Sports Illustrated has a long history with Myrtle Beach’s golf courses. How’d it start?
Sports Illustrated’s future is unclear, but the magazine and Myrtle Beach’s golf industry share a deep connection.
The magazine recently announced massive layoffs, but in its nearly 70-year history, SI’s story not only covered some of Myrtle Beach’s most historic golf courses but also traces its origin to the Grand Strand’s oldest golf course.
The concept of SI was born at Pine Lakes Country Club in 1954, according to Sports Illustrated. At the behest of Time and Fortune Magazine founder Henry Luce, editors for the future magazine met there to brainstorm an all-sports magazine, a commemorative plaque outside the Pine Lakes Pro Shop memorializing the meetings.
SI also gave the golf course, which opened in 1927 and is Myrtle Beach’s oldest golf course, the first copy of the magazine’s first issue, according to the plaque. The first copy sits in a display case at Pine Lakes, according to MyrtleBeachGolf.com. When asked to see the display, a Pine Lakes employee declined to show The Sun News, saying the display room was already occupied.
Not only did the publication get its start in Myrtle Beach, it also helped turn the Grand Strand into a golfers’ destination, said Executive Director of The Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association Tracy Conner.
“The golf writers that wrote for Sports Illustrated and other magazines really shaped what we are now the golf capital of the world,” Conner said.
Conner has been the director since 2007 and first moved to the area in 1989. The Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association represents 73 golf courses from Shallotte, N.C. to Georgetown, S.C., and Conner credited the late Myrtle Beach golf public relations specialist Cecil Brandon, who helped draw the attention of golf reporters to Myrtle Beach in the 1970s.
“Cecil Brandon had the idea of inviting the golf writers to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina on their way down to cover The Masters. That was really the turning point, and they began writing about Myrtle Beach. That’s how our brand and our market was established,” Conner said. “Certainly in the 70s. We were a sleepy beach town and especially in the offseason, outside of June, July and August and Cecil Brandon and some others had the vision of building golf courses and creating demand in the shoulder season.”
Sports Illustrated thought this historic Myrtle Beach, SC, golf course had one of the best holes in America
Pine Lakes isn’t the only historic golf course in Myrtle Beach connected to Sports Illustrated. The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Myrtle Beach’s second-oldest course, also has a storied history with SI. In 1965, Sports Illustrated named the par five 13th hole at The Dunes Club, also known as Waterloo, as one of the 18 best holes in America.
Golf writers’ fear and all-time great golfers like six-time major winner Lee Trevino’s grudging respect for the 13th hole are nothing new, says Director of Golf at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club Dennis Nicholl, which hosted the final round of the Golf Writers Association of America’s tournament from 1954 to 2005, according to Play Golf Myrtle Beach.
“We’ve had the golf writers here, and one of the gentlemen scored 22 on the hole by hitting it all the way around and never going over the water,” Nicholl said in a Jan. 17, 2024, interview. “(Trevino said) We should blow it up and build condominiums on (13) because he took an eighth on the hole one day in the senior Tour Championship.”
Indeed, the Sports Illustrated reporter who wrote about The Dunes Club, Dan Jenkins, complained about the difficulty of 13 and the alleged alligators living in nearby Lake Singleton. However, he left room in his report to mention he parred the difficult hole.
How Sports Illustrated has covered Myrtle Beach, SC in recent years
SI’s coverage of the Grand Strand has frequently highlighted the area’s golf industry. SI covered the closing of several golf courses throughout the Myrtle Beach area in 2006, and the Grand Strand golf industry’s response to the closures.
In 2022, Sports Illustrated reported on Grande Dunes’ golf course renovations, and in Sept. 2023, it covered the Myrtle Beach World Amateur tournament. Conner, who is friends with former Sports Illustrated Golf Group Publisher Dick Raskopf, said his favorite article Sports Illustrated ever wrote about the Grand Strand golf scene was about former British Open winner Ben Curtis.
“(One) of the only other tournaments he had won was a tournament at Bay Tree in North Myrtle Beach,” Conner said. “Sports Illustrated did a little article of (Ben Curtis) holding the Claret Jug and then receiving, I think, the check was about $100,000 with a couple of Hooters girls.”
Besides Sports Illustrated’s connection to Myrtle Beach’s oldest golf courses, it also covers several of Myrtle Beach’s local athletes and tournaments. Aside from covering South Carolina high school football, and Pee Dee region play, SI featured Grand Strand native and former North Greenville University women’s track and field athlete Briley Arnold for her athletic achievements while at Waccamaw High School. in 2018.
Yet Sports Illustrated’s coverage worldwide might be coming to an end soon. The nearly 70-year-old publication will undergo massive layoffs that could include the entire staff within three months, Front Office Sports reported Jan. 19, 2024.
The setback came after Sports Illustrated’s publisher failed to pay a licensing fee to Authentic Brands Group, the owner of the SI trademark. The news followed a recent scandal that questioned Sports Illustrated’s practices. In November 2023, Futurism alleged that SI was putting content created by artificial intelligence on its website.
It’s not just Sports Illustrated struggling in the ever-changing landscape of sports journalism. The New York Times removed its sports department in July 2023 after acquiring The Athletic —a sports-centric publication that has also had layoffs in the past.
