To get an early jump on their season, many golfers in colder climates are headed south to Myrtle Beach, S.C. where they can affordably tune up their games and get the kind of specialized attention that the pros take for granted.
With more than 100 golf courses, Myrtle Beach is the ideal winter destination for golf in the sun -- especially for those on the East Coast. In fact, most major cities in the East and Midwest are all within a day's drive of Myrtle Beach.
Their first stop after they hit town is Martin's PGA TOUR Superstore. A virtual playground for those who love golf, PGA TOUR Superstore offers recreational golfers the services the pros get from the TOUR Vans that follow each TOUR event.
Week after week, an armada of fully-equipped mobile workshops or "TOUR Vans" follow the pros. Provided by golf equipment manufacturers and staffed by "TOUR reps" from those companies, they provide the pros with everything needed to customize their clubs -- from high-tech analytical equipment to grinders, club components, tape and glue. The TOUR reps who staff the vans are skilled technicians assigned to work closely with PGA pros to precisely identify and service their equipment needs.
If a pro makes a swing change, the TOUR Van staff can tweak the player's clubs so that they perform more in sync with his new swing. If it looks like a player can achieve better iron play by altering his equipment, technicians are available to grind the clubfaces to change their loft and lie. Virtually any level of customization is obtainable, from re-gripping to re-shafting to building a complete, custom-fitted club.
Over the years, TOUR Vans have become an essential part of the game improvement quest that TOUR pros are on. There's no denying that they are an essential ingredient in the mix of equipment and skill that makes today's professional golfers so good. But, until Martin's PGA TOUR Superstore opened, similar assistance was virtually impossible for the recreational golfer to get in a timely or affordable manner.
Because of Martin's PGA TOUR Superstore, recreational golfers now have easy access to TOUR Van technology, customization and service. Superstore staff is composed of professional instructors, clubfitters and clubmakers who help recreational golfers to better understand their swings and how their clubs can be modified to aid game improvement. Swing simulators and launch monitors are employed to determine each individual's swing speed, distance, ball flight and other skills info. There are swing analyzers, on-staff pros who give lessons, and hitting bays to test clubs. And there are opportunities to work on the short game right in the stores in real sand bunkers as well as chipping and putting greens.
Recently, Martin's PGA TOUR Superstore, which has locations in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, was named "Best Golf Equipment Retailer" by Myrtle Beach's daily newspaper. But Steve Conwell, vice president of marketing and community relations for Golf & Tennis Pro Shop, Inc., the owners of Martin's PGA TOUR Superstore," wasn't surprised. "From the amount of inventory we carry to the services provided by our professional instructors and clubfitters, we deliver a golf store experience that's dramatically different, " he says.
The two Superstores that operate as Martin's PGA TOUR Superstore in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, S.C. are the flagships of a budding franchise. Other Superstores have recently opened in the Atlanta area, the Dallas, Texas area, and Chandler and Scottsdale, Ariz. Expansion plans include Orlando, Fla.; Houston, Texas; and the Southern California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego.