Golfers try to stay red hot in ice-cold Myrtle Beach - AP Online

PETE IACOBELLI AP Sports Writer
AP Online
11-06-1998
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) _ On a frigid day, Hale Irwin got hot.

Gray clouds and 25 mph wind gusts made the Grand Strand feel a little like the North Pole. Ray Floyd and Jim Dent wore wool caps. Tom Wargo had a turtleneck beneath his short-sleeve shirt, and Bob Murphy wrapped a sweater around his neck.

``The best day we've had has been one-sweater weather rather than two sweaters and windbreakers and parkas and gloves and hand warmers,'' said Irwin, who burned up The Dunes Golf & Beach Club course Thursday with a 6-under-par 66.

That gave Irwin a two-stroke lead over Bob Duval in the Senior Tour Championships, the season finale on the Senior PGA Tour.

``Nobody on this tour likes bad conditions,'' said Floyd, the 1994 champion who is three shots behind Irwin. ``You'd like to think about golf, heat, being loose and warm, and it's just the reverse.''

Irwin said he had trouble warming up, a problem that quickly disappeared once the round began. He surged in front with birdie putts of 25 feet on No. 3, 10 feet on No. 4 and 20 feet on No. 5. He pitched to 2 feet on the eighth hole for his fourth birdie.

He got to 6-under with a birdie on No. 13, the Dunes' par-5 signature hole. He had his lone bogey on the 16th hole when he drove into a divot, then slashed a 9-iron within 6 feet for a closing birdie on No. 18.

``A lot of control shots. A lot of good putting. Just the kind of game I'd hope to have starting out,'' Irwin said.

In his fourth Senior season, Irwin has turned the circuit into his personal cash machine, amassing more than half his career earnings of $13.2 million on the senior tour.

But at The Dunes Golf & Beach Club, Irwin often has been no better than a club pro. He was eighth in his first try in 1995 and 10th a year later.

Last year, despite 11 victories and a pro record $2.3 million won, Irwin watched Gil Morgan blow by him for a two-stroke victory.

``If I happen to be lucky enough to win this, I'd have to say that 1998, if not the best year ever, is certainly one of the best years that I've had in professional golf,'' said Irwin, the U.S. Senior Open champion and again the tour's top money-man at more than $2.5 million.

Whoever wins the $2 million tournament will receive $347,000, the biggest prize in Senior PGA Tour history.

Bruce Summerhays and Floyd were at 69. Defending champion Morgan, who has tracked Irwin almost step for step the past two seasons, was at 2-under with Larry Nelson.

Duval holed a 97-yard sand wedge for an eagle-2 on the par-4 seventh and crept to a stroke of Irwin after his 6-foot birdie on No. 17. But then he rolled his second shot on the 18th into some deep rough in front of the pond and took bogey.

Duval, the father of PGA Tour star David, said the beach courses near his home in north Florida often frost up like Myrtle Beach through late fall and winter. ``I enjoy playing in this kind of weather because it's a challenge,'' he said. ``If you hit the ball well, you get rewarded.''

Summerhays was at 1-over through 13, then birdied the next four holes. Divots: The Tournament Players Club of Myrtle Beach, which will become the home course of next year's Senior Tour Championship, is expected to open Feb. 2. ... Dunes Club director of golf Cliff Mann says a site selection group from the United States Golf Association will visit the historic course, which played host to the past five Senior Tour Championships. ... Don Bies' 71 took the first-round lead of the MasterCard Champions, the 60-and-older competition. Charles Coody was a stroke behind. ... Temperatures for today's second round were expected in the mid-50s, but the wind was not supposed to gust as much.


Copyright 1998 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved.

Religious-Themed Show Hopes to Occupy Myrtle Beach, S.C., Theater. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Dawn Bryant, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

May 1--A religious-themed show from Fort Mill will move into the troubled Crook & Chase Theater in June, and the show's owners hope to buy the theater if the summer is successful.

'Twenty Years Ago,' a production of nonprofit group NarroWay, will start June 3, opening the theater's closed doors at Fantasy Harbour for the first time since a special holiday show.

Carolina Capital Investment Corp. of Columbia has foreclosed on the Crook & Chase Theater's $3.2 million mortgage. The 1,900-seat theater opened in 1999 and has been the home of the nationally televised 'Crook & Chase Show' and a local production of the musical 'Summer of '66.' The availability of the theater combined with Myrtle Beach's repu tation as a vacation destination led the nonprofit to this area, said NarroWay general manager Michael Kimble.

'It was something that we couldn't resist,' he said. 'The three months are going to be a very good test for what can happen long term.' NarroWay Productions, which is starting its sixth season in Fort Mill, will bring a new mix of drama, music and a religious message to the lineup of show offerings on the Grand Strand.

The family show is based on the 20-year class reunion for 1973 gradu ates, tracking the group from kindergarten to 1993 as they prepare for the event.

'It's a good, clean show with a good, clean message,' Kimble said. Leg 1

The expansion to Myrtle Beach marks NarroWay's first venture out of Fort Mill, where it has a 3,000-seat outdoor arena and a 500-seat dinner theater. The 325 cast members for NarroWay's several shows are volunteers.

The addition is the latest lineup change at Fantasy Harbour, a strug gling area once envisioned as a hub of a dozen theaters. Since the first theater opened about seven years ago, more than a half-dozen celeb rities and shows have taken the stages at five locations there.

Crook & Chase's neighbors at Fantasy Harbour said they welcome the summer action, which they hope will bring more exposure to the area.

'From what I've seen, it looks like a decent show,' said David Lindsey, marketing manager for Medieval Times Dinner & Tournament, one of the Grand Strand's more successful shows. 'Like everything else that comes in, we will just have to wait and see.' Fantasy Harbour's tarnished reputation concerns Kimble, but he is optimistic for success.

'We are not fly-by-night,' he said.

'We come in with the intention to do it right and do it good.' During 1999, NarroWay's revenues were $240,895 while expenses ran at $192,111, according to the nonprofit's most recent IRS filings. The company received nearly $86,500 in contributions that year.

The show, popular with traveling church groups, is catching on in the Fort Mill area with its uniqueness and religious message, said Bennish Brown, executive director of the York County Tourism and Sports Commission. NarroWay is a member of the commission's 'Part ners in Tourism' group.

'They are certainly a major part of the products we promote here,' Brown said. 'It is becoming more and more recognized.'

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

Associates Offer Many Stories about Myrtle Beach, S.C.'s Best-Known Lawyer. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By David Klepper, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jan. 25--Harry Pavilack wears two watches. One on each wrist. He says he needs them both.

'Well, you know, I don't know.

I'm looking around, trying to figure out what time it is. How am I going to know what time it is?' he says as he glances from wrist to wrist, flashing the Pavilack smile, his way of responding to a question without really answering it.

He's the Strand's most recognized attorney, whose billboards and commercials -- 'Call Pavilack!' act as both calling card and pennant. He parlayed a football scholarship to Clemson University into the legal equivalent of a household brand.

Call Pavilack, and call him showman, real estate maven, godfather to felines of every stripe. Defender of injured workers and prospective divorcees. Even call him an ambulance chaser -- he'll just flash that furtive smile.

If he is, he's also a lot more. In addition to the law firm, now there's Pavilack Industries, Pavilack Mortgage, Pavilack Finance Corporation, Pavilack Insurance Agency, Pavilack Rental and Realty and Pavilack Worldwide Companies. There's even Pavilack.com.

The people who know him have a million stories about Pavilack. About how he made a small fortune selling study guides in law school. Or how he bought his million-dollar home in Myrtle Beach at a tax sale.

There's the story about how he once bought 150 purple ties because they were on sale. Or how he drank pickle juice to improve his tennis game.

Pavilack has a need, say those who know him, to excel at whatever he tries. He liked football, so he played at Clemson. He liked the law, so he built one of the Strand's most recognized firms. He likes cats, so he formed Sav-R-Cats International. He liked tennis, and now he's consistently ranked in the state's top 10 for his age bracket.

'Harry has a tremendously high energy level,' said his wife, Mary Jane Pavilack.

'When he does something, he does it 100 percent. He's very excited about everything.' Pavilack, 63, mixes an easy cheerfulness with the calculating eye of a man who owns more land -- much of it bought out of foreclosure -- than most developers.

'It's amazing how well he's done,' said Jim Irvin, a Myrtle Beach attorney who met Pavilack in law school at the University of South Carolina.

'He came here as a sole practitioner, a Yankee who didn't know anybody, and now he's made himself a fortune. I've never seen him in a courtroom.

That's not his bailiwick. His bailiwick is being an entrepren eur.' Pavilack was born in West Virginia and grew up in Pitt sburgh. His father owned an auto parts store.

He learned how to make a buck peddling newspapers before he could read the headlines.

That entrepreneurial streak grew, and soon Pavilack was going door to door to ask for donations to buy equipment to play baseball and football.

'I'm always thinking about deals,' Pavilack said. 'About different ways to make money.' He went to Clemson on a foot ball scholarship, and in 1959 became a footnote in the school's football annals when he intercepted a pass in a game against Furman University and ran 26 yards to score a touch down. In the spring and summer, he played baseball.

As professional teams courted other players, Pavilack started to think beyond college sports. He dismissed medical school because, 'I just don't like blood.

'I was a hungry kid, looking to do something,' he said. 'I didn't know anything about the law, but it seemed like a way to get ahead.' Jim Irvin met Pavilack in law school at USC and said Pavilack was known as friendly, popular and a little strange.

Pavilack sold copies of old tests and transcripts of professor's lectures, called 'Skinnies,' for $3. They were perfectly legal, and all the students bought them, even honors students, even though Pavilack himself made mostly Bs. The skinnies were perfectly legal, and, Irvin said, usually correct. 'Nobody else could get away with that; but everybody loved Harry, so it made sense,' he said.

