Charlie Rymer: Why I Chose Myrtle Beach
On their way over to one of his old Grand Strand stomping grounds, new Grand Strand resident Charlie Rymer chats with Play Golf Myrtle Beach’s Kyle Oland to tell him why he chose to relocate to “The Golf Capital of the World” and join in promoting Myrtle Beach as the ultimate golf vacation destination.
Kyle Oland: Charlie Rymer. What’s up?
Charlie Rymer: Just ridin’ around Myrtle Beach in my pickup truck. That’s the only way to do it.
Kyle: So you’re in Myrtle Beach now. So we want to know why … And we’re gonna go play over at Myrtlewood here this afternoon. But on the drive over there, we want to know: why Myrtle Beach?
Charlie: Well I’m glad you brought up Myrtlewood. Because I grew up in upstate South Carolina, actually just south of Charlotte.
I love going over to Myrtlewood in particular. When I was 15, I won the Carolinas Golf Association, South Carolina State Junior Championship there. And I’ve only been back, I think, one time since then. And I remember that the last hole, I believe it’s the Palmetto Course, (where the) Intracoastal comes down the whole left-hand side. But that was a lot of fun. When you’ve won as few golf tournaments as I have, you remember all of them for sure.
But I really feel coming back to Myrtle Beach is like coming home for me. Having been raised her in South Carolina and vacationing down here and playing a lot of golf tournaments here over the years. And so for me, it’s gonna be a lot of fun.
Kyle: Yeah. We were just eating lunch and you were talking about how you wanna go boating here. And you already got a membership at Freedom (Boat) Club.
Charlie: I’m not a yachting type. I’m more of a boating type.
Kyle: That’s right, okay.
Charlie: No, I joined a boat club, which is pretty cool. It’s a great way to have access to actually a whole fleet of boats. And one of the things that’s really cool about Myrtle Beach, where I’m gonna be living, in Murrells Inle at Wachesaw Plantation, the backside of that property is right on the Waccamaw River and there’s a nice little marina there. And I’ll be able to grab a boat out of there. When you’ve got six or eight people, you can get on a float boat and cruise down the Waccamaw River and go down to the historic waterfront in Georgetown, anchor up, hang out, enjoy the afternoon and then (in) about an hour and a half cruise back home. So that’d be cool.
Another thing that’s cool about being a member of a boat club, I’ve done a lot of offshore fishing since I was a kid. My dad always had an offshore boat. And my youngest son, he likes offshore. We’ll have access to center console boats and some boats that have twin outboard engines. So we’ll be able to get offshore and fish a little bit, too. And it’s a lot more reasonable than going out and buying one of these brand-new boats. So that’s something that we’re really looking forward to. If you’re gonna live near the ocean and places where there’s lots of water, it’s pretty cool to have access to get out on that water.
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Kyle: Yeah, for sure. So you said you played at Myrtlewood before and you won a tournament there. What are some of your earliest memories of Myrtle Beach?
Charlie: We would typically go up north, to Cherry Grove. We’d either stay in a hotel or rent a place for the week in the summertime. And I can remember you’re getting out on the beach and you’d go over there and you’d rent one of those … They didn’t have boogie boards back in the times, it was little inflatable rafts. It was before … I’m so old, it was before sunscreen. So you’d be red as a beet by the end of the week. But just getting out and surfing waves, enjoying the beach. And my dad would always have some buddies. We would get out maybe in the afternoons and play some golf. It’s a cool place to come for a week. And between the ocean, the beach, the food at night … We used to love going up to Calabash. I could eat my body weight in those tiny little Calabash shrimp! But just good memories from summertime vacations when I was a kid.
Kyle: Yeah. And then obviously, you’re not going to be on that crazy schedule that you had with Golf Channel, here in Myrtle Beach. So are you looking to play a little bit more golf than you were able to back when you were at Golf Channel?
Charlie: Yeah, I am. I’m a member of the PGA of America. And now I’m a member of the Carolina section, which is the largest of the 41 PGA sections. And I’m gonna plan on playing a few of their section events, which will be nice. I’m also a member of the PGA Tour Champions. And I’m far from an exempt member, but I am a member and I might play the occasional PGA Tour Champions event, which will be a lot of fun.
And it’s pretty cool to know that it’s your responsibility to be out showing people what Myrtle Beach is about. That’s gonna be out on the water. That’s gonna be out on the golf course. That’s gonna be out in the restaurants. Got some great music here, too. That’s a pretty tough gig to have there, folks. But somebody’s gotta do it!
Kyle: One last question. You just kind of touched on it, but what are you looking forward to most about showcasing and showing America and the world, really, what all Myrtle Beach is like?
Charlie: Well the quality of the golf here is really spectacular. And that’s one of the things I think maybe people don’t realize. You’ve got some true world-class golf courses here that are typically in really good condition. The weather in the wintertime is a lot better than a lot of people might think.
