m very happy. I think Nick will be a draw for a lot of people,” Hogan said.

The S.C. Golf Center has been named a Nike Performance Center. The company will provide upgraded equipment and a Nike regional director plans a visit in June. “They have promised to come in and see what we need and provide us with their equipment that’s up to date, so I think it’s a really good opportunity,” Hogan said.

Bradley recently visited Nike’s The Oven research and design facility and the center’s other instructors will also likely visit it to be trained in Nike’s club-fitting. Former Coastal Carolina golfer Josh Jackson has been hired as a full-time instructor and joins teacher Nate McDonough at Shaftesbury.

“I think we’ll be able to offer world class golf instruction at a brand new world class facility in conjunction with Nike Golf,” said Bradley, who has been aligned with Nike for several years.

Bradley said the bulk of his individual students are from out of town, and he’ll use the facility for many of those. He also occasionally uses St. James Plantation and Long Bay Club for lessons, depending on the residence of his clients.

Corporate clients will be a focus at the S.C. Golf Center. Examples include companies sending clients to Bradley as a perk, or an executive and his/her guest spending an afternoon or more receiving lessons with a guarantee that their game will improve.

Bradley said the vast database of golfers held by Glens Group and two of its owners, Paul and Jack Himmelsbach, can be leveraged to find new clients and a few villas at the clubhouse can be used for stay-and-play/instruction packages. Bradley also wants to have some upscale junior programs at Shaftesbury. “We’re just trying some different stuff,” said Hogan, who added that Glens Group is trying to get more involved in instruction by offering affordable schools with nice facilities.

Because Bradley frequently travels, individual lessons booked through Shaftesbury will generally be at least a month in advance at $150 per hour or $450 for a half day.

Bradley, a London native, is headed back to the English city on May 16 to attend the 2014 European Tour awards dinner.

He was recognized for his contributions to the winning 2014 European Ryder Cup Team. Bradley worked as a strategist to McGinley, creating motivational themes through imagery, similar to those featured in his books The 7 Laws of the Golf Swing and Kinetic Golf.

Large posters in the team room at Gleneagles featured the likes of Ian Poulter, Graeme McDowell, Rose and the late Seve Ballesteros with messages that championed emotions such as passion, focus and resilience.

He will have a similar role for captain Darren Clarke next year.

Glen Davis

Davis has been teaching in the Myrtle Beach area for about 28 years and has been at Indigo Creek for the past five. The Indigo Creek driving range has been extended with the removal of some trees, and a building with three indoor hitting bays has been built on the far left side of the range.

The classroom is in a large clubhouse extension that also houses East Coast Golf Management offices.

The upgrades are courtesy of Myrtle Beach resident Mike Boyce, who formerly was a government contractor for a business that did maintenance on military vehicles and aircraft, and now owns Boyce Solutions business consulting.

Boyce took lessons from Davis through a Dealsaver promotion for himself and his son, Seth, and after Davis helped Seth drop his handicap from about 20 to 6 –he now plays for the Myrtle Beach High boys team –Boyce proposed building the hitting bays as a partner to Davis.

“My expertise is in the business side of things and Glen’s is in the teaching side,” Boyce said. “He just needed some tools and a little bit of help to allow him to be as good as he can be.”

Boyce and Davis say they want to focus on affordable lessons and clinics for locals, particularly juniors.

Davis has a number of summer programs for amateurs and juniors planned, including an advanced month-long school in addition to traditional three- and five-day schools. “Mike wants to have a local theme. I’ve always had tourists more or less, I’d say 80 percent of it,” Davis said. “We’re also going to hit juniors hard in the summer time, too. … We want to get Myrtle Beach back on the map with the [junior] talent level.”

Davis’ school has been rebranded the Glen Davis Golf Academy and has joined the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce.

“Nobody really tries to focus in on the locals. Everybody is geared up to accommodate tourists,” Boyce said. “We’ll see if we can focus in on three groups that get little attention in locals, women and juniors.

“You look at the South Carolina junior rankings and there’s not a sole player from Myrtle Beach. If we can be a part of turning that around that would be really good. I think he can have a tremendous impact on area juniors if we can position him right.”

Davis may begin instructing at other East Coast courses as well.

This story was originally published May 4, 2015 at 9:12 PM with the headline "On Grand Strand Golf: Area instructors settling into improved digs."