After graduating, Pavilack attended a one-year course in tax law in Miami before opening his office in Myrtle Beach. He had visited before, and he saw the beach's growth coming.

As a start-up attorney, and a Yankee, Pavilack wasn't an overnight success. But he was hungry, and he kept at it until the clients came. He set himself apart as a low-cost attorney specializing in the everyday tedium of the law: wills; drunk driving arrests; divorces; and injuries.

In 1977, the U.S. Supreme Court lifted the ban on attorney advertisements, and Pavilack pounced. He saw the advantage of advertising for his type of firm, targeted at average citizens who only need an attorney in times of legal crisis.

A veritable P.T. Barnum of the law, Pavilack clearly enjoyed the commercials almost as much as he enjoyed the clients they brought him.

Many featured the hapless victims of fake car accidents.

One was a commercial-within-a-commercial, in which Pavilack pretended to be hit by a car while filming a commercial about responding to a car accident.

The ads furthered Pavilack's reputation as an ambulance chaser.

'A lot of people question his ethics because of all the ads,' said local attorney Fred Harris, who got his first law job at Pavilack's office in the '70s.

'Harry knows people say those things, and I think it bothers him. But he is honestly a very ethical lawyer,' Harris said.

One commercial landed Pavilack in trouble with the S.C. Bar Association. The bar reprimanded him in 1997 for a commercial featuring a charac ter dressed in police uniform who called Pavilack for help in deciding who was at fault. Bar officials said the ad suggested Pavilack could influence the police.

'I thought it was funny,' Pavilack said. 'But somebody took it very seriously.' As the Strand's population grew, so did Pavilack's client list. Northern transplants knew nothing about Horry County's attorneys, but they saw his smiling face on billboards.

Pavilack's practice gave him an insider's view of the Strand's burgeoning real estate market.

He learned to buy at auction and resell to make a handsome profit. In the meantime, each parcel became the site for another billboard.

'He's a classic opportunist,' said Irvin, Pavilack's law school classmate. 'He is a wheeler-dealer in real estate.' Pavilack has bought and sold everything from bare lots to office buildings to apartments.

Back in the '70s, Harris recalled a time when Pavilack rented office space as low-cost residential units, a practice now banned by zoning rules. The only problem: no showers, so Pavilack had one installed on the exterior of the building.

He's made deals with scores of local developers and business owners. The state lists him as the agent for more than three-dozen companies.

He's also the only lawyer in town who advertises on the sides of moving trucks -- his own moving trucks.

Pavilack's next big deal may be China. He said he is fascinated with the country's economy, marked by high productivity, low prices and cheap labor. He has considered importing Chinese goods for sale in the U.S. if the price is right.

'The first thing they teach you in economics is: 'The people who can make [something] the cheapest should make all of them.' Pavilack lives in one of Myrtle Beach's largest homes, which overlooks the Intracoastal Waterway.

Like his house, his 17-foot-long dining room table also bought at an auction. It once served as the conference table at Waccamaw Pottery's executive office.

Pavilack admits he watches his money closely, but he's not adverse to luxury. His home has a massage room, seven chandeliers, a swimming pool and several bedrooms for his three dogs and eight cats. (Or is it nine? Ten? Even Pavilack isn't sure.) Five personal watercraft are parked at his dock on the Intracoastal Waterway. He also owns a home on Ocean Boule vard and a small apartment in New York, where he stays when visiting his daughters.

Another attraction in New York: the shopping. Pavilack, his wife said, is a chronic shop per.

'He'll go shopping, and he'll be so excited and delighted with what he gets,' Mary Jane Pavilack said. 'He can put any woman to shame when it comes to shopping.' Pavilack seldom loses his cool. Attorneys who have worked with him, family and friends say he almost never shows his temper.

'He can't stand to hurt peoples' feelings,' Harris said.

'He's a marshmallow.' But Mary Jane Pavilack said her husband's attitude toward others shouldn't be mistaken.

'Don't see his niceness as weakness,' she said. 'If he wants something, he'll get it.' Pavilack takes in occasional strays, and feeds any creature that comes looking.

He started Sav-R-Cats in 2002 after some strays in his neighborhood were killed and tested for rabies by local authorities. He said his intention was to save as many unwanted cats as possible.

It's turned into a crusade.

The group has paid for cats to be neutered, and has found homes for many unwanted felines. They paid hundreds to a veterinarian to amputate a cat's mangled leg, and hundreds more for the care of a cat found poisoned by oil. The group has also popularized the term 'feral cat' as an alternative to stray, which the group considers pejorative.

Now Sav-R-Cats is working to convince local leaders to allow feral cats to be neutered and then returned to their habitat.

'Their heart is definitely in the right place,' said Cindy Ott, executive director of the Grand Strand Humane Society. 'We have the same mission. We respect Sav-R-Cats for what they've done. They've shed a lot of light on the problem of feral cats in Myrtle Beach.

Most days start with tennis.

For Pavilack, the game does much the same thing as football and baseball did in his younger years. It allows him to compete, to exercise, and to win.

He has repeatedly ranked in the top 10 players in the state for men in his age bracket.

'He's incredibly tenacious,' said Dennis Hardin of Longs, now tied for the ranking with Pavilack. The two have traded off in the rankings for years.

Pavilack's success at tennis also reflects his life-long devotion to fitness. He has a massage table in his home, and works out with professional trainers. He took ginseng long before it became a popular supplement, and he doesn't drink or smoke.

'Sometimes he'll pretend he's having a glass of wine, or a screwdriver or something,' Mary Jane Pavilack said. 'But that's to make other people comfortable when they're drinking. He's really just carry ing it around.' A few years ago, Pavilack heard that all the best Australian tennis pros drank pickle juice during matches. So he bought the largest pickle jars sold and drained the juice.

He drank it during breaks in play to restore fluids lost in sweat. He's not sure whether it improved his performance, but he suspects it was responsible for kidney stones he had removed a few years ago.

'I don't know if it helped,' he said with his characteristic grin.

'But it freaked out a lot of opponents.'

HARRY PAVILACK

Age: 63

Hometown: Born in Wheeling, W.Va.; raised in Pittsburgh

Family: Married to Mary Jane Pavilack since 1981; two grown daughters, Carolyn Cibelli and Deborah Hidy, who live in New York City; three grandchildren

Occupation: Attorney, entrepreneur

Education: Bachelor's degree, Clemson University; law degree, University of South Carolina School of Law

Favorite activities: Tennis, traveling, playing with pets, shopping

Favorite book: Couldn't say; subscribes to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Barron's and The Sun News

Typical meal: Salad with boiled shrimp

Vehicles: A Hummer, a Rolls-Royce and a Bentley

Pets: Three dogs and at least eight cats

Sav-R-Cats will host a fund-raising Cat Ball on Feb. 7 at the Dunes Club in Myrtle Beach. Tickets are $65 per person, $120 per couple. For reservations, call 448-9471.

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort Sees Improvements.(Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort)(Sage Hospitality Resources)(Omni Fort Worth convention center)(Brief article) - Hotels

By Staff

MYRTLE BEACH, SOUTH CAROLINA--Major renovations, including the construction of a new 12,500-sq. ft. (1,161 sq. m) conference center, are currently under way at the Hilton Myrtle Beach Resort. Total project costs are estimated at US$14.7 million.

Adding to the existing 34,000 sq. ft. (3,159 sq. m) of on-site meeting space, which includes an 18,000-sq. ft. (1,672 sq. m) exhibition hall, the new conference center space will be divisible into 9 smaller meeting rooms. The facility is expected to be ready for business in January 2008.

Following exterior renovations to the 82,000-gallon (310,404-liter) oceanfront pool complex, the area now includes connecting pools, a whirlpool spa and fire pit, all surrounded by lush landscaping and an array of palm trees. Other amenities include cabanas with televisions, Internet access and wet bars. Also newly renovated is the Wet Whistle poolside bar.

Sage To Open Department Store Hotel In Portland

Staff

PORTLAND, OREGON Sage Hospitality Resources is renovating the nine upper floors of the historic Meier & Frank department store in downtown Portland into a hotel to be called The Nines. The 330-room Starwood Luxury Collection property, which Sage will manage, is scheduled to open in 2008.

Key components of the US$118 million renovation include a glass-covered atrium encircled by the guestrooms, a restaurant and lounge on the eighth floor, a ballroom on the sixth floor, plus conference rooms and banquet facilities.

In addition, a new elevator lobby on the street level will provide guests dedicated access up to the hotel lobby on the eighth floor. The lower five floors of the historic building will be consolidated and retained as a Macy department store.

Omni Building Convention Center Hotel In Texas

Staff

FORTWORTH, TEXAS Sculpted from native stone, rich hardwoods and wrapped in glass, the 604-room Omni Fort Worth convention center hotel will debut in late 2008. With artwork adorning the hotel walls, the unique life-as-gallery display will be part of the finishing touches.

The 34-story structure will be large, even by Texas standards, offering nearly 40,000 sq. ft. (3,716 sq. m) of meeting room space, plus 10,000 sq. ft. (929 sq. m) of additional outdoor meeting space. The project also includes plans for 97 luxury condominiums.

Amenities will include a full-service spa and fitness center, Bob's Steak and Chophouse, a full-service Starbucks, a sports bar, a wine bar and a museum store.

Casino Hotel Coming To California

Staff

RANCHO MIRAGE, CALIFORNIA A new 14-story, 344-room luxury casino hotel is planned for Rancho Mirage, with completion scheduled for December 2007. The Agua Caliente Band of Cahuilla Indians will own and operate the Agua Caliente Spa Resort Casino Hotel.

An existing casino property will be renovated and the new hotel will include a spa with pool and cabanas, an ultra-modern business center, conference amenities, restaurants and a parking garage.

