Issue 13, August 19, 1996
Beginning April 17, 1997, the Myrtle Beach LPGA Classic will be held at the currently under construction Wachesaw Plantation East golf course in Murrells Inlet. This marks a return of the ladies' golf tour to the strand. Back in 1977 the LPGA Championship was held in Myrtle Beach. This four day LPGA event is operating under a three-year sponsorship contract. The Wachesaw Plantation East golf course should be open by early winter of this year. The LPGA Classic joins the Senior Tour Championship, held in November, as a major golf tour event in the Myrtle Beach area.
Meanwhile, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, the organization that promotes Grand Strand golf for its member courses, is planning to construct two special courses on the beach that will be designed for television coverage, and will play host to the Senior Tour Championship beginning in 1998. These courses will conform to Tournament Players Club (TPC) specifications, featuring viewing mounds beside the holes to afford unrestricted sight of play for numerous spectators, plenty of parking on-site, and underground wiring for television. Tom Fazio will design the first of the two courses to open. In order to not directly compete with its member golf courses, Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday will charge premium prices; $110 a round during the prime season, $65 during the off-season, and a $20 cart fee.
Eagles and Wings, the two dominant beachwear chains along the coast, have been making changes lately to improve the public's perception of their companies and attract a slightly more upscale customer base. Both chains have been remodeling the exteriors and interiors of their stores, and closing some smaller outlets in favor of fewer but larger stores. Wings is adding entertainment centers with arcades, indoor miniature golf, and sports bars to some of its locations. The Eagles store on Lake Arrowhead Road has an indoor pool with a waterfall, and the location at US 17 Business and 3rd Avenue South is claimed to be the world's largest beachwear store. Eagles is also opening up outlets for the Las Vegas Golf and Tennis national chain, with the first store at US 17 Business and 32nd Avenue North. Both companies are deserting the downtown amusement district around the Pavilion, saying the area is going downhill and has too many beachwear shops selling sexually oriented t-shirts and drug equipment.
The Myrtle Beach area has eight fishing piers extending into the Atlantic. Beside fishing, they offer excellent views of the Grand Strand's curving coastline (and the occasional jellyfish floating in the waters below). The northern part of the strand has the Cherry Grove Pier (803-249-1625), with an expanded width decking at the end and a second level observation platform. Just east of Restaurant Row is the Apache Family Campground Pier (803-497-6486), at 1206 feet the longest on the east coast. Turn left off US 17 onto Lake Arrowhead Road, then turn into the campground at the first traffic light. This pier also has an expanded width decking at the end, plus one in the middle with aquariums on display. Central Myrtle Beach has Pier 14 at the Yachtsman, 14th Avenue North (803-448-4314), the Second Avenue North Pier (803-626-8480), the Springmaid Pier at that campground off Ocean Blvd. where is curves back into US 17 Business (803-238-5189 ext. 3008), and the Myrtle Beach State Park Pier in the park a little further south on US 17 Business (803-238-5325). Further south still are the Surfside Pier (803-238-0121) and the Garden City Pier (803-651-9700). All of the central and southern piers also have expanded width decking, with the exception of Pier 14. (The north end of Cherry Grove has a private pier owned by a condominium complex.)
Fishing is available at all the piers, as is bait and rod rentals. Spectators are welcome free at most piers, with the exceptions of the Apache (.50) and Surfside and Second Avenue North piers (.25). To get to the state park pier requires admission to the park itself. The shortest pier is Pier 14 at 600 feet; Cherry Grove, Second Avenue North, Springmaid, and Apache are all over 900 feet in length. The piers maintain shorter hours during the colder months, usually daylight only or extending into early evening. By summer many are open 24 hours. The state park pier is the exception, with more limited hours reflecting that of the park itself. All of the piers were reconstructed after Hurricane Hugo blew them down in 1989.
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