From the moment TPC Myrtle Beach opened in 1999, with then PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem onsite to celebrate the occasion, the Tom Fazio-Lanny Wadkins design has been among the area’s most prominent.
The layout has challenged some of the game’s biggest names with a design that is firm but fair from the opening tee shot through the final putt on the risk-reward, par 5 18th hole. As TPC celebrates its 25th birthday this year, here is a look back on the most celebrated events and stars to have played the course.
1. In October of 2000, TPC Myrtle Beach hosted the Ingersoll Rand Senior Tour Championship and Tom Watson, one of the game’s legends, finished at 18-under par to earn a one-stroke victory over runner-up John Jacobs. The event, along with a slew of positive press reviews, helped make TPC a destination course for golfers traveling to Myrtle Beach from across the nation.
2. Golf fans got a glimpse at the game’s future when TPC hosted a NCAA Division I Regional in May 2019. The 14-team field included Cal and Collin Morikawa, who
one year later hoisted the Wanamaker Trophy after winning the PGA Championship. Cameron Young, currently the 25th-ranked player in the world, also played in the event for Wake Forest. Michael Feagles earned medalist honors and led Illinois to a team victory. Young finished 10th while Morikawa, who struggled in the first two rounds, was 14th.
3. In terms of attracting eyeballs, “The Q at Myrtle Beach,” a 16-player event that featured eight aspiring professionals and eight YouTube influencers in an 18-hole shootout to earn a sponsor exemption into the PGA Tour’s Myrtle Beach Classic, might be the most prominent event TPC has ever hosted. The YouTube video that chronicled the ballyhooed tournament has attracted 975,000 views and that total doesn’t include videos by the likes of Good Good, the Bryan Bros et al. Matt Atkins, who beat George Bryan in a sudden death playoff to win the exemption, ended up making the cut at the Myrtle Beach Classic and finished T46.
4. Speaking of the Myrtle Beach Classic, TPC was also tapped to host the Monday Qualifier for the event, and there was plenty of drama as 56 players competed for four spots in the field. William McGirt, needing to make eagle to force a playoff for the final spot, received a fortuitous bounce when his tee shot on the par 5 18th hole hit a tree and ricocheted back into the fairway. McGirt then hit a 3-wood to 15 feet and made the eagle putt. He birdied the first playoff hole to beat Mickey DeMorat and earn a spot in the tournament. McGirt finished 63rd at the Myrtle Beach Classic.
5. If you want to see golf’s next generation of stars, make a note in the calendar to attend the annual Dustin Johnson World Junior Golf Championship at TPC Myrtle
Beach. The event is only nine years old and already counts two PGA Tour winners – Akshay Bhatia, Nick Dunlap – and one LPGA champ – Alexa Pano – among its past champions. The DJ is annually home to one of the strongest fields in junior golf and TPC Myrtle Beach helps identify the best of the best.
From World Golf Hall of Famers to rising young stars, some of the game’s premier players have tested themselves at TPC Myrtle Beach, and your golf group could be next.
(Photos for this feature from our Instagram Account @myrtlebeachgolftrips)
