I Played In The World's Largest Amateur Golf Tournament... It Was Quite An Experience

Myrtle Beach is known as the golf capital of the world, and for good reason. It has more golf courses per capita than anywhere else. It’s no wonder, then, that it plays host to the largest amateur golf tournament in the world – the Play Golf Myrtle Beach World Amateur, aka the Myrtle Beach World Am.

This year, I was one of 3,000 players who entered the fray. The event is played on 55 golf courses across the Grand Strand, divided into 61 flights – three of them just for fun. Golfers ages 18 to 93 tested their skills against others of similar age and ability. It’s a golf tournament and a party, and this was the 43rd year.

Years ago, there was a concerted effort to promote golf tourism in the area. For decades, the Golf Writers Association of America held its championship in Myrtle Beach, generating plenty of publicity for the area as a golf destination.

At one point, there were more than 100 golf courses along the Grand Strand, which stretches 60 miles north into North Carolina and south toward Pawleys Island.

Some of the biggest names in golf-course architecture have left their fingerprints here, including Tom Fazio, Davis Love III, Robert Trent Jones, Arnold Palmer, Pete Dye, and Mike Strantz, who also authored the masterpiece Caledonia Golf & Fish Club, across from True Blue

The World Am itself began as the Myrtle Beach Dupont World Amateur Handicap Championship. The idea was to attract golfers during what had traditionally been a slow period for Myrtle Beach -- right after children returned to school and families finished their summer beach vacations.

Myrtle Beach is enormously popular during the summer and attracts plenty of golfers, particularly from the Northeast, during the spring. But late August and early September presented an opportunity to fill the tee sheets. And it worked.

Five golfers have played in every World Am since its inception: Paul Ciancanelli of DeMotte, Ind.; Gerald States of Baden, Pa.; Dean Tedder of Davie, Fla.; Don Yelton of Shelby, N.C.; and Ray Zajicek of Dallas.

Players now come from all over the world, although South Carolina and Florida are the most heavily represented states. This year, 302 women competed.

The under-49 men’s division also had the most new players, so perhaps there’s a youth movement developing. Or maybe not. The average age of the participants is 62, which makes sense. Retirees tend to have a little more time on their hands for this sort of thing.

Come one, come all

The tagline for the 43rd Play Golf Myrtle Beach World Amateur was: “Come as you are. Leave as a legend.” That’s a pretty enticing proposition for ordinary golfers. All you need is a legitimate handicap. (They do use your lowest handicap index over the last year to help prevent sandbagging.)

For many participants, the Myrtle Beach World Am is the closest thing to playing on a professional tour. After all, how often do you get to play four rounds of competitive golf, count every stroke, play without gimmes, and feel the pressure of trying to win or, in my case this year, simply trying not to embarrass yourself?

Unfortunately, that quickly became my goal.

There’s also a level of fatigue that most of us don’t factor into our normal golf. Nearly 90 percent of the field is over 50, and playing four rounds over several days in warm temperatures and high humidity can take its toll. Fortunately, you don’t have to play great golf to have a great time at the Myrtle Beach World Am.

I was disappointed each day as I found a new way to add strokes to my scorecard. For what it’s worth, I did manage to keep my scores in double digits, but it wasn’t pretty. It simply wasn’t my week.

Still, I played some really good golf courses – I love Mike Strantz’ True Blue, which I had played before – and met plenty of like-minded people who enjoy competing, embrace the camaraderie and understand the joy and disappointment that keeps all of us coming back. And that’s really what the World Am is about.

The reality of tournament golf

I played in Flight 23, alongside other mid-seniors ages 60 to 69 with handicaps ranging from 7.9 to 8.5. As poorly as I played, I was hardly the only one who struggled to shoot anywhere near his or her handicap. In fact, relatively few players do. There are several reasons.

“Although the handicapping system accounts for adjustments based on course slope and rating, there are always the intangibles,” said Scott Taylor, director of events for the Myrtle Beach World Am. “Competition adds another layer. Also, most golfers play courses for the first time, which is always a challenge.

