On Grand Strand Golf: Hootie Monday After the Masters continues to raise huge dollars for charity

Following a record year of fundraising, the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After the Masters Celebrity Pro-Am raised yet another impressive figure in 2015.

The 21st annual tournament, concert and weekend of affiliated activities this past April at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club and the House of Blues in Barefoot Landing raised $435,000 for the Hootie Foundation, according to tournament director and former band tour manager Paul Graham.

A tournament record was set with $461,000 earned for charity in 2014, so nearly $900,000 has been raised in the past two years alone.

The Hootie Foundation gives predominantly to junior golf and education charities in South Carolina, and the nonprofit Central Carolina Community Foundation in Columbia helps the band administer its charitable funds.

“I’m astonished every time the number comes out, or the number of people [who attend], or the people we have coming, or the support that the event continues to have,” Graham said. “I think it’s a real tribute to the band and what they’ve been able to do for South Carolina and what they continue to do in their philanthropic efforts.”

The 2014 proceeds helped the band reach a goal through its event of a fully-funded $3 million endowment that it hopes will annually give to charities in perpetuity.

The foundation's financial advisors estimate about 5 percent – or $150,000 – can be awarded annually without affecting the $3 million balance.

So some of the $461,000 may be added to the endowment total, and any money given to charity from the 2015 event will be in addition to the endowment’s donation.

“They just kind of reassess their goals as they keep coming up,” Graham said. “The number of requests they actually receive for donations is staggering. It’s something they have to continually go through. There’s a limitation to the amount of money they give away to each charity. They don’t take it lightly.

“The guys take it pretty seriously in terms of who they want to give the money to and the message they want to portray.”

The Hootie MAM raises money in several ways including through sponsorships – many of the sponsors earn one or more of the 30-plus foursomes in the golf tournament valued at a minimum of $20,000 – ticket sales, silent and live auctions, and donations. The foundation’s board is largely responsible for collecting the pledged funds.

“I don’t think the band expected it to be that good over the last two years,” Graham said. “I don’t know if anybody really did.”

Athletes, celebrities and pro golfers in the 2015 Hootie MAM included Jim Furyk, Billy Horschel, Larry the Cable Guy, Denny Hamlin, Rick Barry, Ric Flair and Golden Tate.

Marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday began sponsoring the event and moved it to the Dye Club in 2003 after it was held in Columbia and Kiawah Island/Charleston over its first eight years.

The most recent contract of three years between tournament organizers, Golf Holiday and Barefoot Resort expires after the playing of the 2016 Hootie MAM on April 11.

Tournament organizers and Golf Holiday officials, who assist with the tournament’s operation, have expressed the desire to keep the event on the Grand Strand.

“I would fully expect to continue in Myrtle Beach without any issues,” Graham said. “I don’t expect it to go anywhere else. Crazy things could happen. Somebody from Greenville could say we’re going to give you $1 million for 10 years, but I doubt that’s going to happen.”

Club sales slow

The First Tee of the Grand Strand youth development and golf organization continues to expand its programming in Horry and Georgetown counties, though its largest fundraising effort to date has been slow to gain popularity.

Few area residents have taken advantage of a program that was announced in early November that offers inexpensive rounds at 33 courses in the two counties next year.

The First Tee of the Grand Strand Club has an annual fee of $125, and members can play any of the 22 courses owned and operated by Founders Group International or the 11 courses in the two counties that East Coast Golf Management either manages or includes in its marketing cooperative for $30 each.

Members can play each course one time at that all-inclusive rate in 2016. Everyone joining the club by Jan. 1 will be entered in a drawing for a foursome on a participating course. Membership sales will help fund First Tee programs.

In the spring, The First Tee will be adding the Hackler Course at Coastal Carolina and Wachesaw Plantation to its After School programming, joining current partner courses The Legends, Willbrook, Eagle Nest, Shaftesbury Glen, Crown Park and Cane Patch.

The organization will also be hosting Spring Kick-Off events at both local PGA Tour Superstore locations, the first on Feb. 6 at the Myrtle Beach store. Activities include a core value scavenger hunt, putting and short game contests and a long drive contest on launch monitors. The kick-off events are open to any juniors and parents either in or interested in the program.

The First Tee of the Grand Strand is hoping to reach 25,000 Strand youth by 2017 with its golf and life skills curriculum.

Parents or juniors interested in programming, or golfers interested in a club membership can visit www.thefirstteethegrandstrand.org or call 843-443-7888. Memberships are also available at Akers Discount Golf in Murrells Inlet.

BMW players’ choice

The BMW Charity Pro-Am presented by SYNNEX Corporation, held annually in May in the Greenville area, was awarded with the Web.com Tour’s inaugural Best Player Experience Award at the PGA TOUR’s Tournament Meetings earlier this month.

The award was voted on by the tour’s players. Tournament organizers and sponsors present a week full of activities for players and their families.

Setting the tournament apart are: a pro-am format over three courses with a number of players competing alongside celebrities; the highest-rated Web.com event on Golf Channel, reaching over 2.5 million viewers; an opportunity for players to attend a driving session at the BMW Performance Center Driving School; a BMW courtesy car for each participant and their family; complimentary meals at select restaurants in downtown Greenville during tournament week including Soby’s New South Cuisine, The Nose Dive and The Lazy Goat; a new BMW for the first pro to record a hole-in-one on the par-3 17th hole at Thornblade Club during tournament rounds.

The 2016 BMW Charity Pro-Am will take place May 19-22 at Thornblade Club, The Reserve at Lake Keowee and, new for 2016, The Preserve at Verdae.

Ginella fond of Strand

Golf Channel Travel Editor Matt Ginella has released his list of the top 50 public-access courses in the U.S., and three Strand layouts made his cut.

Caledonia Golf & Fish Club is ranked No. 14, sister course True Blue Golf Club is No. 42 and The Dunes Golf and Beach Club is No. 22.

Caledonia was the third-highest rated course in South Carolina behind Harbour Town Golf Links and the Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, which have both hosted either major championships or PGA Tour events.

The top 50 were counted down 10 courses at a time on Golf Channel’s Morning Drive show and on Golf Advisor. His No. 1 course was Pebble Beach Golf Links.

Courses were selected based on specific criteria. The courses needed to have a fun factor to them, and a prestigious history didn’t hurt. Additionally, Ginella ranked courses based on hole variety, if the course could be walked and if it offered a caddie service.

This story was originally published December 14, 2015 at 10:40 PM with the headline "On Grand Strand Golf: Hootie Monday After the Masters continues to raise huge dollars for charity."