World Am organizers welcoming more than 3,000 players

Approximately 3,070 players from 26 countries, 48 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico are descending upon the Grand Strand this week for the 33rd Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship.

The four-day tournament begins Monday and has an additional championship round Friday at Barefoot Resort’s Dye Club. It is being played on 50 area courses and is touted as the world’s largest single-site golf tournament.

South Dakota and Alaska are the only states not represented in the field.

“To have over 3,000 participants from around the world is a great feat,” said Jeff Monday, tournament director for marketing cooperative Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, which operates the event. “We have more than 3,000 people we get to showcase Myrtle Beach golf to.”

Registration is down this year from nearly 3,400 players in 2015, and the event had a $50 price increase this year to between $525 and $625, depending on the registration date. “I don’t know that the price increase contributed to the number being down,” Monday said. “It’s hard not to be satisfied, just to look at the golf tournament and look at the draw it continues to bring year after year.”

The tournament peaked with more than 5,000 players in 2000, but participation dropped to levels that hovered around or below 3,000 players from 2009-11 before increases from 2012-14.

Registration is taking place at PGA Tour Superstore locations this weekend, and festivities begin with the fourth annual Sunday Kickoff Party a.k.a. Golfapalooza, from 5-7 p.m. at Celebrity Square at Broadway at the Beach featuring live entertainment and discounted drinks.

The tournament includes the World’s Largest 19th Hole from 6-9 p.m. Monday through Thursday at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, an expo that features complimentary drinks, food from a variety of Strand restaurants, entertainment, exhibitors, equipment demos, and special guests including PGA Tour member Tommy “Two Gloves” Gainey, Golf Channel personality Charlie Rymer, world billiards champion Ewa Mataya Laurance, and Brian Katrek and John Maginnes broadcasting their SiriusXM PGA Tour Radio show nightly.

In addition to a gift bag and awards, there are also random prize giveaways that include World Am entry in 2017, a $250 gift card to the PGA Tour Superstore, GPS devices and golf bags.

The tournament weather forecast calls for high temperatures between 86 and 91 and low temperatures around 74, with chances for showers or thunderstorms at 50 percent Monday, 60 percent Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday, and 20 percent Thursday. “Hopefully we don’t get rained on and everybody has a blast,” Monday said.

This story was originally published August 27, 2016 at 8:14 PM with the headline "World Am organizers welcoming more than 3,000 players."