Sporting goods retail chain anchors Myrtle Beach, S.C., mall. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Kathleen Vereen Dayton, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Sep. 2--Fish hang from the ceiling and swim in a tank, while the image of a prehistoric sea turtle is stamped onto the floor of the Grand Strand's newest large-space retailer, Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World.

The giant sporting goods store officially opens today at Colonial Mall, filling an expanded and rebuilt space formerly occupied by Kmart.

It is Bass Pro's first South Carolina location and the latest big-box store to shake up the Grand Strand's dynamic retail market, which welcomed 100 new stores at Coastal Grand-Myrtle Beach in March.

Bass Pro is a very different type of anchor for Colonial Mall, which was built in 1986.

'This will make us at Colonial Mall a destination,' said Colonial Mall's general manager, Joe Perl.

Perl said the addition of Bass Pro is good for the area's retail mix, overall.

'Here at the intersection of [U.S.] 17 and [S.C.] 22, it will make this the crossroads or focal point of the north end,' Perl said.

Perl said the new anchor will benefit the mall, which has to cope with Coastal Grand, which plans to have nine new stores by the end of the year.

'For retailers looking to put in one store in the market or a second location in the market, Colonial Mall certainly will be on top of their radar screen,' Perl said.

Bass Pro's concept of incorporating merchandise with entertainment is a good indication that cash registers and price tags are no longer enough in today's retail world.

Bass Pro Shops is almost twice the size of other large sporting goods stores in the area and will contain a restaurant, Islamorada Fish Co., which opens in October. The store and restaurant together will employ more than 400 people, making it among the area's largest private employers. Visitors can gawk at the store's 11,000-gallon indoor aquarium and approach the store's entrance by crossing a bridge over a moat.

Only time will tell how the massive and lavishly decorated retailer will impact other area sporting goods stores.

Managers of several local sporting goods stores, including Dick's Sporting Goods, Sports Authority and Boaters World, declined comment on the opening of Bass Pro Shops.

Existing retailers should survive, said Ellen Tolley, spokeswoman for the National Retail Federation.

Destination retailers like Bass Pro attract visitors who are likely to shop and eat out at other venues as well, she said.

'It's not always bad news when a new retailer moves in,' Tolley said. 'In fact, new retailers can draw from a larger geographic range and can help out everyone. Sometimes existing retailers get a little nervous when a new player comes to town, but they might find it helps their sales.' Nathan Kelly, vice president and general manager of Savannah Mall in Savannah, Ga., said that happened when Bass Pro Shops anchored there last summer.

'They've had really a fantastic effect on our entire property, because of their drawing power,' Kelly said. 'They've increased the market for us from the typical 30-mile market area to at least 50 miles and probably further than that.' Before Bass Pro opened, Savannah Mall was down to one anchor from four. The mall is only four miles from Oglethorpe Mall, which was more established, Kelly said. After Bass Pro opened, small shop sales at Savannah Mall increased 29 percent.

'Since [it opened], we've also secured a deal with Target,' Kelly said. 'This is going to be the first Target in the market.

That's causing quite a stir.

Bass Pro Shops Outdoor World at Colonial Mall joins a retail cluster that has emerged over the past few years around the intersection of U.S. 17 and S.C. 22, a route completed in May 2001.

The shopping hub includes Wal-Mart and Tanger Factory Outlet Centers. A new strip center, Arcadian Shores Commons, is under construction.

Earlier this year, Dick's Sporting Goods at Coastal Grand became the latest addition to the area's sporting goods scene. The 55,000 square-foot store opened in March.

Coastal Grand's general manager, Steve McGhee, thinks the 11-mile distance between the two malls assures plenty of customers for both.

'We're more centrally located on the main artery of [U.S.] 501 coming into Myrtle Beach,' McGhee said. 'We tend to get more tourist traffic, being in the location we're in.' McGhee was formerly general manager of Colonial Mall and helped secure Bass Pro as a tenant.

'Bass Pro is a good tenant. I think they'll do well there and we wish them luck,' he said.

'As far as the market goes, there's plenty of room in the market for them.'

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

(c) 2004, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

MYRTLE BEACH GOLF CONFERENCE OPENS NOV. 13 - US Fed News Service, Including US State News

Coastal Carolina University issued the following press release:

The first Myrtle Beach Golf Conference, featuring academic research on the sport and presentations by industry experts, opened today, Nov. 13 and continues on Friday, Nov.14 at the Holiday Inn Hard Rock Parkway in Myrtle Beach.

The conference began at 8:45 a.m. with welcoming remarks by Brad Dean, CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. Today's program concludes at 6 p.m. with presentation of an award honoring Dr. Frank Sheid, also known as Professor Golf, who was instrumental in development of the USGA Handicap System in the late 1960s.

The conference continues Friday at 9 a.m. with round table discussions for golf course managers and professionals at the Holiday Inn. A 'Corporate Boot Camp for PGM Program Participants' is scheduled for 9 a.m. in the E. Craig Wall Sr. College of Business Administration, room 318, at Coastal Carolina University.

A complete schedule is available online at www.myrtlebeachgolfconference.com.

Keynote speakers will include:

* David Downing, president of the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America (GCSAA)

* Dalton Floyd Jr., an attorney who has represented both the PGA of America and the Carolinas Section of the PGA

* Golf course architect Craig Schreiner, who recently redesigned the greens at Firestone South (site of the World Golf Championship-Bridgestone Classic) and Pine Lakes International

* Walker Taylor IV, past president of the Donald Ross Society

* Andrew Tiger of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, the leading golf management science researcher in the field

Research papers will be presented in a variety of subject areas including golf economics, management science and golf, and applications of information technology to golf. Educational programming will be provided for collegiate PGA-PGM program participants. An academics journal devoted to the golf industry, The Journal of Golf, will be launched at the conference. Tiger, chair of the Department of Management and Marketing at Southeastern Oklahoma State, will edit the bi-annual publication.

Myrtle Beach, S.C.-area real estate brings in buyers. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 12--Beaches and warm weather are not the only attractions luring new residents to the Grand Strand.

People like Steven and Doris McCarthy are settling here to take advantage of one of the best real estate markets on the East Coast -- one that is booming faster than any of its neighbor cities in Georgia and the Carolinas, even as those markets also see rapid growth.

'They have so much construction going on [here],' Steven McCarthy said.

The area's new-home market is undergoing unprecedented growth, making area real estate more valuable, while also making homes less affordable for some area residents.

Much of that growth was in the new condominium market in Horry County, which almost tripled this year through the third quarter compared with the same time last year, according to Market Opportunity Research Enterprises, a real estate analysis firm.

That more than completes a rebound from a period a few years ago when several condo complexes failed because demand slowed.

The single-family market also is rapidly expanding, with new sales jumping 80 percent in Brunswick County, N.C., and 55 percent in Horry County. The Wilmington, N.C., market saw such sales increase 39 percent.

They increased 16.7 percent in Charlotte, 27 percent in Columbia and 30 percent in Charleston, according to Market Opportunity Research Enterprises.

The local market doesn't seem to be slowing, as immediate indicators point to more growth, even while analysts say such tremendous spikes can't continue forever, particularly with mortgage rates forecast to rise next year. Condo building permits have almost tripled, and there has been more than a 40 percent increase of single-family home permits in Horry County.

The healthy and still-emerging market is expected to increase homeowner wealth through home equity, while continuing to squeeze middle- and low-income home buyers as prices push upward.

The squeeze is a problem city and county officials have spent years trying to combat because of the Grand Strand's heavy reliance on low-wage workers.

The average cost of new single-family homes in Horry County has jumped about $23,000 since last year to $204,656, a 12.6 percent increase.

Even as some potential homeowners may face challenges, the recent rapid sales growth has created a more stable market that lures investors.

Investors like the McCarthys.

The winters in Cape Cod, Mass., weren't enough to drive them away. But the Grand Strand's host of new homes and rising home values got them to pack their bags.

They've been settling into their 1,500-square-foot home at Barefoot Resort for the past three months and already have decided upon a few investments -- new homes in Carolina Forest and North Myrtle Beach. And although they're happy their kids, Lucas, 12, and Lauren, 10, will get to play more sports, they've got something else on their minds: a higher return on investments.

'We really saw the opportunity down here,' Steven McCarthy said.

What is fueling the growth?

Several factors are fueling new-home sales, and those sales are affecting prices.

The sale of existing homes, although still experiencing rapid growth, isn't growing as fast as new sales because people want to hold onto their investment. That has caused a drop in inventory and continued to drive up new-home sales, said Lawrence Langdale, president of the Horry-Georgetown Homebuilders Association.

'It's a good sign when a resort market is growing. It means people have faith that the economy is strong,' said Carl Van Horn, research analyst for Market Opportunity Research Enterprises.

The Grand Strand's real estate market has been driven by population increases, wealth creation, low interest rates and the increase of national builders, said Al Parish, Charleston Southern University economist.

Since 1997, the number of permits to number of closings ratio has steadily declined, showing that production builders -- such as Centex Homes, D.R. Horton and Beazer Homes -- are capturing a larger share of what used to be the custom-home market, Van Horn said.

Small builders also are doing well even as they try to absorb the cost of rising land prices and supply costs. The lumber buyer at Myrtle Beach Building Supply, which sells to custom builders and small developers, said there's a backlog of homes waiting to be built.

That demand, construction costs that have added roughly $8,000 to a new home's cost this year, and skyrocketing land values are making homeownership unaffordable for some in the work force.

Just three years ago, half of all homes cost $130,000 or less, barely affordable then to those with good credit and earning the median household income of about $45,000 in Horry County. But today, half of all homes cost at least $160,000 -- and the upper half of the housing market is growing faster than the less expensive half.

'Land prices are growing really fast,' said local builder Will Rabon with Rabon Construction. 'I've heard rumors that ... tracts not far from us have sold for twice what we paid for them three years ago.'

