Area Golf News

GRAND STRAND DUO WINS INAUGURAL GOLF MAGAZINE CHAMPIONSHIP

Congratulations to Bill Graziano and Tim Turner who captured the inaugural GOLF Magazine Championship, hosted by Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and GOLF Magazine, March 4 and 5, 2008, at The Love Course at Barefoot Resort & Golf in North Myrtle Beach, S.C. The duo from Myrtle Beach shot a combined net 64 in the 18-hole tournament to defeat Gary Howze and Curt Collins, of Kings Mountain, North Carolina, by three strokes.

More than 60 golfers from 12 states came to the Grand Strand to participate in the two-day event that included instruction from five of GOLF Magazine’s “Top 100 Teachers”, an 18-hole tournament and the award ceremony with special guest speaker, GOLF Magazine columnist and CBS golf commentator, David Feherty.  The golfers were selected through a two-month long online contest on Golf.com with more than 18,000 golfers registering to win the golf vacation to Myrtle Beach.

“What a great experience for these 60 participants to learn from the best teachers in the game,” said Bill Golden, vice president and director of marketing at Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. “Thanks to GOLF Magazine for making five of their “Top 100 Teachers” available and for helping us put together the tournament. It’s not every day that golfers have the opportunity to hear GOLF Magazine columnist David Feherty in person and he entertained everyone with his stories on life on the PGA TOUR and his experiences around the life.”
Sixty golfers gathered at the Barefoot Resort & Golf practice facility on Tuesday, March 4th and  received instruction on putting, pitching, the golf swing, the pre-shot routine and chipping from Mike Perpich from RiverPines Golf in Alpharetta, Georgia; Gale Peterson from Sea Island Golf Learning Center in St. Simons Island, Georgia; Carol Preisinger from Kiawah Island Club in Kiawah Island, South Carolina; Dana Radar from The Dana Radar Golf School in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Brad Redding from Grande Dunes Resort in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

Each “Top 100 Teacher” taught a separate discipline of the game and the golfers spent 45 minutes with each instructor before rotating to the next station.  Perpich taught chipping while Peterson worked with the golfers on pitching techniques. Preisinger shared her knowledge on putting and distance control while Radar helped golfers with developing a preshot routine and the mental aspects of the game. Representing the Grande Dunes Resort in Myrtle Beach, Redding worked with the golfers on getting off the tee and improving their iron play.

Later that afternoon, ESPN commentator Charlie Rymer emceed an open-to-the-public instructional clinic at the practice facility in which the five “Top 100 Teachers” instructed the contest winners and more than 250 local golfers on techniques such as the flop shot, playing knock down shots in the wind, playing with tempo, the draw and the fade off the tee and the myths of golf.

On Wednesday, March 5, the golfers teed off at The Love Course at Barefoot Resort & Golf in the two-person, 18-hole tournament with a four-ball net stroke play format. After the conclusion of the golf, an awards reception was held at the Barefoot Resort & Golf clubhouse with GOLF Magazine columnist David Feherty appearing as the guest speaker.