The 2007 Myrtle Beach Birdie Championship featured several changes... some expected and some unexpected.  After sufferring through some oppressive heat in 2006, and with the threat of more babies in July and October, the players agreed to move the tournament to May.  The players selected the week before Memorial Day weekend, which is the week when the golf rates change to the more wallet-friendly summer rates.  The change in the date of the torunament did have an affect on several player's preparation, but all players were very excited about the change.  Unfortunately, the 2007 Myrtle Beach Birdie Championship would be remembered for an incident that occurred just a few weeks before the tournament was to begin.  Playing in an unsactioned flag-football game, defending champion Dan Hoelke sufferred a terrible knee injury, which required surgery and left unable to play in the 2007 Championship.  Details on the circumstances leading up to the injury are sketchy, but reports have surfaced that Bob Hoelke blew coverage, which caused Dan Hoelke to cover for him and ended in the horrific injury.  Confined to his couch for several weeks due to an immobilized leg, Hoelke considered coming to Myrtle Beach to at least watch the festivities, but ultimately declined in order to focus on his recovery.  (Reports out of Pittsburgh indicate that Nicole and Pat Hoelke were pleased with Dan's decision to remain at home).

 

And so it was with a heavy heart that the three remaining players gathered at Philadelphia International Airport to fly direct to Myrtle Beach on U.S. Air.  The players had previously booked a later flight out of Philadelphia, but that flight was cancelled, and an earlier flight was selected.  The players arrived in Myrtle Beach shortly after 11:00.  Travel Coordinaotr Paul Rovner had taken advantage of the loss of Hoelke to book a smaller vehicle, but after some phony bitching at the U-Save counter, was able to finagle a mini-van at the sedan rate  (Quite possibly, the single biggest steal/deal in MBBC coupon history).

 

The players walked out of the airpoirt expecting the typical wave of humidity, but were pleasantly surprised to find temperatures in the upper 70's to mid-80's with very little humidity.  The car was loaded and the players headed to the Holiday Inn Express to check in.  Not surprisingly, ealry check-in was not an option and the players headed to the site of the opening round:

 

 

Defending champion Dan Hoelke had originally selected Sandpiper Bay as the site of the opening round.  However, the player's association agreed not to play any new courses in Hoelke's absence and the remaining three players elected to replay the very first course they played upon arrival in Myrtle Beach ten years earlier before picking up Hoelke at the airport later that evening - Litchfield Country Club.  Surprisingly, not even Scott Woods had any recollection of this course.  It proved to be a solid selection for the opening round.  A solid design with quality greens, it did not disappoint, and proved to the scene for some early fireworks in the birdie championship.  The players went off the back and thankfully were not paired with a single.  Paul Rovner fired an early birdie on a tricky downhill putt to take an early 1-0-0-0 lead and to quickly dash Hoelke's hopes of backing into retaining his title with a tie.  Drossner responded with 2 birdies.  Scott Woods did not even sniff a birdie opportunity, which would be the theme of the tournament for him.  And so the players completed a satisfying round with Drossner leading 2-1-0.

 

All players were unusually exhausted that evening after a variety of activities the night before (Woods was out with his girlfriend celebrating her doctorate, Rovner was at a wedding, and Drossner was watching television)  In any event, the players did make a half-hearted rally to go out.  They went to the Hard Rock for dinner and then headed to the trusty piano bar.  At 8:00 on a Sunday night, there were a grand total of 5 people in the bar and the piano players had not yet taken the stage.  The players headed to the bar next door for a beer by themselves and then went to another bar for a few beers and to play some video games.  Scott played a crappy drum game and Droz dominated pop-a-shot.  The players were back in the hotel and and in bed by midnight in preparation for Day 2.

 

 

In keeping with tradition, Day 2 was played at Barefoot.  Due to maintenance on the Fazio course, the players were unable to play it and had to substitute a somewhat disappointing Fazio course.  The day began on the consensus favorite Love Course.  Stormin' Dan Hoelke desperate for information, timed a phone call to the players perfectly, as they had just reached the tee of the infamous par 4 4th.  Unfortunately, the tees were back and the pin was in the back of the green, making the hole very anti-climactic.  Eric Drossner did manage a birdie putt, but missed it.  Scott Woods finally popped his cherry on two of the more difficult holes on the Love Course by birdying the Par 5 8th and the Par 4 12th to even things up with Drossner at 2.  Paul Rovner responded on the Par 4 16th, and the MBBC was even at 2 after 2 rounds.

 

Lunch was at TGIFridays, where there seemed to be more available in the Three-for-all appetizer without Hoelke.  A traditional stop at Martin's for balls and a sandwedge for Woods,and it was back to the course for the traditional "sit down" and back out for the afternoon round.  After initially being behind a foursome with two chicks (also a theme of the trip) the players were allowed to play through and rarely waited much thereafter.  Very few birdie opportunites, none of which were converted, left the tournament knotted at 2.  Woods played a decent round featuring several pars, but a 9 on #17 and an 11 on #18 had a detrimental affect on the round.

 

In keeping with MBBC tradition, Day 2 dinner was pizze in the room and lights were out shortly after 9:00 p.m.

