Nov. 20--MYRTLE BEACH -- Golf course owners across the nation have reiterated the strength of the Myrtle Beach golf market.

The Grande Dunes Resort Course has been named the 2009 National Golf Course of the Year, and is the second Grand Strand course so honored by the National Golf Course Owners Association in the past six years. International World Tour Golf Links was the named the 2004 national course of the year.

"It proves we've got excellent products at the beach," said Bob Swezey, Executive Vice President of Golf and Resorts for Burroughs & Chapin Co., which owns and operates Grande Dunes. "We're only one of many here. It will help highlight the beach nationally and it's good for everybody. I think it's good for the beach, I think it's good for the community, I think it's good for the market."

Grande Dunes competed for the national honor against 13 other courses after winning the Myrtle Beach area and state course of the year awards, and will be honored Feb. 3 at the NGCOA Annual Conference in New Orleans.

Each nominated course is judged on the quality of its layout, maintenance and management, and its contributions to both the community and the game of golf.

Grande Dunes and B&C Golf Management demonstrated their support of the community by helping raise hundreds of thousands of dollars for charities by initiating and hosting events for the Make-A-Wish Foundation and Victory Junction Gang, and hosting fundraisers for Conway Medical Center, Special Olympics and Patriots Golf Day. B&C facilities raised $18,000 of the $148,000 raised during Patriots Golf Day in the Carolinas.

Grande Dunes promoted the game as a host facility for First Tee of Myrtle Beach activities, by hosting the second-most attended Play Golf America Day in the country, and by serving as a practice facility for the Coastal Carolina Women's golf team.

"It's a great acknowledgment of the things [the staff] has put forth over the years," Swezey said. "You set goals higher for the [employees], and they continue to pass the goals. ... It's just part of giving back to the community."

Grande Dunes made a presentation to the Myrtle Beach Area Golf Course Owners Association before being named the area course of the year. In September, it became the seventh Strand golf course to win the state chapter award since it was implemented in 1996 after competing against courses from the Upstate, Midlands, Charleston and Hilton Head regions.

A committee pared the 14 national finalists to three, and the board of directors of the NGCOA, which is headquartered in Charleston, chose the winner.

"We're very proud of the award," Swezey said. "To be honored by your peers is one of the greatest things you can do in the industry."

The national award dates back to 2004, and past recipients include Saratoga National Golf Club (New York, 2005); Pebble Beach (California, 2006); The Legends Golf Club (Minnesota, 2007) and Reynolds Plantation (Georgia, 2008).

The competition Grande Dunes competed against 13 other Chapter Course of the Year winners for the national honor. They included:

Tustin Ranch Golf Club (California)

Barnsley Gardens Resort (Georgia)

Juday Creek Golf Course (Indiana)

Oakland Hills Country Club (Michigan)

Bracketts Crossing (Minnesota)

Cascata Golf Club (Nevada)

The Oaks Golf Links (New Hampshire)

Colonial Golfers Club (Ohio)

Honeybrook Golf Club (Pennsylvania)

The Golf Courses of Lawsonia (Wisconsin)

Contact ALAN BLONDIN at 843-626-0284.

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