A restrengthening new condo market is providing less-expensive housing options. Half of all new condo sales in Horry County cost at least $141,000 -- $19,000 less than the median price for new single-family homes. The area's high percentage of manufactured housing and numerous first-time home-buyer mortgages also are serving as buffers against the rapidly rising cost of new single-family homes.

Horry County's condo market, which almost tripled this year, represents a return to 1999 sales levels, before the market went sour, analysts said.

Several off-beach condo complexes, including projects by defunct builder Heritage Communities, ran into trouble after 1999.

Bankruptcies and foreclosures ensued. Planned amenities went unbuilt. A long list of home buyers, subcontractors, builders, banks and others scrambled to salvage investments.

Condo building was outpacing demand, leading to the failures. But now the reverse seems to be true, even though some of those failed projects remain unfinished.

New condo sales in Horry County increased 171 percent during the first nine months of this year compared with the same period of 2003, according to the Rocky Mount real estate analysis firm.

'That ... growth is a rebound from the previous four years, when the market peaked in 1999,' Van Horn said.

The condo market lost 50 percent of its share after 1999 meaning that, even with this year's increases, it is only 9.25 percent higher than it was five years ago, Van Horn said.

'This means people are putting their money in the real estate market,' Van Horn said.

Buying at the right time Bryan Fulton and his family decided six months ago to leave Las Vegas for Myrtle Beach. One big draw was real estate.

He and his wife wanted better schools for their daughters, a friendlier environment, and a chance to invest in a new home.

'You can get a lot more house for your money here,' Fulton said after leaving Las Vegas, where home prices rose faster in the past year than any other metro area in the county. 'We really wanted to get something that was ours and we could build from the ground up.'

Fulton said he's getting in the Grand Strand market at the right time.

'If we're getting in now when we're a little lower on the peak, we'll be able to make more money when we sell in five or 10 years,' he said.

Experts caution that, while rising prices may benefit homeowners, it'll be a different story when it's time to shop for a home.

'You'll get more for your house, but you'll pay more for the house you buy,' Maeser said.

A look into the future Meanwhile, the area housing market will grow in 2005, but not at the breakneck pace of this year, said economist Al Parish.

'Horry County is a hot market, but it will cool off some,' Parish said.

'I don't think you can expect growth at this rate to continue.'

Building permits, which are a good gauge of current and pending housing activity, show the growth will continue for at least the immediate future. Permits for condos in Horry County have jumped 175 percent during the first nine months of this year compared with last year, while permits for single-family homes have increased by 43 percent, according to the real estate analysis firm's figures. A similar increase also occurred in Brunswick County, N.C., and for single-family home permits in Georgetown County.

Parish also expects interest rates to rise. Freddie Mac's weekly survey released Thursday showed that rates on 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages stood at 5.71 percent, the lowest since early November. Forecasts have it reaching about 6.5 percent sometime next year, which is still low by historical standards.

Whether the rates rise won't matter to Fulton and his family. They are scheduled to have their new home in Carolina Forest's BelleGrove completed in February.

'It'll be a better investment for the long term,' he said. 'And they are constantly building here, so we can upsize.'

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

Time Warner to raise cable TV rates in Myrtle Beach, S.C. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Jenny Burns, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 2--Time Warner will be raising rates on this month's cable bill, although the increase is slightly less than those of the past three years.

Expanded basic service in the Myrtle Beach area will cost 4.7 percent more than it did in Novem ber. Last year's increase was 5.5 percent. For example, expanded basic cable service from Time Warner will go from $36.25 to $37.95 a month.

Adelphia Communications, which serves Browns Ferry, Sampit and DeBordieu, also is raising rates.

Other cable companies on the Grand Strand do not have rate increases planned, but some say they may come later in 2005.

Time Warner says its rate increases are necessary because of rising programming costs, especially from sports networks.

'We pay ESPN for every customer that we have,' said Mary Anne Jacobs, director of public affairs for the S.C. division of Time Warner Cable. 'ESPN is one of the most expensive programs and the most viewed. It trickles down to the consumer.'

The National Cable & Tele communications Association listed the average monthly price for expanded basic cable as $36.59 in December 2003, the most recent average avail able.

Cable companies are no longer regulated on the federal level but can be subject to some regulation by local county and city councils, said Ron Wilder, a University of South Carolina economist.

Wilder said it's hard to know if rising cable rates are really related to cost increases or just the ability of the company to raise prices.

But cable companies, which now face increasing compe tition from satellite TV oper ators, are no longer the quasi monopolies they once were.

Time Warner's broadcast tier will increase from $8.47 per month to $9.32 per month, and the tier will increase from $27.78 to $28.63.

Those two services together add up to expanded basic cable.

Customers in Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Briarcliffe, Atlantic Beach, Surfside Beach, Georgetown and others will now be charged $37.95 a month for basic cable, up from $36.25.

Time Warner Cable has about 107,000 customers along the Grand Strand, serving the coastal area from Little River to Georgetown and inland to Andrews, Kingstree and west of Conway.

Adelphia Communications will raise rates in Browns Ferry and Sampit from $34.53 to $36.25 a month. The company also added two channels, spokesman Paul Jacobson said.

Customers in DeBordieu get about 30 channels and will see rates increase from $18.87 to $19.80.

Jacobson said the increases also are due to increased programming costs.

Atlantic Telephone, which provides cable services for most of Brunswick County, N.C., has no plans to raise rates now or in 2005, said Pat Olsen, vice president of marketing and customer service.

The company raised rates in early 2003 by $3 on basic cable but did not raise rates in 2004.

Atlantic's customers pay $35.95 a month for expanded basic cable.

Horry Telephone Cooperative, which serves customers in western Horry County, does not have a rate increase plan ned, but the company may raise rates in 2005 if programming costs continue to increase, said Cricket Alcorn, HTC communications supervisor.

HTC's basic cable costs $33.45, Alcorn said.

Time Warner's 2005 cable price is now more than the December 2003 national aver age.

Some new services will be added this month to Time Warner cable. Discovery Health will now be on the basic tier channel 69 instead of the digital tier. Style also will move to the basic tier channel 68 from the digital tier. And MTV Hits will be added to digital tier channel 134.

CNNfn will be going off the air because the network is not producing it anymore, Jacobs said.

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

(c) 2004, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

Writing the book on Myrtle Beach golf - again - The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, WV)

STAFF WRITER

The fact that a Charleston native is the golfing guru of MyrtleBeach, S.C., should come as no surprise when one considers thenumbers of West Virginians who flock to the area each summer.

And Tommy Woodrum can tell them just where to tee up. Woodrum,who used to write a golf column for the Gazette, has written hissecond book describing golf courses along the Grand Strand in SouthCarolina.The 332-page publication, 'Golfing the Carolina Grand Strand,' isan expansion of a 1993 Woodrum book that included detailedinformation and pictures of 81 courses in the Myrtle Beach area.His latest book includes more than 100 pages of full-colorphotographs. There are scorecards, layouts and other information on29 additional courses that have been built in the area since 1993along with the courses he previously wrote about.'We're known as the golfing capital of the world,' Woodrum said ina phone interview. 'And it keeps exploding. Nine more courses areunder construction.'The book, published by Pelican, is priced at $39.95. Woodrum willreturn to his hometown for a book-signing session from 11 a.m. to 2p.m. Saturday at Waldenbooks in the Charleston Town Center.'I'm looking forward to seeing my friends in Charleston,' said the72-year-old Woodrum. 'I remember writing a golf column, 'On theGreen' for Shorty Hardman at the Gazette.'Woodrum also worked at various radio stations in Charleston anddid play-by-play of sporting events.His family owned Woodrums', a home furnishing store on VirginiaStreet where he was general manager for many years. Woodrum leftCharleston to operate Shoney's restaurants, a career that eventuallyled him to Myrtle Beach.Woodrum owned 14 Shoney's in South Carolina. He has turned themover to two of his sons. He also became involved in raising andracing thoroughbred horses after his move to Myrtle Beach.Woodrum is married to the former Barbara Hancock of Charleston.The Woodrums have five children and 12 grandchildren. They willleave later this month on an African safari, a trip they have madeseveral times.Woodrum hosted a television golf show until last September when hesuffered two minor strokes just 10 days apart.'I got the idea for the book after I started doing the televisionshow,' he said. 'I decided since I was visiting all the courses, Imay as well take notes and put it in a book.'His main passion remains golf.'I've always been an avid golfer,' he said. 'And this is theperfect place for the sport. It's getting to be that nearly as manypeople come to the beach to golf as they do to enjoy the beach.'To contact staff writer Danny Wells, call 348-5122.

Myrtle Beach spring migration will include nine area baseball teams - The Charleston Gazette (Charleston, WV)

State teams' tourney schedules, 2B

rickryan@wvgazette.com

For Kanawha Valley baseball teams, all roads will lead to MyrtleBeach next week.

Nine area teams and 14 West Virginia schools will be competingMonday through Saturday in the 44-team Mingo Bay Baseball Classic inthe greater Myrtle Beach, S.C., area.

All teams are guaranteed at least four games (weather permitting)and could play as many as six depending on how far they advance inthe single-elimination portion of the event.

Kanawha Valley schools scheduled to appear in the tournament areBuffalo, Capital, Charleston Catholic, George Washington, Nitro,Sissonville, South Charleston, St. Albans and Winfield. Other stateschools in the field are Logan, Jefferson, Martinsburg, Morgantownand University.

Teams will be placed in pools of four or six teams for theirfirst three games Monday through Wednesday, then will be seeded forthe championship brackets that begin Thursday. Seeds will bedetermined primarily by won-lost records and runs allowed.

Games are scheduled to start as early as 10 a.m. and as late as 7p.m.

Nitro may get a head start on its trip Saturday, as it has a 1p.m. game scheduled at Princeton. Some coaches and players maycontinue to South Carolina after that game.

