Myrtle Beach Classic to Make Its PGA TOUR Debut May 6-12, 2024; Global Sports Marketing Agency SPORTFIVE to Operate Event

David Williams:

All right, everybody and welcome back into the PlayGolfMyrtleBeach.com Studio. I am David Williams, and you probably recognize this gentleman sitting next to me, my former co-host, Kyle Oland, and today we are joined by a very special guest, the tournament director of the 2024 Myrtle Beach Classic, Darren Nelson. Darren, thanks for joining us.

Darren Nelson:

Thanks for having me.

Kyle Oland:

Yeah, and it’s also cool to be back, man. You’re giving me the intro, “The Big Dog” is back today!

David Williams:

Yeah, I know. It kind of feels weird to have you sitting there. I’m used to Ben and Dylan, and now I got Kyle back. I’m kind of nervous, to be honest with you.

Kyle Oland:

You had to bring me back to interview Darren. Darren, welcome to Myrtle Beach! How has the reception been since moving into the town? You just moved in last week, right?

Darren Nelson:

It’s been amazing. Yeah, I’ve been here seven days. We had a kickoff over at The Dunes Club Wednesday night with 300-plus members, and it was just amazing to see the energy in that room. We did some media yesterday, so it’s been a fun, but busy week.

Kyle Oland:

And you’ve been with SPORTFIVE for a little bit and also been involved with the PGA TOUR for many years. Talk about the excitement level that this town has for this event. Obviously, first major PGA TOUR event coming here, so there is some excitement in the air.

Darren Nelson:

Yeah, I mean, it’s a “Golf Capital of the World.” How cool is that to say? And the fact that there wasn’t a PGA TOUR event here before this. I was pretty shocked. So it makes a lot of sense with 80-plus golf courses, the passionate golf fans that are here on the Grand Strand. So we’re excited. We’ve got a great sponsor in Visit Myrtle Beach, the tourism, the chamber. Then, of course, having a great golf course with The Dunes Golf and Beach Club. That place is amazing. Played my first nine holes yesterday on the front nine, so I’ve got my first taste of it. Didn’t play very well, but wow, what a great track that is.

Kyle Oland:

So you didn’t get to play the back nine yet?

Darren Nelson:

No, we didn’t tee off until about 5:30, so we ran out of daylight, but very soon I’ll play all 18.

David Williams:

Speaking of, obviously, you just played it yesterday, what are your initial thoughts of The Dunes Club as it pertains to being a host for the PGA TOUR?

Darren Nelson:

I mean, as far as yardage in the golf course, there’s plenty of yardage for these guys. It’ll be interesting to see what they do shoot. I was talking to Collins Wakefield, the president of the club that I actually played with, and he thought maybe the winner might be 15 under or something like that. And he’s like, oh, it just depends on the wind and how it comes off the ocean. So I think in 1999, the Champions Tour event that was there, the winner shot 12 under, but I think those guys played up a little closer. But overall, the course is in great shape. They’re making some different renovations, they’ve added some length to a couple of the holes, cut down some trees, so it’s going to be in great shape in May for sure.

David Williams:

So I want to dive into a little bit of, so you are the tournament director for the Myrtle Beach Classic. What does your day-to-day look like in the lead up to the first-ever event?

Darren Nelson:

So right now, year one, there’s just a lot of getting the foundation set, and a lot of that has to do with finding vendors, whether that’s a catering partner to do all of our food and beverage, somebody to get the restroom trailers and the fencing and all the things that go into the operational aspects of the event. Then, of course, from a sales perspective, we’ve got hospitality. We’re trying to sell there on Hole No. 18, that’s where most of our hospitality is going to be. We have two Pro-Ams, the Monday Pro-Am, and the Wednesday Pro-Ams. We’ve got 28 teams on Monday we’re trying to sell, and then 52 teams on Wednesday. And then just the volunteer base, it takes, gosh, probably 18, or I’m sorry, 800-plus volunteers to run these events. So we had our kickoff, like I said, Wednesday night, kind of introduced the volunteer opportunities to the membership at the club, and then sometime in October we’ll launch it to kind of the public as far as what those opportunities are.

Kyle Oland:

800 volunteers.

Darren Nelson:

Yeah.

Kyle Oland:

Geez. What kind of roles do these volunteers play?

Darren Nelson:

Well, there’s 30-plus chairs and then of course volunteers underneath each of those chairs. But my gosh, it’s, you name it, there’s walking scorers, you see them on TV walking with the groups, keeping the score. There are standard bearers that hold the signs that walk with the groups, that also show the score visually. There’s ShotLink, when you’re watching the on-air broadcast, (shows) Tiger Woods has 170 yards to the green. There’s a volunteer on the fairway, of course, has a laser, lasers the golf ball and gives the ShotLink truck that information, which then is relayed to the Golf Channel and then broadcast to us and millions of viewers across the world. And there’s gallery management. The signs I hold up to keep the gallery quiet. The event I came from in Kentucky, the signs said “Hush, Y’All.” And it had a Southern theme.

I actually did an internship at Disney World, gosh, 20 years ago, and their quiet sign said “Please be Quiet as a Mouse,” kind of like Mickey Mouse. So we’ll find something fun to do here for this event, too. But yeah, 800-plus volunteers, so it’s going to take a lot of work to get those folks lined up.

David Williams:

So you mentioned a few other events, the Barbasol in Kentucky, and obviously the Disney one. How long have you been working kind of hand in hand with the PGA TOUR?

Darren Nelson:

So prior to the PGA TOUR, I was with the American Junior Golf Association for 15 years. I was based in Atlanta, and then I was based in Dallas for 10 years, and then found out about this tournament leadership initiative program the PGA TOUR had. So in 2019, I was accepted into that program, and the idea was to really create kind of bullpen strength. So when tournament director positions opened, they had folks like me that they could place into a position. So started with that program in 2019, traveled around, I started in San Antonio, Texas at a Korn Ferry event, then went to Colorado, TPC Colorado, had their inaugural Korn Ferry Tour event in 2019. So I helped with that event, went to Evansville, Indiana for the Korn Ferry Tour Championship. What a great golf course they have there in Evansville.

And then went to Savannah, Georgia for another Korn Ferry Tour event. Another great stop on the Korn Ferry Tour. And then down to Sandestin was my next stop for a Korn Ferry Tour event. And then met the folks at SPORTFIVE while I was at Sandestin. And they also ran an event up in Kentucky called the Barbasol Championship, which is hosted in July. We just had it this past July, and I ran that event, but when my predecessor there left to take another job, I was already there. I’d seen one year of the event, and they asked, hey, would you like to be the tournament director here at the Barbasol Championship? And I said, absolutely. So I was no longer then an employee of the PGA TOUR. Then got on with SPORTFIVE, it was March of, I guess, 2021 is when that happened.

Kyle Oland:

And obviously you’ve mentioned SPORTFIVE a little bit, but SPORTFIVE is the management company that you work for that’s going to be managing the Myrtle Beach Classic. Tell me a little bit about that organization, because you guys do quite a bit, right?

Darren Nelson:

Yeah, it’s an international marketing agency. So we’re actually based in Germany, in Hamburg, Germany. We have offices here in the States as well. There’s a big office in New York right off Madison Avenue. And then our golf events division office is in Scottsdale, Arizona. And that’s where my boss is based there. And there’s also an athlete representation side of the business too. So the Jerry Maguires of the world that are out there representing those athletes. We have some very big names in the golf world, with John Rahm being the biggest one. Phil Mickelson, there’s a guy by the name of Steve Loy, we call him “Coach.” He’s the owner or the head of the events golf division. He’s actually Phil Mickelson’s agent as well. So it’s kind of cool to hear some of the stories about Phil, and he’s also John Rahm’s agent as well. And then Brian Harman, who had a nice little win here a few weeks ago. He’s one of our guys, Keegan Bradley. So there’s a dozen or so guys, actually, probably more than that we have on the athlete representation side.

David Williams:

Bringing it kind of back to the event here. You mentioned some hospitality stuff around 18. What are some of the things that you all are potentially going to do as far as grandstands, food and bev? What are some of the key things on the golf course going to be during the Myrtle Beach Classic?

Darren Nelson:

So we’ll have some different offerings, different investment levels, different numbers or quantities of tickets. We’ll have some private hospitality on 18. So let’s say you’re a company here locally or even in the region that wants to entertain some customers, and you want to bring 30 people out to the tournament. So we’ll have a private space on 18, that would be all yours. And it would include food and beverage, open bar, that sort of thing. So that’ll be on 18 green. Right next to that is what we call a shared hospitality. I call it more of a sports bar theme, where you and your buddy want to buy two tickets on Saturday to go in there. And again, it’s all-inclusive food and beverage. You can do that in our shared hospitality venue. So if you want two tickets for Friday and two tickets for Sunday and you don’t want to commit to four days of the tournament, you can do that as well in the shared hospitality space.

