How SC benefits from 5-year marketing deal with PGA Tour
The golf industry is sizzling in South Carolina. Duane Parrish wants to make sure the trend continues.
Parrish, director of the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism, has linked again with the PGA Tour to keep the state prominent in the golf world’s consciousness.
The PGA Tour and Discover South Carolina have a five-year marketing partnership that designates the Palmetto State’s PRT as the Tour’s official tourism sponsor.
“This is a win-win for the state,” Parrish said. “This is going to elevate golf in our state throughout the world. Television exposure is a big part and there’s the digital aspect. We can use their logo with our logo. There are just so many positives.”
The deal, announced during the RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island last month, comes with the state’s golf already robust. Statistics showed a 14% increase in golf rounds last year over 2021, and, Parrish said, “2021 was a really good year.”
The five-year deal costs $2.5 million annually and follows the trend of the state connecting with the PGA Tour in order to spread the gospel of South Carolina golf.
In 2021, the state stepped in and became the title sponsor of the Palmetto Championship at Congaree, a replacement tournament after the COVID pandemic force cancellation of the RBC Canadian Open. A year later, in a similar scenario, the state took the presenting sponsor role for the CJ Cup in South Carolina.
“Those were great opportunities to show what we have to offer,” Parrish said. “We’ve got something for every golfer, and the television exposure, both the golf and the advertising spots, was very effective.”
Those tournaments added to the state’s relationship with the PGA Tour. The RBC Heritage at Hilton Head Island has been a fixture on the Tour schedule since 1969, and the Korn Ferry Tour has staged the BMW Charity Pro-Am in Greer since 1992.
In yesteryear, the Champions Tour’s Tour Championship, now called the Charles Schwab Cup Championship, was played in Myrtle Beach 1994-2000. In the future, a fledgling PGA Tour event scheduled to start next year in Myrtle Beach is on the drawing board.
The state’s marketing also focuses internationally in the United Kingdom, and the agreement will include exposure on the DP World Tour, formerly called the European Tour.
The numbers tell the story. In addition to statistics showing an increase in players, the PGA Tour’s TV ratings for “elevated” events are increasing. For example, the RBC Heritage drew 4.152 million television viewers for the final round, a 13% boost over 2022. Sports Business Journal reported the Heritage’s final round had its most viewers since 2002.
In addition to the PGA Tour, the United States Golf Association will hold a pair of national amateur tournaments in the state this year: the U.S. Amateur Four-Ball at Kiawah Island Club this month and the U.S. Junior at Daniel Island in July. The PGA of America has brought the PGA Championship to the state twice and the Ryder Cup once.
Overall, golf contributed an estimated $3.3 billion to the state’s $29 billion tourism industry in 2021. Visitors who play golf during a trip to South Carolina spend an additional $1.1 billion off the course.
Putting everything together “solidifies South Carolina as a ‘golf state,’ ” Parrish said. The deal with the PGA Tour “is just going to add to the possibilities.”
Chip shots. The NCAA Women’s Golf Championships open Monday with regional play at six sites. USC, College of Charleston and Furman will compete in the Athens, Georgia regional and Clemson will travel to Pullman, Washington. ... Clemson will play host to one of the six men’s regionals at the Cliffs at Keowee Falls May 15-17, and the Tigers drew the regional’s ninth seed. Furman is No. 10. USC did not make the national tournament for the first time since 2011. ... Registration has opened for the WSCGA’s Women’s State Amateur, scheduled for June 12-14 at Fripp Island’s Ocean Creek Course. ... In U.S. Open local qualifying at Columbia CC, Crawford Reeves (Taylors), Zachary Herold (Gilbert), Nathan Franks (Roebuck/USC), Brian Murtagh (Charlotte) and Parker Gillam (St. Simons Island, Georgia) advanced to sectional competition. At Stockbridge, Georgia, Trent Phillips (Inman) earned a place in the sectionals.
