Hootie Monday After the Masters returns after a two-year hiatus with major changes
Pro golfers and celebrities including Nancy Lopez, John Daly, Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Mia Hamm and actor George Eads headline the return next month of the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am.
But the general public won’t be able to see them.
The Hootie MAM returns to Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club on April 11 after a two-year hiatus due to the coronavirus pandemic.
But there are major changes for the event, including the elimination of spectators at the golf tournament.
Tournament director Paul Graham said the decision was made to eliminate spectators prior to the 2020 event, even before the pandemic forced its cancellation.
“It’s a lot of work to have people come out to the golf course and it ended up actually costing us money to have people come to the golf course, and because it was getting so overcrowded we just kind of want to give it a year where we give it a shot to see what it’s like without having spectators,” Graham said.
“. . . Let’s try to get a tournament under our belt and see where it shakes out. We want to have a tournament, we want it to be successful, we want it to be enjoyable and we’ll just reassess for 2023.”
The tournament has been wildly popular. Spectator tickets have sold out for each of the past 14 events, usually in a day or two, including in 2020 before the cancellation. Approximately half of the 6,000 adult spectator tickets have been available to the general public, with the others disbursed through sponsorship packages.
Which made the spectator decision difficult for tournament organizers.
“It has nothing to do with the appreciation of the local fans, we just wanted to see what it was like to not have it,” Graham said. “It’s something we wanted to do in the group. We’ll want to see what happens afterwards and most of the people we’ve talked to have understood.”
The Hootie MAM mission
The event raises money for the Hootie foundation, which supports education and junior golf causes in South Carolina. It has raised more than $7 million in its 25 years and is responsible for the creation of a $3 million endowment. According to organizers, It helped raise $360,000 in 2019 in conjunction with the Hootie at Bulls Bay men’s college golf tournament, with the bulk of the money coming from the Barefoot event.
“We’re just trying to do the best we can for the charity and make as much money as we can, and we feel it will be financially more beneficial to try to go this route,” Graham said. “We might at the end of the day just say, ‘Hey, that wasn’t worth it,’ and we might go back to it. But we want to see how it goes without [spectators].”
The tournament has moved from Columbia to Kiawah Island to North Myrtle Beach, where it has been held since 2003.
It didn’t have spectators at its outset, then did, and Tiger Woods took part at Cobblestone Park Golf Club outside Columbia. “It was insane,” said Graham, who recalls the course being overrun with about 12,000 in attendance.
The annual fundraising event includes the golf tournament at the Dye Club followed by a concert at the nearby House of Blues in North Myrtle Beach.
Who is participating?
In addition to Daly, a two-time major champion and regular participant, and World Golf Hall of Fame member Lopez, golfers scheduled to participate include brothers George and Wesley Bryan, who are trick shot specialists; current or former PGA Tour members Billy Hurley, Woody Austin, Ken Duke, Chris DiMarco, Brian Gay, Robert Gamez and Charlie Rymer; long drive champion Sean ‘The Beast’ Fister, and longtime LPGA member Kristy McPherson of Conway.
Celebrities include singers Jamey Johnson and Aaron Lewis, Pro Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry, Eads of CBS’ CSI and MacGyver, soccer legend Hamm, former NFL receiver Santonio Holmes, wrestling legend Ric Flair, former NBA player Spudd Webb, cyclist and NBC cycling analyst Christian Vande Velde. and Hootie’s four members.
Other musicians include Jay DeMarcus of Rascal Flatts, Steve Azar, Javier Colon, Colt Ford, Andrew Copeland of Sister Hazel, Shawn Drover of Megadeth, Joey Fatone of NSYNC, Jason Scheff of Chicago, and Mark Wills.
The tournament was postponed/canceled three times in 17 months due to COVID. It was canceled in April 2020 and initially postponed in April 2021 to Sept. 13 before being canceled.
The tournament is now being played over two days, Sunday and Monday, to spread out the participating teams and speed up play. Each day will feature about 20 teams of six — four amateurs with a pro and celebrity — and 9 a.m. shotgun starts. Playing spots are sold out well in advance through event sponsors.
The elimination of fans should also shorten the rounds by cutting down on fan interaction and disruptions including autograph and photo requests, and celebrities playing to the crowds. Graham said the tournament rounds exceeded seven hours in 2019.
“I can’t do that to people anymore,” Graham said. “The round was so incredibly long it became problematic. . . . So we do have to cut it and have the best experience we can. We feel comfortable with the number of people playing in the event.”
The event features three days of festivities, including a welcome party on April 9, and Masters viewing party and live auction/gala on April 10. Amateur tournaments will be held Sunday and Monday at Barefoot’s Fazio Course for players on their off days. Graham said most players are from outside the area.
VIPs and sponsor guests are still invited to the tournament, so there will still be some crowds on holes.
“We’ll get a tournament under our belt and see where it shakes out from here,” Graham said.
This story was originally published March 14, 2022 at 6:55 AM.
