Monday After The Masters set to return without fans

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WMBF) - Monday After The Masters is less than two weeks away, but there are a few changes to this year’s event.

The biggest of those is that the event will not be open to fans for a second straight year when it returns to the Dye Club at Barefoot Resort from April 8-10.

What started out as a small charity golf outing in 1994 has evolved into one of the top celebrity Pro-Ams in the country.

No tickets were sold or included in the volunteer or sponsor packages for this year’s MAM which typically welcomes over 6,000 fans of both golf and hosts Hootie & The Blowfish.

Tournament Director Paul Graham has been working the event along with the band for 30 years.

Graham says they started to discuss making changes to the charity golf event in 2019 but ended up having to cancel the tournament altogether in 2020 and 2021 due to COVID-19.

“We wanted to give it a try again this year because there was nothing wrong with it last year so we’ll just take it year by year,” he said.

In 2022 they implemented some changes. which included splitting the golf tournament into two rounds on Sunday and Monday.

Graham says they love all the fans but it became more of a financial hit to the event.

“It was costing us more to have fans on the golf course where most events the ticket sales would help cover that cost but we’d end up losing money,” said Graham.

Graham says the average round of golf is also down. The full day of golf combined with a concert at the House of Blues made it a long day for everyone.

He says after last year’s successful weekend they’re just seeing how the changes go again, but bringing back fans is an option.

“It has nothing to do with our lack of appreciation for them,” said Graham.

One detail never up for discussion was the location of the event despite offers from different golf courses in years past.

“Myrtle Beach for us is pretty much a second home, they’re down there a lot play golf and hang out and I don’t foresee us going anywhere else,” said Graham.

Monday After The Masters still welcomes volunteers which have been a huge part of the success of the tournament.

The event has also generated millions for children’s educational programs and the South Carolina Junior Golf Program.

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