'Little Hugh' opens training facility in Myrtle Beach

By Jim Houston of Ledger-Enquirer.com

One of the newest features at many golf fanatics' dream site -- Myrtle Beach, S.C. -- is an innovative golf and training and instruction facility created and staffed by former Columbus State University All-American Hugh Royer III .

Seasoned by 14 years as a touring professional and as an instructor at a Hilton Head, S.C., facility, Royer is now out on his own in a new venture.

Now 44, Royer is the son of Hugh Royer Jr. , a former PGA Tour professional who won the Western Open in 1970 and for the better part of three decades was the head professional at Bull Creek Golf Course. That's where "Little Hugh" learned the game.

"Daddy always taught me the golf swing growing up," he said. "I was always fascinated with the golf swing. It was just kind of a natural thing that started at the driving range there."

It was good enough to take him through victories in the Georgia State Amateur, Southeastern Amateur, Western Amateur and Azalea Amateur, selection as NCAA Division II Player of the Year, three years on the PGA Tour, four wins on the Nike Tour (the Nationwide Tour's predecessor) and a victory on the South African Tour, where he competed for six years.

He retired from the tour life in 2000, the same year he was inducted into the Columbus State University Athletic Hall of Fame.

It was while teaching in Hilton Head, S.C., that Royer met the father of one of his students. The man was so impressed that he suggested he and Royer partner in establishing a specialized teaching facility in Myrtle Beach.

"We saw the lack of facilities here," Royer said. "My partner said, 'Let's go do this.' And we did."

Opening in 2007, Champions Golf Academy is far more than a driving range with an instructor available. It's a complete facility catering to professionals and to up-and-coming young golfers seeking to jump to another level of the sport, he said.

It's truly a "training facility," including supervised housing for students who train at the academy for nine months. Some are "gap year kids," Royer said, explaining that those are young golfers taking a year off between high school and college to work on their game.

In addition to special instruction, they have the opportunity to play tournaments, with two, ages 20 and 22, now playing mini-tour events.

The facility incudes a 3,700-square-foot training center with three hitting bays, allowing indoor as well as outdoor instruction on the golf swing. There's a club fitting facility, specialized machines that analyze launch angle, clubhead speed and many other aspects of the golf swing.

There's also a fitness training room with much of the same equipment available to PGA Tour players at tournament sites.

Outside, there's a 4,000-square-foot chipping green, two bunkers, and a 3,000-square-foot putting green that is "like putting on a pool table," Royer said.

The facility's tour player program allows a professional to train there up to seven days a month, using the fitness and golf facilities, as well as tweaking his or her game with instruction.

Read more at the Ledger-Engquirer.com.