CHARLESTON, S.C. - Some of the top college golf teams in the country will tee off in Charleston next spring when Bulls Bay Golf Club hosts the first Hootie at Bulls Bay Intercollegiate March 25-29.
Three schools - The College of Charleston, South Carolina and Clemson - will serve as co-hosts for the 54-hole tournament that will feature 15 of the top 30 schools in college golf. The tournament will be the second important event played at the relatively new Mike Strantz-designed Bulls Bay Golf Club located just north of Charleston overlooking its namesake bay. Last summer, Bulls Bay was the site of the 2003 South Carolina Junior Championship.
"We're looking forward to having some of the best players and the best teams in college golf playing here at Bulls Bay," said Director of Golf and General Manager Terry Florence. "As anyone who has played the course knows, wind plays a big part in the character of Bulls Bay. And in late March, we expect to have plenty of wind blowing. It should be a good test for what will be a very talented field."
Despite its Lowcountry setting, the golf course at Bulls Bay looks much like the famed links courses of Great Britain or Long Island. With 75-foot elevation changes, wide, windswept fairways and lightning fast bentgrass greens, the course is unlike any other along the South Carolina coast. The goal of the tournament committee, according to tournament chairman Doug Carnes, is to make the Hootie at Bulls Bay equally unique in college golf.
"We are planning to make this tournament very different from other collegiate events," said Carnes, a member at Bulls Bay and an avid golfer himself. "For one thing, this is the only tournament I know of with direct ties to a popular rock band."
As the name implies, the band Hootie and the Blowfish is lending its support and its talent to the Hootie at Bulls Bay. Lead singer Darius Rucker and band members Mark Bryan, Dean Felber and Jim Sonefeld are all members of Bulls Bay. The band has long been an avid supporter of golf, with its annual Monday After The Masters pro-celebrity event contributing to the South Carolina Junior Golf Foundation. And during the tournament, players, coaches, sponsors and guests will be treated to a concert by Hootie and The Blowfish as part of the busy tournament schedule.
Many of the top teams in the Atlantic Coast and Southeastern Conferences, including North Carolina, Wake Forest, Georgia Tech, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU and Vanderbilt, have already committed to play in the Hootie at Bulls Bay. Augusta State College, a Division I golf program that has been represented at the NCAA Championships eight of the last 11 years, is a confirmed participant, as well.
The tournament schedule begins on Friday, March 25, with a luncheon, followed by a tournament for sponsors and guests. Saturday, the collegiate players will get in a practice round, playing with sponsors and tournament supporters in an "am-am" format. A special skills competition will be followed in the evening by a Lowcountry cookout and a concert by Hootie and the Blowfish.
Sunday, the three-day "Hootie" tees off for real, as top college players vie for individual and team honors over a Bulls Bay course that will measure more than 7,100 yards for the tournament. The tournament will be open to spectators free of charge. Anyone interested in sponsorship information or other tournament details is invited to contact Carnes. He can be reached through the Bulls Bay Golf Club by calling 843- 881-2223, extension 10.
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