The Wildcats are scheduled to play Daniel Boone at 4:30 p.m.Monday at Conway, S.C. Other games in the Mingo Bay Classic are setfor the nearby towns of Aynor, Carolina Forest, Georgetown, Loris,Myrtle Beach, North Myrtle Beach, Socastee, St. James and Waccamaw.

On Tuesday, Nitro (1-0) meets one of South Carolina's top teams,Conway, which is ranked No. 3 in 4-A.

Nitro coach Steve Pritchard, whose team has played only once sofar this season, realizes the challenge of the trip, going againstsouthern teams that have played many more games so far.

'We've got one game in,' Pritchard said, 'and teams down thereare 12-to-15 games deep into their seasons. It's going to be alearning experience. They've found their tempo and went through theearly season blues, which is what we're starting to do.

'We like to go down there because we can learn, and the games goa little faster because they play on Bermuda grass.'

Green Wins Myrtle Beach 250 - AP Online

PETE IACOBELLI, AP Sports Writer
AP Online
06-18-2000
Green Wins Myrtle Beach 250

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (AP) -- Jeff Green won the Myrtle Beach 250 on Saturday night, completing a dominating day at one of his favorite tracks with a 1.029-second victory over Kevin Harvick.

It was Green's second straight win at the tricky half-mile oval and his second consecutive Busch Grand National victory this year. He extended his series points lead to 299 over Todd Bodine.

``We're always trying to get top fives. As good as this car was tonight, top five wasn't going to be nearly good enough,'' said Green, who started from the pole for the second time at the track.

Green, from Owensboro, Ky., learned to drive on the smallish track at Nashville, so he quickly came to love Myrtle Beach's tight corners. He and wife Michelle took their honeymoon here in 1991 and get to the area a few days early each year for ``a mini-vacation.''

Harvick, a rookie on the Busch series, tried to ruin Green's getaway, battling him tight through the first 50 laps -- including nearly spinning him out on lap 40 -- then sticking with the veteran on two restarts the final 44 laps.

Green blocked Harvick every time and gradually pulled away for his third victory this season and seventh of his career.

``I guess he was mad,'' Green said of Harvick. ``He kind of made me mad with what he did. But he's a rookie, we all make mistakes. He raced us clean at the end.''

Green led 198 laps, including the final 103.

Elton Sawyer was third, followed by Green's teammate, Jason Keller,

No one was stopping Green, who came from 29th to win last year.

This time, he made sure he wouldn't have the same struggles.

Keller, who lost this race to Green a year ago when his tire went flat while leading three laps from the end, was Green's stiffest challenge the second half of the event on the .538-mile course.

But after Green gave way to Keller on lap 147 so his teammate could gain lap-leader points, Green took the lead for good on the next lap and was never pushed.

He led Keller by more than a quarter of the track with 60 laps to go.

About the only things that slowed Green were the final two of seven cautions, which gave Harvick his last chances for his first victory.

He nosed his car underneath Green and looked like he had a passing lane. But Green blocked him.

Harvick tried the same move on the final restart on lap 215 and again Green stopped him.

``This car took off and it was pretty awesome,'' said Harvick, who had his career best finish. ``Maybe soon, we'll figure it out.''

Green won with an average speed of 69.399 mph.

``This just seems to suit my style,'' said Green, who won last week in South Boston, Va. ``It favors me in a race. I'm very laid back and try to conserve my equipment. I think that pays off for me here.''

It was a relatively clean race with drivers handling the expanded pit area and tighter race surface -- the retaining wall is several feet out from where it was a year ago -- well.

The craziest moment was after Jeff Purvis slammed the wall in turn 2, then waited by his wreck as cars passed. When Randy LaJoie drove low to get around clean-up crews, Purvis chased him and shouted.

Purvis was taken by NASCAR officials for a cooling off period.

``He tried to do it last week. He got me this week,'' Purvis said of LaJoie. ``I really don't understand. I just wanted to ask him about it.''

The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright 2000 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved

LPGA Washed Out in Myrtle Beach - AP Online

PETE IACOBELLI, AP Sports Writer
AP Online
05-01-1999
LPGA Washed Out in Myrtle Beach

MURRELLS INLET, S.C. (AP) -- Rain flooded Wachesaw East Golf Club for the second straight day, washing out another round of the LPGA City of Hope Myrtle Beach Classic.

The tournament will finish without a cut and with a final-round shootout Sunday, cutting the 72-hole event to 36 holes.

``I think this is the first time in 20 years I remember this happening,'' Muffin Spencer-Devlin said.

Actually, it last happened in 1981 at the Olympic Gold Classic in City of Industry, Calif. Sally Little carded a one-stroke victory after the final two rounds were washed away.

It seemed unlikely Myrtle Beach would share such a distinction. It's a golfer's dream with more than 100 courses and mild, sunny South Carolina temperatures.

But a storm front stalled over the area, dumping at least an inch of rain the past two days. That's on top of the 4 inches superintendent Dean Crouch said hit the course on Tuesday.

``We're disappointed in the rain, but the course is draining well and we should have a good finish,'' tournament director Rosemary Nash said.

So it's back to the mall or the movies for most players. Spencer-Devlin went to an IMAX theatre and rented the Oscar nominated film Elizabeth.

After a brisk workout, she's going to rent ``Stepmom'' today.

On Friday, Gail Graham and Michelle Estill saw ``Entrapment,'' with Sean Connery.

Graham, who opened with a 75, said the time off lets you clear away the bad play.

``If you kind of had a rough day, it gives you chance to regroup a little bit,'' she said.

Juli Inkster and Amy Benz dealt with frozen grips and blowing hats well enough Thursday to share the lead after 4-under 68s.

Players wore layers of windshirts, sweaters and rain pants to make it through the opening round. Graham dreaded dealing with that again.

``When you heard it rain all night and you're sort of anticipating not playing, you're kind of almost glad when you're not,'' Graham said.

The field of 142 -- Laura Baugh and Lenore Rittenhouse withdrew -- was reseeded for a typical Sunday finish.

There are 18 players within two shots of the lead and 55 at even-par 72 or better.

Karrie Webb, the season's top money-winner, led a group of six at 69. She is looking for her third straight Myrtle Beach title.

The information contained in the AP News report may not be published, broadcast or redistributed without the prior written authority of The Associated Press.

Copyright 1999 The Associated Press All Rights Reserved

Firm Buys Myrtle Beach, S.C., Golf Resort. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By David Wren, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 18--The Grand Strand's golf industry, battered in recent years by stagnant growth and overbuilding, received a vote of confidence Tuesday with Signature Horizons Inc.'s announcement that it will buy Sea Trail Plantation & Golf Links in Sunset Beach, N.C., for $45 million.

'That area is a great destination market, not only for vacationers but for retirement-home buyers,' said John Mans field, executive vice president of Signature Horizons. 'It's an excellent project.' Sea Trail is the 2 1/2-year-old Signature's first major acquisition, and Mansfield said the company is looking to buy other golf course and retirement projects throughout the Carolinas.

Real estate experts said the purchase from the family-owned Sea Trail Corp., expected to be completed in January, is a shot in the arm to the area's struggling golf industry.

'It shows a lot of confidence in the future strength of this market,' said E. F. 'Buddy' Hucks, owner of the E. F. Hucks & Associates appraisal and real estate analysis firm.

Signature will buy Sea Trail's 2,000-acre collection of three golf courses, two clubhouses and a 32,000-square-foot conference center. Signature also is buying the land where Oyster Bay Golf Course is located, but will not operate that golf course.

In addition, Signature will get to operate Sea Trail's home rental program, which provides accommodations for vacationing golfers.

The $45 million sale price is 9 times Sea Trail's average profit of $5 million a year. Hucks said area golf courses typically sell for 8 to 10 times their annual profit figures. The sale price represents an 11.1 percent annual return on investment for Signature if profit levels remain the same.

'Real estate is a very sound investment now in view of what the stock market is doing,' said Ed Gore, one of the owners of Sea Trail Corp. 'That's why people like Signature are looking for places like Sea Trail.' Ronald Potts, Signature's chairman and chief executive, said he expects profit levels to increase significantly in coming years because of growth in the sport and future residential development of the company's Sea Trail property.

'There is excellent long-term income potential,' Potts said.

An average of 115,000 to 120,000 paid rounds of golf are played each year on Sea Trail's three 18-hole courses, Mansfield said. That is well within the range of 35,000 to 40,000 annual rounds golf experts say most newer courses need to turn a profit.

'Our operations have been very satisfactory so far,' Gore said. 'We've maintained our market share in the difficult climate we're in.' Many area courses have struggled to hit that level in recent years because a slow economy combined with stagnant growth in the number of golfers and too many new courses.

Through October, there were 2.95 million paid rounds of golf played at more than 100 Grand Strand golf courses this year. That compares with 2.98 million rounds for the same period in 2001 and 2.97 million rounds in 2000.

Despite the slowdown, the Grand Strand has fared better than many other golf resorts that have seen 10 percent to 15 percent declines in business, said Mickey McCamish, of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, which markets golf vacation packages.

'A soft economy and war with Iraq continue to have an influence on golfers taking a golf vacation,' McCamish said.

Among the biggest casualties of this area's golf slowdown was Myrtle Beach-based The Links Group, a golf course management company that filed for bankruptcy protection last year.

Recent transactions such as the Sea Trail sale and Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc.'s decision this year to buy Pine Lakes International Country Club in Myrtle Beach for $10 million indicate better times might be ahead, Hucks said.

'It's a good sign for this area,' he said.

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

Magical, medieval games site to move into Myrtle Beach, S.C., development. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Kathleen Vereen Dayton, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 28--Magic wands will soon replace the butterflies that once filled a major attraction at Broadway At The Beach.