"Also factoring in is a busy tournament schedule where players compete for four to five days in a row, which can be challenging. Only a very small percentage typically finishes close to net par for the event.”

That certainly sounded familiar. But even though I wasn’t playing well, my playing companions were gentlemen, and interesting ones at that.

On my second day, I played a course I knew wasn’t going to set up particularly well for me. It was short and tight, with water on 17 holes and plenty of out-of-bounds. I knew I was in trouble.

On one particular hole, I walked onto the tee and mumbled something to the effect of, “I wonder which side I’m going to miss this one on.” That’s when David Vaughan offered a little encouragement.

The retired pastor from Ohio, who now lives in South Carolina, was one of the most positive people I’ve ever met. He loved golf, loved his fellow competitors, and seemed genuinely happy just to be there.

He shot 83 that day, which I thought was a respectable score. I didn’t give it much thought at the time. As it turned out, he won our flight. His victory came with a $600 gift card from one of the tournament’s major sponsors, PGA Tour Superstore. Well deserved.

And that’s another thing about the World Am: While the competition is serious, it doesn’t have to be all-consuming.

The World’s Largest 19th Hole

In the three years I’ve played, I’ve met so many good people who are there for the same reasons: to compete, have fun, and maybe make a few new friends along the way. There’s also the World’s Largest 19th Hole.

Each evening, after golf, competitors and their guests gather at the Myrtle Beach Convention Center to eat, drink, dance, compete in contests, and enjoy live entertainment.

For the most part, it’s all included with your entry fee (about $700, depending on how early you register, and it includes a goodie bag worth around $250, I would estimate), unless you decide to buy something from one of the apparel or other product vendors. Event sponsors PGA Tour Superstore and GolfPass also stepped up with a $20 gift card and a year's membership, respectively.

And the food and drink – including beer and cocktails – ain’t bad. I loved the meatballs from Big Mike's Soul Food, as well as the Korean steak tacos from Pop Stroke. The most popular item? That might be the ice cream from Friendly’s, one of a dozen or so establishments providing small plates or bowls at the convention center.

It’s a pretty good time, regardless of how you played that day. Although, admittedly, I probably would have enjoyed it a little more had I been contending.

So what’s it like spending the better part of a week along the upper South Carolina and lower North Carolina coasts that make up the Grand Strand? It’s hot, but bearable.

The beaches are pretty nice, and there’s plenty to do if you have the energy after four or five days of golf, including live music shows, mini golf, water parks, Broadway at the Beach, and the Hollywood Wax Museum, just to name a few.

One winner, 3,000 stories

In the end, there can be only one winner. And at the World Am, it’s not necessarily the player who shoots the lowest score. It’s the player who produces the best net score.

The 2026 champion was Michael Fincham of New Bern, N.C. He was one of 61 flight winners who advanced to a fifth and final round at Grande Dunes Resort Course in Myrtle Beach. He had won Flight 13, the Senior Men’s division for players ages 50 to 59 with handicaps from 9.4 to 10.5.

In the championship round, Fincham defeated Bruce Shevely of nearby Murrells Inlet, S.C., in a one-hole playoff.

The rest of us went home with something a little less tangible – memories, new friends, stories about bad shots and good ones. And, perhaps most importantly, we leave with the satisfaction of having put ourselves under the gun for four days and lived to tell about it.

With the exception of winning a $50 PGA Tour Superstore gift card in one of the nightly drawings, I certainly didn’t win anything this year related to my play. But I’m already thinking about coming back.

As Clayton Adams of Houston put it, “I’ve played in this for three or four years, and I can honestly say there’s only been one person I wouldn’t want to play with again.”

Seems like a pretty good ratio. Except mine has been even better than that. Everyone I’ve played with, I’d play with again.

And maybe that’s the best way to describe the Myrtle Beach World Am.