Myrtle Beach Classic is almost here: A look at the history of the Dunes Golf and Beach Club
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — It’s almost tee time on the Grand Strand, with the PGA’s first-ever Myrtle Beach Classic just days away.
The tournament is hosted by the Dunes Golf and Beach Club, which has an extensive history of other big PGA events.
“We started back in 1948, a group of local businessmen and women got together on a location here which is right now our 11th tee,” head pro Dennis Nicholl said. “It was post-war and they were looking for some entertainment ideas in Myrtle Beach and the Dunes Club was formed in 1948.”
The 18-hole course was designed by famous golf course architect Robert Trent Jones, who’s designed or redesigned more than 500 golf courses. However, it took a little bit of time for visitors and non-locals to recognize the beauty of the course.
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“No one really knew what the Dunes Club was and then they were really put on the map when the U.S. Women’s Open came here in the 1960s, so that was really the first major tournament we had at the club,” Nicholl said. “The 1970s, we hosted a PGA Tour Q school where Ben Crenshaw got his PGA Tour card here at the Dunes Club, so, a nice little history there. Then we got through the 80s and jumped into the 90s where it had been a while before we hosted a major event, and that’s when we landed the PGA Senior Tour Championship.”
Landing the PGA Senior Tour Championship helped put a national spotlight on the Dunes, and a big part of bringing that event to the Grand Strand was thanks for Gary Schaal, the former president of the PGA of America.
“We reached out to the PGA Tour and I was on board at the time, the advisory board, and we kept pestering the board about, you know, where the golf capital of the world up there in Myrtle Beach, how come we don’t have an event?” Schaal said. “And sure, after a year of those dialogues, the commissioner of the board, Dan Beman, said ‘Gary, we’re going to give you a shot. Let’s see if you guys are as good as you think you are, and so they awarded us the Senior Tour Championship.”
Now, after landing a host site for one of the biggest PGA events possible, the Dunes Golf and Beach Club hopes they can continue to bring the world’s top golfers to the Grand Strand.
The tournament kicks off Thursday and goes until Sunday. For a full list of the field’s players, click here.
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Julia Kennedy is the sports multimedia journalist and weekend sports anchor at News13. Julia is from Brighton, Michigan. She graduated from Miami University with degrees in strategic communication and sports leadership and management. Read more of Julia’s work here.
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Caleb is a digital producer at News13. Caleb joined the team in January 2023 after graduating from Liberty University. He is from Northern Virginia. Follow Caleb on X, formerly Twitter, and read more of his work here.
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