PGA Tour event hosted in Myrtle Beach could bring millions of dollars in economic impact

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — News13 spoke Thursday with the newly appointed tournament director for the “Myrtle Beach Classic”, the first-ever PGA Tour event on the Grand Strand.

The new event was first announced in May. It will be hosted by Visit Myrtle Beach and the Dunes Golf and Beach Club.

The tournament’s director, Darren Nelson, said it takes 800-plus volunteers to run one of these events. With more than 30 committees involved, he said there are a lot of ways for community members to be a part of the historic event.

“So, Myrtle Beach is the golf capitol of the world, so to have a PGA Tour event here makes so much sense,” Nelson said.

Nelson said he expects the tournament to attract people from all over the region, and as a result, expects the Grand Strand to see millions of dollars in economic impact.

“We have a shot link which is when Tiger Woods tells you on the TV they have 172 yards to the hole, that’s a volunteer typing in that information who then goes to the shot link truck, which then goes to the golf channel broadcasted to millions of viewers,” Nelson said.

The president of the Dunes Golf and Beach Club, Collins Wakefield, said he expects the tournament to bring about 10,000 people to the course each day of the event.

“It’s going to be really big for Myrtle Beach and for the area,” Wakefield said. “And it’ll go well beyond the week that it’s here.”

Visit Myrtle Beach is the event’s title sponsor, an effort to attract more sports tourism to the area.

“I mean, you get a lot of lasting impact,” Wakefield said. “There’ll be a lot of people that’ll want to come play the Dunes Club and other area courses and that’s a lot of the idea behind why the chamber’s really behind it.”

Additional funds are raised by sponsorships, pro-am’s and ticket sales. Nelson said the goal is to give as much of that money back to charities in the area as possible.

Nelson also said tickets will go on sale this fall, and that the pro’s will be announced closer to the tournament which starts in May.