And then on 18 fairway, we’re going to have a venue there. It’s just going to go by the name of 18 Lakeside Cabanas, little smaller investment level, a little bit smaller venue as well. It’s a cabana style. You’ve seen them a lot of events. But the TOUR Championship at East Lake on the right-hand side, they have cabanas lining the fairway if you’ve ever seen that on TV. So it’ll be a similar product to that. Again, inclusive of food and beverage there, great views of the 18 fairway, the shot into the green, and also the green as well. And then we’re also creating a fun fan zone-type space. There’s two tees on the 18th hole out at The Dunes, and it’s two totally different angles that you can play that hole from. And the set of tees they’re not going to use. It’s a big open lawn area. So we’re going to create an area called The Grove. We’re going to have some activations there, some fun kind of adult beverage spirit, beer, alcohol companies in there.

Also, some kid friendly type activities with some cornhole, but just a nice open area lawn space where you can still see play on the 18th hole, but just making kind of a party atmosphere there and something fans can look forward to.

Kyle Oland:

I think the one thing that’s going to be really cool about the atmosphere at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club is that you have the ocean right there. So there’s not a lot of events on tour where you can feel the ocean breeze coming off the ocean. You could smell the salt water in the air, and you’re going to get that at the Myrtle Beach Classic, which is going to be really unique.

Darren Nelson:

And where the main spectator buses are going to drop off is right in front of the clubhouse. There’s a parking lot there. The buses are going to do a little loop, and really the fans are going to step off of the bus and see the Atlantic Ocean right in front of them. So what a wow factor that’s going to be for the event once they arrive.

Kyle Oland:

Yep. Now, I’ve heard different talking points and stuff about the lawn area behind the clubhouse. Are there any thoughts in using that for any sort of hospitality, any sort of entertainment space during the event?

Darren Nelson:

Yeah, the lawn area kind of by the ocean there as you come in.

Kyle Oland:

Yes.

Darren Nelson:

Yeah, we’ve talked about some different ideas. The club has even said, hey, what about a concert? So we’re looking through some of those ideas right now. We’ll definitely have some title sponsor signage and activations there, possibly a large tent with a bar under it as well. So we want to, again, create a fun atmosphere, a fun vibe to get the fans really energized once they arrive. But yeah, what a great spot to do some activations right there where you can just stare at the Atlantic Ocean all day.

Kyle Oland:

Yeah. If I could ask another question, David, so you’ve been all over the place, right? On the TOUR and what you’ve done visiting different courses, different destinations prior to coming here to visit The Dunes Golf and Beach Club, had you been to Myrtle Beach before?

Darren Nelson:

It’s funny. I was here, I want to say it was 2004 when I was working at the AJGA in Atlanta, and we came on a little guy’s weekend golf trip, and I can’t even tell you what golf courses we played. I need to text those guys. I’ve kind of lost touch with a couple of them, but we played two courses, so I need to figure out which courses those were. So that was my first time here.

Kyle Oland:

And then coming back almost two decades later, things have changed quite a bit in that 20 years. What do you notice in the Myrtle Beach area?

Darren Nelson:

There’s just a lot going on and just talking to some of the members of the club. I know just the traffic, obviously, it’s gotten busier here, it’s just become more of a popular destination. I mean, golf, obviously, but just the beaches and everything else that’s going on here. So I just feel like you’re hearing more about Myrtle Beach. I know there’s the Kiawahs of the world, there’s the Hilton Heads, and Myrtle Beach wants to be included in those conversations. And I think that’s one of the reasons tourism wanted to get involved was really to put the PGA TOUR next to the Myrtle Beach brand, really show that they’re partnering with these brands, and they want folks like that to come to Myrtle Beach and really vacation here as well and play golf.

Kyle Oland:

There’s definitely, over the last handful of years, an elevated view of the destination, which is exciting to see. And this event’s going to continue to help that.

David Williams:

Kind of going back to your operations side of things. So let’s just fast-forward a little bit. Let’s just say we’re beginning in March. What does your team and your day-to-day look like, if you’re within two months of the event?

