New Myrtle Beach golf leader tees up
Marketing guru to take over as president of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday
In a darkened board room Thursday, Bill Golden presented a day's worth of inquiries from potential golfers to a group of competing Myrtle Beach golf course representatives. The business rivals represented two challenges: How to sell new golfers on a Myrtle Beach golf vacation, and how to physically get them to Myrtle Beach.
Those are the two biggest challenges facing Golden as he slips into the role of president of Myrtle Beach golf marketing group Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, business and tourism leaders say.
For years, Golden, 40, has been known in Myrtle Beach as the humble marketing guru in charge of publicizing the area's 100-plus golf courses for the group.
Now, he is getting adjusted to the other half of his new role: working with politicians and airlines to lure more direct flights to the area.
"Without air access, you can spend marketing money all day long, but you need to provide them an efficient way to get to Myrtle Beach," said Golden, who will take over Monday.
But as more carriers are confronted with a shaky economy and soaring fuel prices, it has become increasingly difficult to lure them to a relatively small destination like Myrtle Beach.
On top of the transportation challenges, the Myrtle Beach golf industry is just getting back on its footing after a tumultuous decade that saw 23 Myrtle Beach golf courses close and the national appetite for the time-consuming game wavering.
Golden aims to grow Myrtle Beach's market share in the sport, which is crucial in the local and state economy. Golf provides more income than any other recreation or entertainment activity in the state, according to the S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation and Tourism.
Already, Golden has begun the task of wooing airlines and lobbying for golfer-friendly transportation policies.
Not only has he tagged along to meetings with his predecessor, Mickey McCamish - who is retiring after having the post for 15 years - but he also has gone solo to meet with airline executives.
Still, local Myrtle Beach business leaders are not yet used to the fact that they will no longer deal with McCamish, who always greets people with a smile, tells them he cares about them as a person and makes perpetual networking phone calls just to say hi and thank people for whatever it happens to be that they do.
While Golden was commanding and comfortable during Thursday's marketing meeting, at the next meeting he attended - a gathering of Grand Strand tourism industry leaders - people still clearly looked to McCamish.
Some asked if Golden was the "new Mickey," and most directed their questions to McCamish.
Woody Crosby, outgoing chairman of Golf Holiday's board of directors, said it will take some time for others to start thinking of Golden as they did McCamish in the public role of Myrtle Beach diplomat.
"I think he will grow into that position," Crosby said.
The board had Golden high on the list as McCamish's successor three years ago, Crosby said. Golden started receiving other offers, and the board wanted to make sure they didn't lose a person they saw as a talented young man to another company, Crosby said.
Golden moved to Myrtle Beach in 1996 to join Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday and has spent the past eight years as director of marketing. He helped develop a successful reality show on The Golf Channel, "Road Trip: Myrtle Beach," and has kept his focus on providing videos and other content for Golf Holiday's Web site.
He says his No. 1 goal will be getting nonstop air service to Chicago, a market he says Myrtle Beach sorely needs.
Business leaders said they were confident in Golden's ability to continue finding new, creative and effective ways to promote the area.
"He's a very conscientious marketer," said Brad Dean, president and chief executive of the Myrtle Beach Area Chamber of Commerce. "There are people in our industry that will identify the glitz and glamour of sexy marketing tactics, and exciting promotions but not every good idea is backed up by good results. ... Bill tends to be focused on measurable results."
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Health of the Myrtle Beach golf market
Year | 2000
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,997,308
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 116
Year | 2001
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 4,082,561
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 120
Year | 2002
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,851,753
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 120
Year | 2003
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,871,750
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 118.5
Year | 2004
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,973,948
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 118.5
Year | 2005
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,843,153
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 111
Year | 2006
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,710,503
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 100
Year | 2007
Total paid rounds of Myrtle Beach golf | 3,479,563
Number of Myrtle Beach golf courses | 100
Courtesy of LISA FLEISHER. Read more at The Sun News.
