A piece of the late Pete Dye’s legacy resides in the Myrtle Beach golf market
Pete Dye, who died at the age of 94 last Thursday, left his mark on the Myrtle Beach golf market.
He was an architect of three 18-hole courses on the Grand Strand, and they are all highly regarded.
His 7,343-yard Dye Club at Barefoot Resort opened in 2000, and he co-designed with son P.B. Dye the private 7,032-yard DeBordieu Club in Georgetown, which opened in 1987, and 7,086-yard Prestwick Country Club, which opened in 1989.
The Dye Club was named one of “America’s 100 Greatest Public Golf Courses” by Golf Digest in 2009 and has made several lists of the top courses in South Carolina.
DeBordieu was ranked among the top 30 courses in South Carolina by the S.C. Golf Course Ratings Panel. Prestwick was named “One of the Five Best Kept Secret Golf Courses In America” in 2004 by Golf Digest, and it was ranked No. 5 among Pete Dye-designed courses in America by the Golf Advisor rating and review site.
P.B. Dye also designed the 7,016-yard Founders Club at St. James Plantation in Southport, N.C., which opened 1991 as The Gauntlet before a name change.
Dye’s influence is on several more Strand courses, as many of the top designers in the game learned and worked alongside him early in their careers. They include Jack Nicklaus and Tom Doak, who have courses in the area.
Dye was born in Ohio and lived most of his life in Indianapolis, and was an elite amateur golfer before first selling insurance then turning to course design in the 1960s.
He is credited with designing more than 130 courses, often with the help of his wife and partner in course design, Alice, who died last Feb. 1.
Among his most notable courses are The Players Stadium Course at TPC Sawgrass, home of The Players Championship in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida; Harbour Town Golf Links, site of the annual RBC Heritage in Hilton Head Island; The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which has hosted both a Ryder Cup and a PGA Championship; the PGA West Stadium Course in Palm Desert, California; and Whistling Straits, site of multiple majors and the 2020 Ryder Cup in Kohler, Wisconsin.
Golf and music
The Battle of the Bars series of golf tournaments is combining the game with music this year.
The third year of the competition that pits foursomes from bars and restaurants against each other will have 10 qualifiers and a championship at Arrowhead Country Club on Nov. 14.
A few musicians who are also golfers are putting together teams as well and will be entertaining fellow players, sponsors and guests on the eve of their tournaments.
Musicians/bands hosting qualifiers include Kevin Nichols on March 2 at Arrowhead with a pre-party location to be determined; Jim Quick & Coastline on June 29 at Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club with a pre-party at Captain Archie’s; and Randy Atwood and the Renegades on Aug. 21 at Aberdeen Country Club with a pre-party at Murphy’s Bar and Grill.
Other qualifiers will be held in Murrells Inlet, Charleston and Greenville in South Carolina, and Charlotte, Chapel Hill, Brunswick County and Wilmington in North Carolina. Each qualifier has its own trophy that winners keep for the year.
Battle of the Bars is sponsored by Cavinder Elevator Company and has a captain’s choice scramble format. Organizer Scott Schaeffer of SEU Promotions expects each qualifier to generally have up to a dozen bars and restaurants participating with one to three teams entered from each.
The entry fee of $500 per team includes food at the pre-party and tournament, and an additional guest entry per player to the pre-party and awards party. Three teams will advance from each qualifier to the championship, which is complimentary because of sponsors.
“It’s competitive but yet it’s not,” Schaeffer said. “Guys get a chance to compete against each other but they’re competing against people they know. It’s a fun format. We’ll have a lot of fun contests on the course for them, some different fundraising opportunities. I think in general we’ve put together a different tournament that I think is attractive to the competitive and tournament player.”
Battle of the Bands will benefit the Folds of Honor Foundation.
Schaeffer organized the inaugural Cavinder Elevator/SEU Promotions Pro-Am that was held last February with a $10,000 purse and will likely be held again late this summer at Long Bay Club with a purse of $20,000 or more.
Tourney gets sponsor
GolfTrek, one of the Myrtle Beach market’s top golf package providers, has become the new title sponsor of the Calabash Cup, a 54-hole, two-person handicap team event held each summer on the northern end of the Grand Strand..
The sixth annual event has been renamed the GolfTrek Challenge and the 2020 tournament will be played June 11-14 on six Brunswick County courses including Carolina National, Lockwood Folly and Sandpiper Bay. Approximately 160 players from more than 20 states are expected.
The GolfTrek Challenge is one of several tournaments owned and operated by the Golf Tourism Solutions marketing and technology agency, which said GolfTrek’s involvement will improve accommodations offerings and our pre- and post-golf functions.
The villas at the three-course Sea Trail Golf Resort will be the tournament’s official accommodations provider and tournament festivities begin with a welcome dinner and pool party at the Sea Trail Village Amenities Center.
The GolfTrek Challenge has a different format each day, beginning with best ball followed by Texas scramble and modified alternate shot. The entry fee of $249 includes three rounds of golf, daily lunch, prizes and a welcome gift. Visit www.golftrekchallenge.com for more information.
GolfTrek has booked more than a million rounds in the market since 1979.
In addition to the GolfTrek Challenge, the GTS Tournament Division also operates the PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com World Amateur Handicap Championship, Myrtle Beach Preseason Classic, March Championship, Palmetto Golf Championship, Veterans Golf Classic and Short Par 4 Fall Classic.
