MYRTLE BEACH, SC (WBTW) – The historic floods in October had a big impact economically in South Carolina and the local golf industry was no exception.
Executive Director of the Myrtle Beach Golf Course Owners Association, Tracy Conner says 80 courses in the area lost on on 32,000 rounds of golf.
That is a loss of more than $2.3 million in green fees alone, that doesn’t count the lost revenue from lodging, meals and retail shops that serve golfers.
Conner said the biggest loss was when the flooding closed courses in October, but it was the perception of a state underwater that kept business down during the winter months.
“It’s been golf path only on courses for a pretty good period of time,” said long time golfer Jerry Morcom.
Morcom spends six months a year in Myrtle Beach, he was out on the links in October and says its night and day since then.
“It’s much better, of course they’re calling for rain today, but most courses you can ride the fairways,” said Morcom.
Morcom said he’s golfed on 80% of all the courses Myrtle Beach has to offer and said the winter months had good conditions for most area courses; even if his golf buddies still imagined fairway’s underwater.
“They did a good a job, cleaning up the aftermath of the storm,” said Morcom.
Rick Richard, Tournaments & Events Marketing Manager at PGA Golf Superstore says while the flooding was historic, the impact on courses may have been overstated.
“The press, you guys and everybody else out there got the message out that it was historic flooding but it was so prominent in the story line that a lot of people didn’t know the courses were open and playable in a couple of days,” said Richard.
October is the third busiest month for golf in our area, just behind April and March.
Richard said the down-tick in business was noticeable throughout the winter, “the weather has not been very good, so some of our golf shoppers have been down from years past.”
Golf retailers say they’re hoping for a strong spring to make up for the wet fall and winter.
“We’re all here to serve the golfing public, so we want to see rounds up, we want to see people supporting the game of golf and having a good time, so yes we’re all interested in having a good spring and following that up with a good summer,” said Richard.
Right now only one golf course in the area still partially underwater. The Aberdeen Golf Club in Longs has 9 holes open, while 9 are still underwater.
No word on when it will be fully drained.