The former Butterfly Pavilion, which closed in December 2002, is being transformed into a magic kingdom filled with dragons, pixies, princesses and unicorns, all brought to life by cutting-edge computer technology and, its creator says, a little magic.

The new, interactive family attraction will fill a custom-designed space left dormant at Broadway at the Beach for nearly two years.

B&C bought the Butterfly Pavilion out of foreclosure in September 2003 for $4.3 million.

The pavilion had struggled financially since its inception and only operated for 18 months.

Magically, the new attraction is expected to open in about seven months, just in time for the summer tourist season.

MagicQuest, an interactive family attraction offering games built around a medieval, magical theme, will be the first attraction of its kind and is expected to roll out to other areas of the country.

Creator Denise Weston says she chose to launch MagicQuest in Myrtle Beach because she was looking for 'the perfect family venue.' Weston is currently based in Rhode Island but is planning to move to Myrtle Beach. She has been developing toys, games and interactive children's amusements for more than 25 years.

Among her achievements are children's play and pool areas for Disney Cruise Lines, Club Disney and Disney Quest; a four-acre Loony Tunes park for Six Flags, Ohio; and The Great Barn at Stone Mountain, Ga.

Weston's company, Creative Kingdoms, began in 1999 and has won numerous awards.

Creative Kingdoms has joined with Burroughs & Chapin, Co. Inc. to form a new company, New Kingdoms, with MagicQuest as their first venture.

Tom Jones, B&C's chief of sports, recreation and entertainment, said the company was attracted by MagicQuest's focus on family interaction.

The 22,500-square foot former Butterfly Pavilion, located between the IMAX Theater and Broadway Cinema 16, is being transformed into a fairy-tale fantasy world of castles, drawbridges and a Stonehenge-like circle of stones that will conceal computers where participants will be able to choose games, or quests.

'It's a perfect building for what we're going to do,' Weston said.

Children can play the game with their friends or parents. A magic wand presented to each participant has the technology to recognize the participant individually and allows the child to command lightening bolts, open treasure boxes, control music and other feats of the imagination. More than 250 different special effects can be created with a wave of the wand, and each quest a child chooses on computer is unique.

The MagicQuest attraction plans a huge product line of costumes and interactive MagicQuest accessories.

'I think this is a winning idea. This has tremendous potential for the next new attraction, nationally,' said Myrtle Beach city spokesman Mark Kruea.

A team of 30 people are working on MagicQuest, including six computer programmers and special effects 'wizards.'

B&C declined to say how much the renovation of the former Butterfly Pavilion would cost.

'We really don't disclose that, but it's a whole lot of money,' Jones said.

Horry County Council chairwoman Liz Gilland said she is impressed by Weston and thinks the concept has brains.

'In today's Harry Potter society, magic is a popular theme,' Gilland said. 'I think, like any of the other excellent attractions here, it will be some thing new for people to get excited about who have been here, and for those who have never come before, they'll want to get to this first and then enjoy all the other attractions the Grand Strand has to offer.'

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

(c) 2004, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News. For information on republishing this content, contact us at (800) 661-2511 (U.S.), (213) 237-4914 (worldwide), fax (213) 237-6515, or e-mail reprints@krtinfo.com.

A piece of the action: West Virginians own Myrtle Beach nightspot popular with visitors from the Mountain State - Sunday Gazette-Mail

SUNDAY GAZETTE-MAIL

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Night after night, Grand Strand vacationersswarm the massive restaurant and shopping complex Broadway at theBeach. On Celebrity Square, the entertainment district, they streaminto an elaborate quadruple nightclub called Celebrations. Many ofthose patrons are from the Mountain State.

Celebrations offers four options under one roof. Customers cankick up their heels at one of three dance clubs - the Malibu SurfBar, Froggy Bottomz and Club Boca - or eat pizza, wings and subs,watch baseball games and NASCAR races, and play sophisticatedvirtual-reality games at the colossal sports bar, Broadway Louie's.

The money West Virginians spend there comes home.

Celebrations is owned by eight Charleston investors, includingretired Charleston architect Bud Sprouse, the designer.

'The funds go back up to local banks,' said Celebrations PresidentDoug Skaff, 'so some of the West Virginia money spent down here iscoming back.'

Skaff said the developers of Broadway at the Beach, Burroughs andChapin, opened the shopping and restaurant area first, then wanted toadd an entertainment district.

'We came up with the idea of a nightclub having several differentvenues,' Skaff said.

Celebrations is the centerpiece of a district lined withnightspots, including the wildly successful piano bar, CrocodileRocks.

'We're the original developers of the Celebrity Square concept,'Skaff said. 'We started the street.'

The project represents an investment of more than $4 million.

The four venues in the Celebrations building are connected,allowing patrons to pass from one to the other with a single covercharge.

Other club operators wanted to do country-western, piano bar,disco and hard rock themes, Skaff said.

'We wanted to do several different venues, so we tried to think ofthe different kinds of music that would appeal to today's market,both locals and vacationers of all ages.'

The musical result is blues and jazz at Froggy Bottomz, the upbeatMiami and Latin sound at Club Boca, and Top 40s for collegiates atthe Malibu Surf Bar.

When the neighboring country-western club folded, the group tookover the 14,000-square-foot building and transformed it into BroadwayLouie's, which opened on Easter weekend.

'It's the hottest thing on the beach right now,' Skaff said.

The cavernous, warehouse-style building has two sides: one asports bar with pool tables and more than 50 TV sets, including 13large screens; the other an arcade with more than $1.5 million worthof virtual-reality games and amusements.

'With this high-tech electronic equipment, you can experienceabout anything - simulated skiing, NASCAR driving, whitewaterrafting, riding a Sea Doo.'

The newest addition is a simulated roller coaster ride.

'It takes you on three different roller coasters in the U.S. Youput on the headgear and it whirls you around. You have the sense ofsmell and the scenery and the feel.'

A popular attraction for some recent visitors from Greensboro,N.C., was a huge gyrating black cube called the Personal MotionTheater.

A mother waiting for her son to emerge explained the attraction insimple terms.

'You move around a lot and throw up after you're done.'

For $5.75 a throw, participants can choose from six motionexperiences, including Star Wars and piloting a jet fighter plane.

The only restaurant in the four-club building, Broadway Louie'sfeatures 'from scratch' pizza, wings and other classic sports barfare; burger and chicken sandwiches served on home-baked rolls and anextensive list of submarine sandwiches.

Froggy Bottomz, designed to resemble a New Orleans bar, offers theonly live music. The Kerry Michaels Band, featuring blues singerKerry Martin and guitarist Michael Stollings, plays nightly exceptFriday when the Tams, Embers and other old-line beach groups revivethe classic beach sound.

On a Friday night, the complex attracts 2,000 to 2,200 people,said manager and vice president Roger Davidson, a Gilmer Countynative.

'Weekends are strong all year because of Myrtle Beach's growingpopulation,' he said, 'and we're hoping the sports bar will help off-season with Monday night football and the Saturday and Sundaygames.'

Broadway at the Beach is located between 21st and 27th streetsnorth on the Highway 17 Bypass.

For information on Celebrations, check the Broadway at the BeachWeb Site, www.broad wayatthebeach.com; or call (803)444-3500.

Hooters Air Founder Wins Businessman of the Year Award in Myrtle Beach, S.C. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Kathleen Vereen Dayton, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Dec. 28--It isn't every day that a man born on a Horry County tobacco farm just after the Great Depression manages to finish college, start his own companies and become a millionaire.

Not to mention that, at age 66, he successfully launches an airline.

Bob Brooks of Myrtle Beach has done all of that and more, and was recently voted The Sun News Businessman of the Year for 2003.

In the past year alone, Brooks created the first Myrtle Beach-based airline, Hooters Air, and in less than a year has grown the airline to a fleet of four Boeing jets serving six destinations from Newark, N.J., to the Bahamas.

The airline, which focuses on leisure travelers, gave Myrtle Beach International Airport a boost after taking a hit from a depressed economy and a downturn in the travel industry. The airline is squarely aimed at golfers and other tourists seeking a warm-weather climate, a much-needed shot in the arm that should help strengthen the Grand Strand's tourism-based economy, area leaders said.

Brooks' latest venture is a part-interest in two vacation charter companies, Vacation Express of Atlanta and Suntrips of San Jose, Calif.

Brooks is negotiating with those companies and hopes eventually to put the Hooters Air logo on more planes.

'We have no firm plans, but it would not surprise me if we had more connections because of the joint venture,' Brooks said. 'We could get a lot bigger a lot sooner.'

The vacation charters serve markets such as Cancun and Cabo San Lucas, Mexico; Hawaii; the Dominican Republic; as well as Denver and San Francisco.

Mark Peterson, president of Hooters Air, said people should expect to see Hooters' continued expansion into leisure destinations.

'I'd say look at what we've done so far, and we'll be doing more of the same,' Peterson said.

Brooks started Hooters Air when he bought Pace Airlines of Winston-Salem, N.C., on Christmas Eve 2002. Pace, a charter airline that grew from the former Piedmont Airlines, was a well-established company serving tour groups and sports teams.

Hooters Air started by adding two Boeing 737s to Pace's fleet, and in March launched its first flight to Atlanta from Myrtle Beach International Airport. Ten months later, the airline has two more Boeing jets and has added flights to Newark; Baltimore; Columbus, Ohio; Fort Myers, Fla.; and Nassau, Bahamas.

The Nassau flights, which debuted Dec. 16, are the only nonstop international flights from an S.C. airport.

'We're a hub now,' said Jean Anne Brakefield, vice president of the convention bureau division of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. 'For people who have never heard of Myrtle Beach, it may be their final destination next and not just a place to change planes. It's all about exposure.'

Brakefield called Brooks a top entrepreneur from Horry County.

