FEATURE
STORY
It's Myrtle Beach
or bust for many Canadians
By John Gordon,
Associate Editor
TORONTO (March 19, 2003) -- The question was posed by one of several frustrated golfers sitting in a pub in Eastern Canada, alternately watching the golf on TV and the never-ending snow falling outside the frost-rimmed window. Going south for a few days seemed a very attractive option. But where?
"Is Myrtle Beach still a bargain now that our dollar's only worth 60-some cents U.S. and all the new courses down there are so expensive?" one wondered. "Or was it ever a bargain?"
The golf writer in the group, his courage fortified by a couple or four Molson's, took up the challenge and sought out some answers. Those answers are revealing not just for refugees fleeing the deep freeze in the Great White North, but for any potential visitor.
Canadian-born J.T. Kobelt has been a golf director for CarolinaGolfTravel.com (888-633-6102 toll-free, including Canada) for four years. For more than a dozen years before that, he made the annual pilgrimage across the border to Myrtle Beach.
Assuming some inevitable bias by virtue of his present source of income, he nonetheless remains uniquely qualified to comment.
"I
used to work for Texaco up in Canada and half my friends thought
I was crazy when I just resigned and came down here and got married,"
he chuckles. That half would, apparently, be the non-golfing friends.
His move was prompted by his enjoyment of the region during his many previous golf trips from the snowy North. "I take my job very seriously because I realize that all these guys wait an entire year to come down here - I was one of them! -- and I don't want to disappoint them."
Kobelt is also keenly aware of the state of the Canadian dollar versus its U.S. counterpart. "That's [Canada] where all my retirement money is, so I keep a pretty close eye on it."
"We work with as many Canadians as anybody because I wanted to make that a real target for us," he says. "But with more and more expensive courses being built and with the exchange rate, Myrtle Beach is becoming a more and more expensive place to come, but there are a couple of phenomena that we see with Canadians that can help with that."
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While Kobelt remains a Myrtle Beach booster, he is concerned about the trend to high-end courses and the resulting impact. "After a while, the gap narrows and brings the Vegas option or the Arizona option to mind. We may be getting to the point of diminishing returns by focusing on the high end."
The weather in Nevada or Arizona may be more consistent, but Kobelt doesn't see the often-iffy South Carolina climate as a significant drawback. "That's another great thing about Canadians: If you've just come down from Chicoutimi [in Quebec] where it's 50 below and 10 feet of snow, then anything looks good!"
Posing the question on several online golf travel chatrooms also was revealing.
"If
you do the right research, it is still relatively affordable,"
said one Montrealer. "My group stays in a large two-bedroom
condo, five nights, five rounds of golf, with carts on courses
which are superior to high-end courses in Montreal for $415 US.
We then set up our replays at the course and the cost ranges from
$18-30 each. If you want to blow big money on high-end surcharge
courses you can, but it really is not necessary. The expensive
part comes when you go out for dinners, drinks, etc. It'll cost
you $25 US for a meal, which may not seem like much to the guys
in the U.S., but if I am out with my golfing buddies $42 Canadian
for a meal is silly. Heck, stay in the condo and for the price
of a meal for one person all four of you eat and drink all the
cheap U.S. beer you want.
"The main question is, 'Are you going with the boys to golf or to party?' If it is partying, stay home, but if you are focused on the golf, nothing beats Myrtle. Load four guys in a van, 17 hours later you are in golfing paradise."
A Toronto golfer who has been making the trip to the Grand Strand for 20 years begged to differ with the original premise of this article.
"I don't think being a bargain has ever been the attraction to Myrtle Beach," he wrote. "I think there has always been the perception by the general public that it is a bargain because of the ads that are always visible showing five night-five round packages for about $200. They don't realize these are low-end accommodations/courses and are only valid in December and January. The real attraction is variety, decent spring and fall weather, and an eight-hour shorter drive than Florida."
But he cautions, tongue in cheek: "Having that [bargain] perception out there probably helps a lot of guys convince the wife to let them go, so be careful with the article or Myrtle Beach tourism might take a hit."
Following up on that point, Kobelt warns all prospective golf vacationers - not just those headed for Myrtle Beach - to read every bit of fine print.
"There are a hundred different ways to price a golf package, and 99 of them are quite deceptive, in my opinion. Like when 'Canadian dollars at par' deals were quite popular, certain elements of the package would be at par, but there would be other, hidden costs in U.S. dollars or other restrictions. Be careful whom you deal with. Check out cancellation policies, deposit forfeitures, charges for changes, things like that. Especially with the Canadian dollar the way it is, you have to be even more careful."
John Martin of Toronto has organized a group of about 10 golfers who have been going to Myrtle Beach every January since 1995. "We originally chose January because you can't play in Toronto and it is the cheapest time of year to play in MB. I book for the whole group every year and I have not seen any increase in the cost to go down except for the declining dollar.
"The key is to do the research and not rely on packages offered through the hotels. There are some real bargains to be had in January. We typically rent a townhouse with four beds for $55 per night."
Martin says he broke with tradition by going to Myrtle Beach last October to celebrate Canadian Thanksgiving. He "found it too expensive to realistically play every day. The prices in October are near peak season and with the exchange rate it just didn't seem worth it, and I am an avid golfer. The problem was I did not want to pay more for an average course [in October] than I would for the top-notch course in January."
The last word comes from yet another online correspondent from Quebec who took the time to cost out comparable trips to the Mont Tremblant region of his province, the Dominican Republic and Myrtle Beach. After prioritizing each region's attractions, he chose the latter, arguing that "if you get the right package, I think MB is still affordable. And to get a good package for your money, you need to have a lot of options. With over 100 courses, MB gives you those options.
"It's also an experience you have to do at least once in your lifetime if you are a real golfer."
He's right, eh?
