By Jim Hulen, North Myrtle Beach Online.com

AUGUST 16, NORTH MYRTLE BEACH, SC ― Each year for the past five years, the Tidewater Tournament Charity Committee has held several events around labor day to raise money for local non-profit organizations.  For the past three years, it has selected the North Strand Helping Hand and the Autism Advocacy Foundations as its recipients.  

Tournament Director, Bill Pearson said, “We are on track to meet our goals.”  For the past few years the tournament and surrounding activities have raised $30 to $35 thousand for charity.

The majority of the money raised comes from “GOLF FEST”- a full day of activities on Sunday, September 6th from noon to 4pm during which attendees have the opportunity to attend free golf clinics conducted by top area professional, witness trick shop and long drive demonstrations and participate in contests and drawings.

In its fifth year of operation Pearson announced the first ever all female team to play in the September 7th Pro/Am. “I am excited to see a very competitive team of ladies enter the Pro/Am. We extended a special invitation to Lauren Hunt, who will debut her Pro Career at our event and lead her team,” said Pearson.

Budding professional golfer Lauren Hunt has compiled an impressive résumé during her college career at UNC from 2005-2009. She was on the All-ACC Team 2007, Carolinas Woman’s Amateur Champion, and Carolinas Woman’s Amateur Match Play Champion, among her other accomplishments.

Amateurs joining Lauren are Sue Herrmann, Jeanne Rosberg, and Keri Pratt.

“Our Pro/Am is set up to be fair to golfers of all skill levels, players get their full handicaps and play from handicap appropriate tees, every team has a real chance to win the Pro/Am, and this team is no exception” said Pearson.

In related news, Pearson announced that Walter Hall, Champions Tour member who started his senior professional career on the Sunbelt Senior Tour, will be playing in the 2009 South Carolina Senior Open at Tidewater on September 8-10. Walter was the leading money winner in the inaugural season of the Sunbelt Tour in 1996, and won 4 of the 6 events that he entered that year. Hunt then went on to have an illustrious career on the Champions Tour with lifetime earnings of $6,955,273 with victories in the 1997 Belfry PGA Seniors Championship and the 2001 AT&T Canada Senior Open Championship.
 
Walter returned to the Sunbelt Tour in 2007 to play in the North Carolina Senior Open at Tanglewood Park in Winston-Salem, NC. He marched to victory with back-to-back opening 64's! Walter has made 17 career holes-in-one including 3 on the Champions Tour, two of which were recorded while competing in the U.S. Senior Open.
 
“The event at Tidewater always draws a strong field with the past 6 championships being won by Champions Tour members Gene Jones (3), Steve Thomas and Jim Chancey; and European Senior Tour member, Bertus Smit,” said Pearson.  

There are only a limited amount of amateur slots still available for the Sept.7th Pro/Am. For more information call Bill Pearson at 843-283-3752 or go to www.tidewatercharitytournament.com.

Golf Fest and the Tournament is held at the award winning Tidewater Golf Club and Plantation in North Myrtle Beach, SC.

Tidewater Golf Club is a championship 18-hole course recognized worldwide as one of America's finest layouts. Spanning the Little River Neck peninsula from the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway to the tidal salt water marshes of Cherry Grove and the Atlantic Ocean, this unique course has been hailed as the place where man and nature harmoniously co-exist.