Myrtle Beach 2004 went down in the books as one of the most successful in the 13 year history of this great tradition. The courses were outstanding, the accomodations were second to none, the whiskey was plentiful, the competition was tight, and there were no crippling injuries! Mother Nature frowned on Day 1, but the sun shone for the rest of the trip and it was 73 as we walked off #18 on Monday.

Leaderboard Steve Hawley: $102 Jeff McCorkle: $86 John Kempton: 78 Vince Resor: $68 Brian Conlon: $66 Tom Kirk: $50 Richard Jenks: $48 Stu Allen: $46 Neil Straessle: $20 Scott Kern: $12 Rob Van Dellen: $0 Scott Basinger: $0

Okay, okay, frowned may not adequately cover the weather for our round 1 Roommates Tournament at Pine Lakes, aka The Granddaddy. Nearly all acknowledged it as the worst weather in the history of the CMGC's Myrtle Beach experience. The high was 36 F, the wind howled at 20 mph, and it rained nearly the whole round. Fortunately the Granddaddy Low Country Chowder Dawg braved the cold to serve us cups of steaming chowder at the sixth hole. Tom and Vince held on through the front nine and Tom's 39 on the back propelled them to the 2004 Roommates title. Steve, John and Jeff won the 3 man combined net tournament within the tournament. The day concluded with a feast at La Cantina Mexicana followed by a few hours around the poker table.

Dawn on Saturday was a chilly 30, but warm sunshine quickly burned off the frost. The resulting delay added some confusion to our round at Gary Player's Blackmoor. Gary's Bag Drop Staff was rather surley but the problems were resolved and we easily got the round in. Saturday blossomed into a beautiful day ideal for golf. Every Man Is A Diamond had split up yesterday's Roommates winners Vince and Tom and paired them with Stu and Brian, each of whom played brilliantly. Brian shot a Myrtle Beach personal best 82 that pushed he and Tom to 8 under in the net event. Vince and Stu in the last group quietly played to 2 under at the turn, then woke up to drop 7 more strokes on the back nine for a winning score 9 under. Defying all odds, Everyone is a Diamond paired Steve, John and Jeff for the 3 man combined net again on Saturday. That they were grouped together for a second day was odd, that they won together was quite expected.

Mother Nature dealt another freezing night that put True Blue on a 2 hour frost delay for Day 3. Our noon tee times gave everyone plenty of time to ponder and play video golf and even sent several people scrambling for information about Orlando. True Blue offered excellent facilities for waiting it out including free range balls and an entertaining view of #18 from the clubhouse. We finally got underway around 2:20 and only our first group was able to get their entire round in. The last group only finished 15 holes. The team of Steve and Stu were leading when the horn blew and won the darkness-shortened event.

Hummingbird hosted the departure day round. The early morning air was crisp but a warm sun quickly sent the day into the mid-70s. The beautiful weather erased memories of the snow storm that slowed the drive down to a crawl and the chaos of a Caribbean check-in. Monday's format of low man in each group kept things light. Neil, Tom and Vince hacked their way to a three way tie in their group with net 90s. Richard swept his group including closest to the pin on 3 of Hummingbird's 5 par threes. Jeff took the final group. Everyone made their flights with plenty of time to spare and the drivers had good weather and made good time.

The first round kicks off at The Granddaddy. Pine Lakes was the first golf course established in Myrtle Beach back in 1927 and pioneered what today is the Golf Capital of the World. The starter wears a kilt and they serve Low Country Clam Chowder over an open fire at the turn; what else could we ask for?

Round two travels south to Murrells Inlet for 18 holes at Gary Player's Blackmoor. Gary's courses challenge players to "hit every shot in their bag" and Blackmoor is no exception. Golfmaster Jim says "this is a thinking man's course; go brain dead and record a dogballs." Ouch. Watch for wild turkey (animals, not liquor), deer and gators in this pristine setting.

We travel back south for a go at the Mike Strantz designed True Blue. This is the course Golf Digest ranked #1 in Myrtle Beach. It's described as often as art as it is a golf course and features uncommon natural elevations and naturally rugged terrain. "Seductively gorgeous and intrinsically evil" says Travelgolf.com. It's the brutal sibling of Strantz's Caledonia Fish Club and it will be the gem of our MB04 tour.

We fly to the Hummingbird course at Wild Wing for the last round. Willard Byrd integrates the area's natural beauty with stands of love grass and other natural grasses in this 1000 acre links style course. Whoever finishes on top of these four courses deserves the title of MB04 champ!