Born in 1937 in the Sweet Home community near Loris, Brooks grew up plowing corn fields and stoking the fire at Sweet Home Elementary School before the other children arrived. He attended Clemson University on a scholarship, got a degree in dairy science and built his fortune when he established his own food company, now known as Naturally Fresh Foods, based in Atlanta.

The business today reaps about $100 million in annual sales, but Brooks is perhaps better known as the self-proclaimed 'World Wide Wing Commander' of the Hooters restaurant chain, a company he took over in the mid-1990s.

The sexy theme of the 300-plus restaurant chain, known for chicken wings and attractive waitresses dressed in snug orange shorts, is not one that appealed to everyone but one Brooks decided he would translate into a unique airline. Some criticized Hooters for what they called the exploitation of women and wondered if it was the right image for the area.

Two Hooters girls accompany flight attendants on every Hooters flight and the airline's catch phrase soon surfaced: 'We're easy to buy and fun to fly.'

The airline became the darling of late-night talk shows when its bright orange planes emerged, selling a sprinkle of sex along with leather seats, extra leg room, and tickets with no advance purchase necessary.

Jokes-a-plenty accompanied the fledgling Hooters Air, but Peterson said there's no such thing as a bad Hooters joke.

'You add some consistency and you deliver a good product, and it becomes more real,' Peterson said.

'With a great brand name like Hooters, that offers us some advantages. We've gotten a lot of press that somebody else starting out would not have gotten.'

Peterson was formerly vice president of operations for Vanguard Airlines, an operation Brooks had tried to buy when it filed for bankruptcy. When Vanguard declined his offers, Brooks turned to Pace.

'My experience with Mr. Brooks is, he pretty much does what he says he's going to do,' Peterson said. 'People should pay attention when he says he's going to do something.'

With no previous experience in the airlines, Brooks also jumped into an ailing industry during a difficult economic climate.

'I haven't found it any different from anything else I've tried,' Brooks said. 'It's not the size of the business that makes it successful; it's the people you've got.'

Peterson said people in Myrtle Beach are lucky to have Brooks.

'He's a self-made man who started right here, and he's certainly at a stage in his life where he could sit back and play golf and look out at the ocean, but that's just not him,' Peterson said. 'He's always been a visionary in terms of what he wanted to do. He took a little restaurant and a concept, and it's pushing a billion dollars in sales a year. That's pretty good for a gentleman from Loris.'

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

(c) 2003, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

Jim Huber to Serve as National Spokesman for 'Know Your Score: Fight Prostate Campaign' at Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday in August. - Cancer Weekly

Award-winning journalist and television personality Jim Huber will serve as the 2010 national spokesman of the 'Know Your Score: Fight Prostate Cancer' Celebrity Golf Tournament and Gala scheduled August 28, 2010 in Myrtle Beach, S.C (see also ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer).

As a CNN sportscaster for 16 years before moving to Turner Sports, Huber is well suited to help spread awareness about prostate cancer research and the importance of regular screening. Huber is the recipient of four Emmys and the Edward R. Murrow Award for excellence in writing, among other awards, and has worked closely through the years with many remarkable sports icons including Muhammad Ali, Joe Namath, Hank Aaron, Gordie Howe, Wayne Gretzky, Michael Jordan, Arnold Palmer, and Tiger Woods. Huber's work as sportswriter includes the NBA, the British Open, the PGA Championship, NASCAR, and the PGA Grand Slam of Golf.

'I am honored to be taking part in the third annual 'Know Your Score' campaign and to be following in the enormous footsteps of Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim,' said Huber. 'Prostate cancer found its cruel way into my life years ago when doctors discovered it in my father. By coincidence, he and Arnold Palmer were both battling the disease simultaneously, and I am sure it helped my dad along his way when Arnie asked every so often what my old man's numbers were. They both, as it turned out, beat it partially because their doctors caught it early. They knew their score. Every man must. It's my honor to be taking a role in that emphasis.'

Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday joined forces with Zero - The Project to End Prostate Cancer in 2008 to launch the 'Know Your Score' campaign, which refers to the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test given to men 40 years of age or older to help detect prostate cancer. The PSA test is the best screening tool available today when used with the physical prostate exam. Each year, ZERO brings one of its 40-foot Drive Against Prostate Cancer mobile screening vehicles to Myrtle Beach to provide free prostate cancer tests and exams to hundreds of men.

'Jim Huber is an incredibly respected and accomplished journalist, and we are honored to be working with him as the national spokesman of the 'Know Your Score' campaign,' said Jamie Bearse, COO of ZERO. 'Huber has witnessed firsthand the horrible impact of prostate cancer through the death of his father, and we are very appreciative for his support in elevating awareness of the importance of regular screening and the need for increased federal research funding to find a cure.'

'We are excited about starting the third year of the 'Know Your Score' campaign and look forward to building on our success from the inaugural year,' said Bill Golden, president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday. 'Myrtle Beach is known as the 'Golf Capital of the World,' and we see more than one million golfers per year here, most of whom are the exact ZERO demographic, men who are 45 years of age and older. The entire Myrtle Beach golf community has made a long-term commitment to raise awareness of the dangers of prostate cancer, and we believe that Jim Huber will convey that message to be screened early and often.'

For more information on the campaign, visit KnowYourScoreMB.com or call 1-800-833-8798.

Keywords: Entertainment, Golf, Oncology, Prostate Cancer, Prostatic Neoplasms, Sports, Television, ZERO - The Project to End Prostate Cancer.

Myrtle Beach, S.C., Business Offers Student Housing. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Christina Rexrode, The Charlotte Observer, N.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Jun. 15--As newly issued high-school graduates from around the county flock to Myrtle Beach, Monroe Baldwin is in on the action.

He's the founder and owner of Myrtle Beach Tours in North Myrtle Beach, which rents housing mainly to high school and college kids. Last year, Baldwin estimates, he found 6,000 students a place during spring break and graduation weeks. He rents 84 houses and apartments, two-thirds of which he owns.

The Lynchburg, Va., native started booking beach digs for students in 1988, when he was a sophomore at George Mason University and his fraternity charged him with finding housing for its graduation party. He had such a knack that by senior year he helped almost 800 students find housing.

Now married, 37, and with four young kids, he talked about his place in the beach week tradition.

QUESTION: You traveled to Myrtle Beach each summer in college. Why?

ANSWER: It's just a great place for kids to come and party, and the town's very friendly, and it's very inexpensive. When I came down here in 1988, there was a bar called Crazy Zack's, and pitchers of beer were $4 and the place held two or three thousand people. The bars stayed open until breakfast time.

You can imagine, I loved it; it was right up my alley.

Q: So when did you decide to make this a full-time job?

A: (I graduated during) the recession of 1990, and there were not a lot of prospects, and by that time my phone was ringing off the hook for houses. It just grew from there. I didn't plan on it being a business until probably '91 or '92, when I realized I could earn a living doing it. I was doing it because I loved to come down here for the parties.

Q: One-third of your units are other people's investment properties. Do you have a hard time convincing them to rent to students?

A: No, it's not hard. You have people who just want the maximum amount of income out of the house, and that kind of person will accept students. (But) if you are sentimentally involved with a property, you're not going to want to rent to high school students, because things go wrong.

Q: Tell us some good stories about things your tenants have done.

A: One is that they use dish soap instead of dish detergent. High school kids don't know the difference, so that's a huge mess. Another thing is that I saw a hose going into the front door on check-out day, and they were hosing out the house to get it clean. I'm like 'A' for effort, but that is stupid.

There was one time several years back that we were going to have to tear a house down at the end of the summer, and the kids found out. All of a sudden the doors would be gone, or they'd pull down the ceiling fans, and their excuse was, 'Well, you're gonna tear the house down anyway,' and our response was, 'Well, what about the kids that are gonna come next week?'

Q: So most kids are pretty wild?

A: Ninety-nine percent of the kids who come down here are great. Almost all of them have good manners, and every now and then you get a yahoo who will break something.

Q: What's the most noticeable change in your business in the past decade?

A: It's gone to an Internet-driven business. That's true for every business, but that actually has been very significant for us. We pull kids from much further locations. We got our first Web site in 1995 or 1996. Before that, we did some traveling to campuses, some classified advertising in campus newspapers. We still do our newspaper advertising and direct mail.

Q: So how many kids come to you because they found you on the Internet?

A: Eighty-five percent of our business is either one of two things -- either they've stayed with us before, or someone has told them to call us.

Most of (the remainder) is coming from the Internet, and the rest of it is coming from the college ads. It's funny -- you put an ad in a college newspaper, and it doesn't necessarily generate a (new) customer, but it creates a buzz on campus and everyone goes and calls where they've stayed before.

Q: What are your plans for the future?

A: The next thing is to expand the spring break business into the summer break business, out of the traditional (student) time frame from March to June. We have a new division called the Ocean Surf Club, and that focuses on family reunions, church groups, sports teams. They're mostly July and August or weekends in the fall and winter.

We're updating or replacing some of these houses, designed with high school and college kids in mind. We're trying to replicate some of the styles that you may see on MTV. They're very contemporary, very young-person oriented. That's called our University Line. I've got several units like that, and we're going to continually switch those over.

Q: What do you do for vacation?

A: I try to take advantage of ski vacations in the middle of the winter, and if I do travel I go up to Maine, where it's cool. We travel around and go hiking. I'm not looking to go sit on the beach somewhere.

For more information:

Check out www.myrtlebeachtours.com. or www.oceansurfclub.com.

Depending on the season, rates range from $99 to $275 per person per week.

To see more of The Charlotte Observer, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.charlotte.com.

Myrtle Beach, S.C., needs public infrastructure to attract baseball facility. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

By Emma Ritch, The Sun News, Myrtle Beach, S.C. Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Oct. 20--Myrtle Beach's chances for the $23 million Cal Ripken baseball complex now are hinging on whether the city, county and state will help fund infrastructure such as access roads and stormwater management.

