Monday, Apr. 20, 2009
Wachesaw Plantation receives honor for junior support
The private Wachesaw Plantation Club in Murrells Inlet has been recognized for its support of junior and amateur golf by the South Carolina Golf Association through the SCGA's 2009 Course of the Year award.
The formal announcement of the award will come Friday as part of South Carolina Golf Week. There are nearly 300 SCGA member clubs in the state.
"The club has taken the lead in promoting the game of golf and I'm really proud of that," said Wachesaw general manager and director of golf Michael Kahler.
The club and its members have been steadfast supporters of the S.C. Golf Foundation's Can-Am Junior Team Matches since 2002. The event matches the top eight junior boys in the S.C. Heritage Junior Rankings against eight of the top juniors in the province of Ontario, Canada, in a Ryder Cup-style competition.
The membership has stepped forward to support the event financially and the club's staff has helped run and develop the event. Wachesaw's members annually generate funds to benefit the foundation's scholarship program.
"Especially in the last three to five years, the club has really embraced the idea of supporting junior golf with the Can-Am matches," Kahler said. "Not everyone can play here, and the members really do embrace the idea that private clubs have an obligation to support the game of golf, and we can do that by hosting events."
The Tom Fazio design opened in 1985 and hosted the S.C. Mid Amateur Championship in both 1986 and 1987. It later hosted the 1989 S.C. Amateur and 2000, 2001 and 2008 S.C. Senior Four Ball events.
"It's really a culmination for years and years of hosting SCGA events, being good to our junior programs and the overall promotion of amateur golf," said Joe Quick, director of development for the S.C. Junior Golf Foundation.
Some of the juniors who regularly use Wachesaw's facilities are sponsored by members. "We have a junior golf membership here where the members sponsor gifted kids who wouldn't otherwise be able to enjoy a private country club experience," Kahler said. "They sponsor them to play here and take their lessons here."
Kahler said Wachesaw members are also trying to resurrect the Wachesaw Amateur, a tournament that existed in the early 1990s. They hope to draw top amateurs, predominantly from the Southeast and Northeast, for an event in late October or early November.
The club has also supported the Carolinas PGA by hosting events, including last year's CPGA Senior Section Championship.
Wachesaw recently completed the first stage of a $5.5 million renovation project that is scheduled to continue for a few years. The first stage included upgraded kitchen equipment and the removal of trees around several tees and greens to improve growing conditions. The next phase will likely approach $2 million and includes replacing cart paths and the irrigation system. "It's a big number," Kahler said, "but it's time."
Gretzky, Quaid at BMW
The Nationwide Tour's BMW Charity Pro-Am has announced the celebrity participants for the May 14-17 event in the Greenville area.
They are: Steve Azar, Catherine Bell, Lucas Black, Javier Colon, Dave Coulier, Jason Dohring, David James Elliott, Wayne Gretzky, Oliver Hudson, Janet Jones-Gretzky, Greg Kinnear, Jennifer Mills, Terry O'Quinn, Michael Pena, Dennis Quaid, George Rogers, Joe Don Rooney, Stefanie Schaeffer, Sterling Sharpe, Kevin Sorbo, Kordell Stewart, Dabo Swinney, Paula Trickey, Gary Valentine and Ben Wright are the celebrities that are scheduled to compete in this year's BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament.
The tournament will be played at The Carolina Country Club in Spartanburg, Thornblade Club in Greer and Bright's Creek Golf Club in Mill Spring, N.C. All four rounds will be televised live by Golf Channel. The BMW groups amateurs and celebrities with Nationwide Tour professionals in a four-day better-ball competition. Tickets and info are available at 864-297-1660 or www.bmwcharitygolf.com.
Cabrera at Wachovia
Early commitments to the Quail Hollow Championship from April 30 to May 3 at Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte, N.C., include 20 of the top 30 money winners on the current PGA Tour money list. Masters champion Angel Cabrera, David Toms and Anthony Kim are among them, as well as Myrtle Beach's Dustin Johnson.
The current field for this year's Quail Hollow Championship has 42 players who have won during the past two years on the PGA Tour. Others who have committed include Greenville's Bill Haas, Augusta's Charles Howell III, Mt. Pleasant's D.J. Trahan and 2008 U.S. Open runner-up Rocco Mediate.
New Zealand's Danny Lee has accepted an exemption to the event. Lee, 18, turned pro after the Masters. He is the youngest U.S. Amateur champion and won the European Tour's Johnnie Walker Classic in Australia as an amateur.
Tickets are on sale. A practice pack is $25, the first two rounds are $40 each day, and the final two rounds are $50 each day. Weekly books are $140. Children age 12 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult.
North & South changes
Pinehurst Resort has modified the schedule and qualification system for the North & South Amateur championships. The men's championship has been held at Pinehurst since 1901 and the women's has been held there since 1903.
All stroke and match play rounds will be conducted on Pinehurst No. 2, and the tournament has been reduced from seven to six days with just one day of stroke-play qualifying prior to match play. The men's tournament will be played June 30-July 4 and the women's will be contested July 14-18.
Rounds up for bid
Tee times at many of the Carolinas' finest public and private courses, including numerous Grand Strand layouts, will be up for grabs through an online auction at www.Rounds4Research.com that will help fund university turfgrass research. Clemson and North Carolina State research facilities have been facing mounting budget crunches.
The program is the brainchild of Tim Kreger, the programs director for the Carolinas Golf Course Superintendents Association. Participating Strand courses include The Dunes Club, Tidewater and Barefoot Resort layouts, and others include Pinehurst No. 2, Harbour Town Golf Links and Sedgefield Country Club.
The auction runs from Sunday to May 6. Potential bidders can go online to see a list of available courses and sign up for a reminder e-mail in advance of the auction's opening.
Charlestonian gets break
Brenda McLarnon, 25, of Charleston is a participant on the 11th season of the Golf Channel's Big Break - Big Break Prince Edward Island - premiering at 9 p.m. Monday for the first time in High Definition.
The Belfast, Ireland, native is brutally honest and outspoken and is said to bring humor and conflict to everything she does. She has played on the Duramed Futures Tour for the last three years.
The show will showcase six females and six males in a competition that tests their games, course management and mental toughness. For the first time contestants will compete for cash, as a total of $100,000 will be awarded. LPGA member and Conway native Kristy McPherson is a former participant on the show.
Contact ALAN BLONDIN at 843-626-0284.