Why stars from golf, music and the NFL will be playing 18 holes in Myrtle Beach next week
Stars from golf, football and music are coming to Myrtle Beach next week for a grow-the-game charity golf event.
Six-time major champion and CBS golf analyst Nick Faldo, nine-time major winner Gary Player, NFL legend Jerry Rice and five-time Grammy Award-winning singer Charles Kelley of Lady A (formerly Lady Antebellum) will be participating in “The Match” on Thursday at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
The skins match will promote the programs of Project Golf, the nonprofit grow-the-game initiative established by Golf Tourism Solutions, a marketing and technology agency that promotes the Myrtle Beach market.
It will be hosted by golf media personality and former PGA Tour player Charlie Rymer of Murrells Inlet, who serves as a Myrtle Beach golf ambassador for GTS.
The Match will not be open to the public, but parts of it including live play and interviews will be available for viewing on the Play Golf Myrtle Beach Facebook page and other GTS social media outlets including Instagram and Twitter.
Dunes Club members and invited guests including some veterans will be allowed to follow the match in person, and Faldo and Player may host a clinic following the match for invited juniors.
The Match and its participants are promoting in particular Project Golf’s new “18 for 18” fundraising effort, which is encouraging people to donate at least $18 to Project Golf in order to provide golf access including 18-hole rounds for veterans and juniors, particularly underprivileged youth. It is being promoted on social media with the hashtag #18for18 and lives at www.18for18.org.
In addition to its own programs Project Golf assists junior golf organizations and PGA Hope, a PGA of America veterans program, and is headquartered and has a golf facility at Barefoot Golf Resort.
“We have veterans coming to a program. How do we continue to give them instruction and grow them into a spot where they can actually go to a golf course,” said Golf Tourism Solutions president Bill Golden. “We need to be able to provide that access in a way that makes it seamless. The money is going toward getting people on a golf course and on the road to being on a golf course. . . . Eighteen holes is the goal but we have to start somewhere. That’s a long journey but we’ve got to be prepared to shepherd them through that journey.”
The Match will be featured on an episode of The Charlie Rymer Golf Show on CBS Sports Network later this year, and will likely be featured on Faldo’s show on the network as well.
This story was originally published April 23, 2021 at 6:45 AM.
