Mini-Golfers Putt-Putt Their Way Around the Strand
By Terry Massey
Myrtle Beach has more golf tournaments than you can shake a Big Bertha driver at, but this one involves only the smallest club.
It's the 13th Annual Masters National ProMiniGolf Championship, held this past weekend on the Grand Strand at the Hawaiian Rumble in Myrtle Beach and Hawaiian Village in North Myrtle Beach. Not "Minigolf" as in miniature-sized golfers playing regular golf courses, but rather golfers of all ages and sizes competing in the usually lighthearted activity of miniature golf. But for the 80-plus players in this year's tournament, it's serious business.
"It's very competitive but it's also a lot of fun. A lot of these people have been coming for 13 years now and they have a great time, but when it's time to play they get serious about it," said tournament director Bo Taylor. "Some of these people play 25 to 30 tournaments a year and they can make decent money doing it by playing throughout the United States."
And all over the world, as is the case for No. 1 ranked female Olivia Prokop of the Czech Republic. She joined fellow Europeans from Germany, Switzerland and Russia and eight players from Japan who also made the international flight to play in Myrtle Beach.
"This is one of my favorite tournaments we play every year," Prokop said through an interpreter. "I have been coming here for many years, since I was a child, and I look forward to playing here every year. It's one of the best tournaments to play."
The field is made of mostly Americans, but you would have a tough time trying to categorize the competitors. They come from all walks of life, like cross-country trucker Tom Dixon, who tries to book his driving schedule around major minigolf events.
He is among a handful of minigolf pros who make some extra cash by putting their way around the country. With the first-place prize of $3,000 at this event, several of the top-ranked American and international players made the trip to Myrtle Beach.
"It's great for the local economy because of all the people we bring in, and they stay at local hotels," Taylor said. "The more people we can get to play the better it is for the tournament and the local economy because the players get their prize money and spend it here. It's all about having a good time, good competition and helping out the local economy at a down time of year."
The tournament began with opening ceremonies on Thursday and ran throughout the weekend at the two courses. Participants played 12 rounds per day before crowning a champion.
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