Long Bay GC

The Myrtle Beach Amateur Players Tour opened its 2027 season on Saturday, November 7 at Long Bay Golf Club in Longs, South Carolina, the first of the new season’s Myrtle Beach amateur golf tournaments. A field of 36 players competed across five divisions, with two net games running alongside them. Players are flighted into divisions based on their APT Tournament Index.

Long Bay played to a par of 72 and gave the field plenty to think about. A storm rolled through on Friday and left the course wet underneath, the greens ran very fast, and the rough was deep enough to make the premium on driving obvious from the first tee. The par-4 3rd was the most severe hole on the property: it played a full 1.67 strokes over par and did not surrender a single birdie all day, with only eight pars among the 33 cards that reached it.

Overhead, it was a beautiful day — sunny from the start and clear all the way through — but it blew hard, and the wind was the biggest thing standing between the field and par. Combined with firm, quick putting surfaces and thick rough, it meant anything in the red numbers was never on the table; the winning gross scores reflected a golf course that was defended all afternoon.

In Division 1, Robert Trent of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina held on for a one-shot win with a 9-over 81. It was a genuine three-way scrap through the middle of the round: Darryl Phelps of Columbia, South Carolina was two clear of Trent after six holes and the pair were dead level at the turn into the back nine, with William Blinn of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina closing the gap from seven strokes back to four over the same stretch. Trent put three between himself and Phelps by the 15th, and Blinn climbed to within two of the lead with three to play. Neither could run him down over the closing holes. Phelps and Blinn finished tied for runner-up honors on 10-over 82, with all three players separated by a single stroke at the finish.

Division 2 produced the low round of the day. Brian Zipay of Conway, South Carolina signed for an 8-over 80, going out in 5-over 41 and coming home in 3-over 39 for a four-shot victory. Zipay’s two birdies were worth their weight in the wind — the first came at the par-4 9th, a hole that played 1.67 strokes over par and gave up exactly one birdie to the entire field all day, and the second came at the par-4 18th to close it out. He played the last three holes in even par. Travis Wartluft, visiting from the Charlotte chapter and playing out of Lake Wylie, South Carolina, matched Zipay stroke for stroke through 15 holes before taking runner-up honors with a 12-over 84. Daniel Shelbo of Effingham, South Carolina finished third on 14-over 86.

Division 3 belonged to Chris Huge of Mt Pleasant, South Carolina, who answered where it mattered most. Huge led by three after six holes, saw Timothy Carswell of Fort Mill, South Carolina — the second of the day’s two visitors from the Charlotte chapter — draw level by the 12th and then edge a stroke in front with three holes to play, and still walked off with a two-shot win at 14-over 86. Carswell took runner-up honors on 16-over 88. Andy Parker of Calabash, North Carolina was third with an 18-over 90, having been within four of the lead at the turn into the closing stretch. Four of the five players in the division finished within five shots of one another.

Division 4 gave the chapter the closest finish of the gross flights. Austin Coleman of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina won by two with a 14-over 86, built on remarkable symmetry: out in 7-over 43 and home in 7-over 43, with five pars on a day when the course handed out very few. Daniel Henris of Havelock, North Carolina never let him out of sight, sitting one back after six, two back at the 12th, and pulling all the way level with three holes to play before Coleman closed the door. Henris took runner-up honors on 16-over 88 after turning his round around — he went out in 10-over 46 and came home in 6-over 42, the better inward half of the two. Richard Nota of Little River, South Carolina finished third on 22-over 94.

In Division 5, Nicholas Paglia of Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina led wire to wire for a three-shot win at 23-over 95. Travis Shively of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina was within one of the lead after six holes before Paglia opened a six-stroke cushion by the 12th, and Shively held that position the rest of the way to claim runner-up honors with a 26-over 98. Lawrence Venezia of Murrells Inlet, South Carolina rounded out the top three on 30-over 102, closing the gap from 13 back at the turn to 11 with three to play.

The Mid-Am Net came down to the final three holes and a finish nobody saw coming. Austin Coleman completed the double-dip, adding the net title to his Division 4 win with a net 2-over 74, but he had to find it late: with three holes to play Coleman trailed both William Blinn and Brian Zipay by five strokes, and he came out of the closing stretch a stroke clear of the field. Blinn took runner-up honors at net 3-over 75, with Zipay third at net 4-over 76 to go with his Division 2 title. Three players finished within two shots of the lead.

The Senior Net was the other half of the day’s double-dip story. Daniel Henris, the Division 4 runner-up, posted the best net number of the day at net even-par 72 for a three-stroke win. He did it from behind as well — Chris Huge was four strokes ahead of him after six holes, two ahead at the 12th and still one in front with three to play, before Henris ran out the round to take the title. Huge’s net 3-over 75 earned runner-up honors and paired with his Division 3 win. Barry Elvis of Myrtle Beach, South Carolina finished third at net 6-over 78 to round out the money positions. Behind them the division bunched up tightly, with four players signing for net 79 and seven finishing within seven of the lead.

Next up in the Myrtle Beach chapter — a trip to Willbrook Plantation Golf Club on Saturday, November 21. Space is limited and registration closes November 16. The chapter then heads to Tradition Golf Club on Saturday, December 5, with registration closing November 30.