Developers are asking for $2 million to $3 million jointly from the Myrtle Beach City Council, Horry County Council and S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.

City Council members are mulling a proposal that asks the city for about $1 million toward the complex. They will discuss the contribution, as well as other sports marketing proposals, at Thursday's workshop and could vote as soon as next week to support it.

Several other cities are vying for the complex and are willing to provide public infastructure, said Pat Dowling of Burroughs & Chapin Co. Inc., which owns the land for the proposed site.

The complex would attract 800 teams during the 11-week summer season, as well as additional visitors in the spring and fall, said Rob Weinhold, general manager of Ripken Baseball's Camps and Clinics Division. Weinhold could not discuss specifics of the other possible sites because of company policies.

The million-dollar request is by no means definite, said city spokesman Mark Kruea. There are no specific plans yet for where the money would come from, but it could be taken from money the city already has allocated for public infrastructure.

'If council wishes to go forward with this idea, some where in the neighborhood of $500,000 is what we're looking at,' Kruea said.

The government contributions could pay for roads that give access to the complex and water, sewer and stormwater management, Weinhold said.

The 50-acre complex would be ready by 2006 with nine baseball fields for youth tournaments. Later phases would add 35 acres and three baseball fields. Player dormitories, soccer fields and cafeterias also are possible.

Council members were supportive of the idea at a recent workshop and said it could be a boon to tourism because of the visiting parents and players.

'We're counting on the fact that they'll like what they see and they'll come back,' Councilwoman Judy Rodman said.

The only other Cal Ripken complex is in Aberdeen, Md., which is used as a training and tournament facility. Weinhold said the Aberdeen project funding was divided evenly among the local government, the state and developers.

Officials say the park would be located at 10th Avenue North Extension and U.S. 17 Bypass on land that would have to be annexed into the city.

Rodman said she liked the shared use of player dormitories, a cafeteria and youth parks.

'We have long looked at a complex like this,' she said.

The council members will consider the proposal after they hear an update of the city's sports marketing program in an effort to under stand how this complex would fit. The city has, in the past, held an archery tournament, a dog agility competition and softball tournaments to increase tourism.

To see more of The Sun News, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.MyrtleBeachOnline.com

GRAND STRAND THE LIVE MUSIC SCENE IN MYRTLE BEACH HAS GROWN TO THE THIRD BEST FOR RESORT TOWNS.(TRAVEL) - Albany Times Union (Albany, NY)

Byline: ARTHUR FROMMER King Features Syndicate

``Since my baby left me, I found a new place to dwell,'' croons the suave dude in the glittery, powder-blue jumpsuit. Gliding off the stage and into the sellout crowd of 1,000, he approaches a middle-aged woman in the third row, drapes his blue scarf around her neck and sings to her: ``Down at the end of Lonely Street in Heartbreak Hotel.'' She's overwhelmed, and the crowd, from teeny-boppers to geriatrics, goes nuts.

We're not in some flashy casino nightclub on the Strip in Vegas, but in the Eddie Miles Theater a couple thousand miles to the east in Myrtle Beach, S.C. The biggest of more than a dozen resort towns along the ``Grand Strand,'' a broad, sandy swath stretching 60 miles from plantation country up to the North Carolina border, Myrtle Beach has been attracting vacationers since your granddaddy was in shorts.

The first hotel was built here in 1901 and the first grand resort in 1926. Generations later, the place is booming like never before in summer the local population of about 30,000 grows more than tenfold. In 1997, several travel groups even voted it the country's second-most-popular destination for roadtrippers (after Orlando, Fla.) and motorcoach tours (after Nashville, Tenn.). On the Boardwalk

Popular with families and young people in spring and summer, senior citizens and tour groups in the fall, and golfers and retirees year-round, the quintessential Myrtle Beach has long been honky-tonk in flavor, with boardwalk, cotton candy, amusement parks, miniature golf and wax museums. The 1990s have brought some updates along similar lines: the Hard Rock Cafe, Planet Hollywood, water parks, an IMAX theater.

Furthermore, since the Carolina Opry country music theater opened its doors in 1986, the live music scene has grown to rank No. 3 in the country behind Nashville and Branson, Mo. There are at least 10 musical theaters besides Eddie Miles, from Dolly Parton's Dixie Stampede to Medieval Times. Shows typically cost $20 to $30 per adult, and many feature household names from country music, as well as pop, blues and Broadway.

There's plenty else to do, too. Golf is extremely big hereabouts, and with nearly 100 modestly priced courses, the area rivals Palm Springs as a duffer's dream (local entrepreneurs invented the golf vacation package back in the 1960s and 1970s). The local fishing is excellent, and water sports are plentiful. Racing enthusiasts have four big tracks to visit, shoppers have choices from upscale to outlets, and you can even head down the coast to see a historic plantation or two. Myrtle Cheaps

What makes Myrtle Beach a budget travel bonanza is the wealth of modestly priced and downright cheap dining and lodging options. Naturally, the area is stuffed to the brim with fast-food joints (more than a dozen Arby's alone), but there are also plenty of fabulous hot-meal deals, such as the ``calabash-style'' all-you-can-eat buffets ($9.95 for dinner and $5.95 for lunch at Country Barn Restaurant, for example).

Hotels, motels and vacation apartment complexes run the gamut from ultraluxe to basic. Decent family properties on the ocean, such as the Atlantic Paradise Inn and Atlantic Breeze, offer doubles that start at $18 to $29 per night in winter (when the temperature here is still a comfortable 50 to 56 degrees) and $69 to $85 in the peak weeks of July and August. A number of them offer low-cost entertainment packages. Also, most economy lodging chains have outposts here.

Go even cheaper by taking advantage of the more than half-dozen local campgrounds, one of which, KOA, also rents cabins through the summer for just $31 to $39.

Discount coupons good at many hotels, restaurants and other businesses are found in the Dining & Entertainment Guide (803-272-7210), which also dispenses information on said dining and entertainment, as well as churches and other services.

West Virginia Investors Profit from Myrtle Beach, S.C., Night Spot. - Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News

Aug. 15 -- MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. -- Night after night, Grand Strand vacationers swarm the massive restaurant and shopping complex, Broadway at the Beach. On Celebrity Square, the entertainment district, they stream into an elaborate quadruple nightclub called 'Celebrations.' Many of those patrons are from the Mountain State.

Celebrations offers four options under one roof. Customers can kick up their heels at one of three dance clubs -- the Malibu Surf Bar, Froggy Bottomz and Club Boca; or eat pizza, wings and subs, watch baseball and NASCAR, and play sophisticated virtual reality games at the colossal sports bar, Broadway Louie's.

The money West Virginians spend there comes home.

Celebrations is owned by eight Charleston investors, including retired Charleston architect Bud Sprouse, the designer.

'The funds go back up to local banks,' said Celebrations President Doug Skaff, 'so some of the West Virginia money spent down here is coming back.'

Skaff said the developers of Broadway at the Beach, Burroughs and Chapin, opened the shopping and restaurant area first, then wanted to add an entertainment district.

'We came up with the idea of a nightclub having several different venues,' he said.

Celebrations is the centerpiece of a district lined with nightspots, including the wildly successful piano bar, Crocodile Rocks.

'We're the original developers of the Celebrity Square concept,' Skaff said. 'We started the street.'

The project represents an investment of more than $4 million.

The four venues in the Celebrations building are connected, allowing patrons to pass from one to the other with a single cover charge.

Other club operators wanted to do country-western, piano bar, disco and hard rock themes, Skaff said.

'We wanted to do several different venues, so we tried to think of the different kinds of music that would appeal to today's market, both locals and vacationers of all ages.'

The musical result is blues and jazz at Froggy Bottomz, the upbeat Miami and Latin sound at Club Boca and Top 40s for collegiates at the Malibu Surf Bar.

When the neighboring country-western club folded, the group took over the 14,000-square-foot building and transformed it into Broadway Louie's, which opened Easter weekend.

'It's the hottest thing on the beach right now,' Skaff said.

The cavernous, warehouse-style building has two sides, one a sports bar with pool tables and more than 50 TVs, including 13 large screens; the other an arcade with more than $1.5 million worth of virtual reality games and amusements.

'With this high-tech electronic equipment, you can experience about anything -- simulated skiing, NASCAR driving, whitewater rafting, riding a Sea Doo.'

The newest addition is a simulated roller coaster ride.

'It takes you on three different roller coasters in the U.S. You put on the headgear and it whirls you around. You have the sense of smell and the scenery and the feel.'

A popular attraction for some recent visitors from Greensboro, N.C., was a huge gyrating black cube called the Personal Motion Theater.

A mother waiting for her son to emerge explained the attraction in simple terms.

'You move around a lot and throw up after you're done.'

For $5.75 a throw, participants can choose from six motion experiences, including Star Wars and piloting a jet fighter plane.

The only restaurant in the four-club building, Broadway Louie's features 'from scratch' pizza, wings and other classic sports bar fare; burger and chicken sandwiches served on home-baked rolls and an extensive list of submarine sandwiches.

Froggy Bottomz, designed to resemble a New Orleans bar, offers the only live music. The Kerry Michaels Band, featuring blues singer Kerry Martin and guitarist Michael Stollings, plays nightly except Friday when the Tams, Embers and other old-line beach groups revive the classic beach sound.

On a Friday night, the complex attracts 2,000 to 2,200 people, said manager and vice president Roger Davidson, a Gilmer County native.

'Weekends are strong all year because of Myrtle Beach's growing population,' he said, 'and we're hoping the sports bar will help off-season with Monday night football and the Saturday and Sunday games.'

Broadway at the Beach is located between 21st and 27th streets north on the Highway 17 Bypass.

For information on Celebrations, check the Broadway at the Beach Web Site, www.broadwayatthebeach.com; or call (803)444-3500.