 

 

After nearly 10 hours of sleep, the players arose for an early tee time just across the Carolina border.  Without his navigaotr and with little help from Drossner and Rovner, Woods got lost on the way to the course, but quickly recognized his error, changed direction and found the course.  For the only time during the entire trip, the players were teamed up with a single, whose name escapes this writer at this time.  He proved to be a real annoying S.O.B. apparently wanting to flaws in Woods's swing, and generally souring the round.  That may have also been due to the fact that he outplayed all of us.  He also had a birdie, but was not inofrmed of the MBBC.  No other players sniffed a birdie, and frustration began to set in for Woods, who played a miserable round.

 

Between rounds, the players visted Chic-Fil-A for lunch (believed to be the first such visit in MBBC history, so we do occassionally break from tradition) and then it was on to Grande Dunes.

 

Grande Dunes was pretty crowded forcing the players to wait on several holes.  A conversation with the starter confirmed that players can play the meber's course by simply asking at the pro shop, although the price of that round was not discussed.  Woods and Rovner remained relatively frustrated by their play and lack of birdie opportunities.  Eric Drossner had other problems as problems developed at work forcing him to be on his cell phone for the majority of the first 10 holes with someone from work, believed to be Erin Gebhardt.  A humorous sidenote, on the 8th tee an elderly marshall came around and asked how things were going, to which Scott Woods responded, "Slow, not because of the group in front of us, but because of the skirts in front of them... you should probably tell them to get their asses moving."  There was some dispute as to the marshall's reaction to Woods's truthful and accurrate comments as he did not reply, but Rovner interpreted his reaction as one of disapproval, and then he wrote something on his chart, which may be on our permanent record.  Drossner was finally off of his cell phone on the 11 th hole, and after playing "who gives a sh*t" golf for the first 10 holes, chipped in for birdie on the Par 3 11th.  There were no other opportunities.

 

The players rallied that evening and went to the Myrtle Beach Pelican's game.  $9 seats were right behind home plate.  It was a pitcher's duel through 9 innings until the Pelicans rallied for a run int he bottom of the ninth to force extra innings, only to lose the game in the 10th.  The players headed over to Broadway and the piano bar, where Paul Rovner decided he liked shooters better than beer.  Woods had a confrontation with an off-duty female police officer who insisted he was seating in her reserved seats, which he had been sitting in for the last 45 minutes, and he advised her of his position in that regard.  Her boyfried seemed to agree with Woods, and any problem was avoided.  Woods has very recollection of the evening after the third shot and barely remembers driving the players home.

 

 

The players manaed to get out of bed the next morning, and made the 45 minute trek to North Carolina for the morning round at Crow Creek.  Crow Creek proved to be a nice surprise as it was in great shape.  The players were first group off and zipped around the front 9 in under 2 hours.  However, because the course double tees, the players finished the front 9 too fast and had to wait for 15 minutes at the turn.  Despiute being a relatively easy course, there were only a few birdie opportunities, none of which were converted.

 

Lunch was at a dive sub shop and it was off the afternoon round at Glen Dornoch.  Glen Dornoch also proved to be a pleasant surprise as the greens were in great shape.  The only problem with the round was harsh wind, which made several of the holes downright impossible and elimnated them as birdie opportunities.  All players continued to struggle, and again, no birdies were made.

 

The players rallied briefly intending to go the Italian restaurant at Broadway, but a wrong turn by Woods lead them to Tony Romas for dinner that evening.  After dinner, they returned to the room for lights out.

 

 

The final round was played at Wachesaw East, a gem discovered by the players in year 2.  The course remains a solid venue and could become a part of the regular rotation.  While the birdie scores remained at 3-2-2, there appeared little chance of any excitement with the way all of the players were playing.  Eric Drossner had a chance to put the tournament on ice on the very first hole but could not convert a 6 foot opportunity.  Dan Hoelke listened live to the broadcast on several holes.  Drossner later missed another birdie opportunity.  However, after commenting that he hadn't made a putt all trip, he promptly drained a 50 foot putt on the 16th hole to ice the tournament.  Woods's trip could be best summarized by the fact that he played the final hole with a yellow ball he found in a creek, which was the only ball he had left.

 

The players packed up, hit Quizno's for lunch, showered in the room and arrived in plenty of time for their flight home through Charlotte.  The flight in Charlotte was incredibly delayed and the players arrived in Philly more than 1/2 hour late.

 

And so, another chapter of the MBBC has come to a close.

 

The consensus appears to be that the MBBC should remain in that week of May.  The weather could not have been any better, although the trade-off appears to be that Myrtle is a much quieter town during that week.  It has also been agreed that a Pelicans game should probably be made an annual event.

 

Ealry reports from Pittsburgh indicate that Stormin' Dan Holeke is recovering well and has his eye on the 2008 MBBC.  In a stunning move, champion Eric Drossner has already announced that the opening round will be held at John Daly's Wicked Stick.  The players are also expected to play Sandpiper Bay and Leopard's Chase, which means, assuming they are able to play the Member's COurse at Grande Dunes, that they will play 4 new courses in 2008.