Darren Nelson:

So we’ll start what we call the build. That’s all the temporary hospitality structures, tents, all those sorts of things. That’ll probably start five or six weeks prior to the tournament. So you’ll see the semis pulling in, unloading all of the equipment, or we will ramp up our staff as well. Right now, year round, here, it’s three of us that are full-time staff. Once we get to tournament week will be 15-plus strong. We’ll have additional staff, mainly on the operations side that’ll come in. Cool thing about SPORTFIVE is we’re kind of a one-stop shop turnkey operation. So our operations team actually comes in and does the stake and rope. They install all the signage, they oversee the build as well. And then our team, our operations team also gets farmed out to other events. So the Wyndham Championship uses our guys to do their stake and rope and do their signage install over there. And they do that for probably a dozen other PGA TOUR events across the schedule.

Kyle Oland:

Yeah, so the event, it’s obviously going to kickstart on May 6th and then run through May 12th. I couldn’t think of a better trip then, because May, obviously, David is one of the best times to come play golf in Myrtle Beach.

David Williams:

Great time.

Kyle Oland:

To take a week trip or a three or four-day trip. Plan a golf trip, play some rounds of golf, then go over to the Myrtle Beach Classic with your friends after. I can’t imagine a better week.

David Williams:

Me neither. It sounds like a heck of a week.

Kyle Oland:

And the weather that time of year is going to be perfect.

David Williams:

It should be perfect. Kind of circling back to one other thing. So we talked about volunteers and the amount of volunteers that are needed to run the event. If somebody local or somebody who has a house here, somebody wants to come in and help volunteer, where can they go to find all that information?

Darren Nelson:

So, myrtlebeachclassic.com is live right now. There’s a volunteer link on the top right of the webpage. Just click on that link. It takes you to another link and that takes you to a webpage, really it’s a landing page right now, where we’re collecting names and contact info. Once we officially launch volunteer registration in probably October, we’ll then reach out to those folks we’ve kind of pre-registered. So myrtlebeachclassic.com is the place to go right now for volunteers and also anybody that’s interested in sponsorships too, there’s a link there that will email us saying that they’re interested in sponsorships.

Kyle Oland:

And we’re about nine months from the start of the event. When do tickets go on sale for the public?

Darren Nelson:

Well, it’ll be sometime this fall, as well, probably right around when volunteer registration opens, but we’ll have a nice launch, full launch marketing campaign behind the tickets as well. So right now, we’re at $50 for a general mission ticket, which we feel like is pretty good for a sporting event of this caliber. So those will go on sales sometime this fall along with the volunteer registration.

David Williams:

Kyle, you have anything else?

Kyle Oland:

You know what? I think everybody’s just super excited. What would you tell those watching at home? We have viewers and listeners from all over the country that love Myrtle Beach. They’re excited to come down here and play golf, but also they’re excited about this event. Give me your pitch on why they should make this event on their calendar.

Darren Nelson:

Well, it’s some of the best professional golfers in the world, right? There’s only 36 of these FedExCup regular season events in the entire world, and we’ve got one right here in Myrtle Beach. How cool is that? So there’s sponsorship opportunities. There’s the volunteer opportunities. I wanted to mention we’re going to do some stay and play packages as well, come to the golf tournament, but another day the group might go play golf at another golf course. So stay tuned to our social media and website as well for more information on that. But we want everybody to come enjoy some of the best professional golf in the world. Have a good time. Grab a beer, go to the beaches. There’s 2,000 plus restaurants here in the Myrtle Beach area. Stay at these great resorts and then play golf at some of the golf courses here, too.

David Williams:

Enjoy everything Myrtle Beach has to offer.

Darren Nelson:

That’s exactly right.

Kyle Oland:

So the Myrtle Beach Classic 2024 coming May 6th through the 12th to The Dunes Golf and Beach Club. And you can visit www.myrtlebeachclassic.com. And you guys are also on social media now. I saw, you can look for Myrtle Beach Classic on Instagram and all the other different channels. So Darren, appreciate it. We’re excited, the community’s excited, and we can’t wait.

Darren Nelson:

Thanks for having me, guys.

David Williams:

Kyle, one last question before we cut. It’s actually for you. Can we buy a Pro-Am team?

Kyle Oland:

We’ll see.

David Williams:

Okay.

Kyle Oland:

We’ll see. We’ll see. Hey, if you want to buy a Pro-Am team, make sure you go to www.myrtlebeachclassic.com.

David Williams:

All right. That’s it. Thank you, Darren. I appreciate it.

Darren Nelson:

Thank you.