Two
years ago/when a vendor at the Carolina Harley-Davidson Dealers Association
& Myrtle Beach Rally sold out of golf bags that fit on the back of motorcycles,
it caught the attention of event promoter Sonny Copeland of Sonny Promotions.
The vendor's success, combined with the constant e-mails and golf information
queries Copeland received from bikers for years, got him thinking about organizing
a Myrtle Beach golf tournament.
Copeland considers it a third event to bring bikers en masse to the area in
addition to the spring and fall bike rallies.
The Harley Riders' Greater Golf Classic for the Muscular Dystrophy Association,
which Copeland thinks is the first tournament of its kind, will be held on eight
Grand Strand courses from Sept. 10-14.
"People that come bike week come back two or three times a year, so why
not give them a reason to come back, especially for a worthwhile cause,"
Copeland said.
The tournament is geared to bikers but is open to anyone. A $475 entry fee includes
four nights lodging, three tournament rounds and welcome and awards parties
at Medieval Times.
Organizers hope to attract 1,000 players for the inaugural tournament.
"If the response is greater than we think, we'll try to get more [courses]
or cut it off and learn more for next year," tournament director Marty
Ekster said.
Ekster, founder of Golf Packages of the Carolinas, was referred to Copeland
by his son, Scott Ekster, who owns VR Marketing Inc. and runs Copeland's Web
site http://www.myrtlebeachbikeweek.com.
More than $1 million in prizes has been raised, including cars and boats that
will largely be hole-in-one prizes. Other prizes will be awarded through a $100
raffle, high-lighted by the presentation of a Harley-Davidson valued at more
than $22,000.
"I saw a big potential with this, and I think the right people have been
put together to make this a huge success," said Copeland, who is moving
the Sonny Productions headquarters from Greensboro, N.C., to Myrtle Beach within
two months. "There's big interest in this already and we haven't even had
a press release or anything on it"
Medieval Times and the Myrtle Beach Stingrays, a new National Indoor Football
League team, are among the tournament's local sponsors, and Copeland has been
speaking to major corporations. "I feel very confident we're going to have
a major national sponsor," he said.
The tournament will be marketed nationally through magazine ads, at bike rallies
and on Web sites, including Copeland's bike rally site that he says attracts
1 million hits, per month.
Organizers expect the cost of the tournament to be covered through entry fees,
so all sponsorship dollars will go directly to the MDA
Harley-Davidson has been a major fund-raiser for the MDA for the past 23 years
and last year raised about $4 million for the charity, said Christine Seaman,
district director of the Wilmington, N.C., MDA office, which services 25 counties
including Brunswick County, N.C., and Horry County.
"They're our backbone," said Scanlan, who owns a Harley. "You'll
find [Harley owners are] a very upwardly mobile group of people who are very
philanthropic."
The tournament will consist of different formats in each round, including team
best ball, two best ball and a four-person scramble. There will be a blind draw
daily, teams will be sorted by handicap and each team will have an A, B, C,
and D player.
Copeland plans to continue the tournament annually in Myrtle Beach, and possibly
add tournaments to benefit MDA in other cities.
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