These former Golf Channel personalities are participating in a Strand youth fundraiser
Continuing their commitment to junior golf on the Grand Strand, former longtime Golf Channel personalities Kelly Tilghman and Charlie Rymer are returning in July to host a fundraising tournament for The First Tee of Coastal Carolinas youth development organization.
The First Tee’s Future Generations Tournament is scheduled for July 23 at Caledonia Golf & Fish Club in Pawleys Island.
Tilghman and Rymer are expected to fulfill host and emcee roles and interact with each group on the course.
“I’m excited to return and continue the tradition that we started several years ago,” said Tilghman, a North Myrtle Beach native and Florida resident.
Tilghman and Rymer, a Fort Mill native who in December became a brand ambassador for the Golf Tourism Solutions marketing and technology agency that promotes the Myrtle Beach golf market, first participated in the tournament in 2013 and at least one has returned every year since.
The 18-hole scramble tournament costs $250 per player, and a threesome of adults will be paired with one First Tee youth participant. The tournament has a 1 p.m. shotgun start and the entry fee includes Jimmy John’s lunch, Moe’s Original Bar B Que dinner and gift bag including a shirt, hat and balls.
The event has sold out of playing spots in each of the past three years.
Players can register by contacting The First Tee of Coastal Carolinas executive director Rich Abraham at 843-325-6787 or Rich@TheFirstTeeCoastalCarolinas.org.
Fortune Marketing Unlimited, which is involved in a series of Liberty Mutual Insurance Invitational fundraising tournaments and has a relationship with Tilghman, added items to this year’s gift bag and prize fund for players in the tournament.
“Every year we seem to grow a little bit more, and through their goodwill and charitable endeavors we’re able to make the gifts and prizes a little bit sweeter for the people who play in the tournament,” Tilghman said. “We hope to grow it even more as the years go on.”
Tilghman helped create the Strand-based Gene’s Dream Foundation in 2017 in honor of late longtime Strand golf professional Gene Weldon, who was a mentor to her growing up, and it will stage both the second Mentor Cup for junior golfers and mentors and an affiliated Dream Challenge fundraising tournament on Oct. 26 at Tidewater Golf Club.
The foundation is committed to benefiting The First Tee of Coastal Carolinas, of which Weldon was an ardent supporter, and other youth organizations and initiatives.
Tilghman was a co-host and one of three tournament ambassadors in March for the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando, Florida, and promoted the Gene’s Dream Foundation and its fundraising events in that capacity.
She has also discussed with Palmer’s daughter, Amy Saunders, how the Arnold & Winnie Palmer Foundation and newly created Palmer Legacy Foundation could join forces with Gene’s Dream.
The First Tee of Coastal Carolinas held its Future Generations Tournament in Brunswick County on June 15 at Ocean Ridge Plantation’s Tiger’s Eye and Panther’s Run courses.
The First Tee is in the midst of its summer play days, camps and events, including the Carolinas Leadership Adventure in Shallotte, N.C.
The honorees for the Future Generations Tournament at Caledonia are Keith Brown and Georgetown County Schools. Brown, the school district’s IT director and a First Tee of CC board member, is the district’s liaison for The First Tee’s National School Program and School Day Program that involves every Georgetown County elementary school.
Tilghman has dedicated much of her time to the Gene’s Dream Foundation since leaving Golf Channel after two decades in March 2018, while also doing speaking engagements and corporate outings.
“I’ve gotten really immersed in the Mentor Cup and Dream Challenge stuff,” Tilghman said, “but my goal is to not only stay involved in Future Generations but to do everything I can to try to lift it up in the process, but it is a process.”
Project Golf adult program expands
Project Golf, a Myrtle Beach-based initiative dedicated to growing the game by increasing access to facilities and instruction, is expanding its “An Introduction to Golf” series to three more Strand courses this summer.
Barefoot Resort (Mondays), True Blue Golf Club (Tuesdays) and Blackmoor Golf Club (Wednesdays) will each host “An Introduction to Golf,” from mid-July to mid-August.
The six-week series for novice golfers focuses on everything from booking a tee time and using the bag drop to on-course playing lessons. Each session is limited to 21 students and participants are divided into three groups, moving through stations that focus on short game, putting and full swing instruction from PGA of America professionals.
Sessions run from 5:30-7 p.m. and the series costs $120. Golf equipment will be provided. Project Golf participants and graduates will be able to enjoy discounted tee times and play dates at area courses.
“An Introduction to Golf” launched with sold-out sessions at Arrowhead Country Club and Prestwick Country Club this spring.
To register visit ProjectGolf.org/introduction. For more information, contact Project Golf director Gene Augustine at 843-282-2668 or gene.augustine@projectgolf.org.
Junior clinic added to S.C. Open
A junior clinic has been added to the pre-tournament activities of the 68th PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com South Carolina Open at the Grande Dunes Resort Course from July 9-11.
A junior clinic conducted by Carolinas PGA pros will be held from 3:30-5:30 p.m. on Monday, July 8 at the Resort Course. The entry fee is $15, the entry deadline for the first 100 registrants is July 2, and each participant will receive a hot dog, drink and PGA logoed hat.
Golf Channel personality Charlie Rymer and LPGA teaching pro and former Mrs. South Carolina Meredith Kirk will take part in the clinic, which will include instruction in driving, chipping, putting and fitness, as well as a demonstration.
Juniors can register at https://pay.mobipaid.com/product/Ma8Loek0X3wYb4l-5f5Lby3sc7. Contact the CPGA’s Cory Armstrong at carmstrong@pgahq.com or 336-398-2677 for more information.
The clinic is an initiative of Project Golf and The PGA REACH Carolinas Foundation, which is committed to serving communities and growing the game through three pillars – youth, military, and diversity and inclusion.
This story was originally published June 25, 2019 at 8:19 PM.
