ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic Wins South Carolina Governor’s Cup Award

ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic Wins South Carolina Governor’s Cup Award for Best-in-Class Event

Myrtle Beach, S.C. (February 11, 2026) – The ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic announced today that Myrtle Beach’s PGA TOUR event has won this year’s South Carolina Governor’s Cup Award, a prestigious honor given to an attraction, destination or development that demonstrates extraordinary success in tourism in the Palmetto State.

The 2025 edition of the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic generated $15.8 million in economic impact, saw television viewership increase by more than one million, and delivered over 31 million social media impressions across the week. The tournament also raised $225,000 for nine local charities, directly supporting organizations that serve local families, youth and community needs.

This also marked the first year in which ONEflight International, a private aviation company, served as the co-title sponsor along with Visit Myrtle Beach. As part of the tournament, players who finished among the top 50 received five complimentary flight hours to help with their travel courtesy of ONEflight. Eighteen-year-old Blades Brown recently made headlines as he used this benefit to travel between tournaments. He flew from The Bahamas Great Abaco Classic to Southern California for The American Express this past January.

“We are humbled and honored to receive one of South Carolina’s most distinguished awards,” said Darren Nelson, the Tournament Director for the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic.

“For our tournament to be recognized as the top attraction within South Carolina, a state full of amazing destinations, is a credit to our ability to drive economic impact, support charitable efforts, and lead in innovation.”

Before the tournament, an amateur qualifier that included top digital content creators brought the ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic to new heights. “The Q at Myrtle Beach” saw creators compete across an 18-hole shootout in March. The winner received a spot in the field via a sponsor’s exemption. Then, during the week of the tournament, “The Q at Myrtle Beach” aired on YouTube in a drama-filled recap video, drawing over one million views worldwide. Expanded content activations saw younger audiences and fans around the world engage on Instagram, TikTok, X, and Facebook as well as YouTube. Nathan Franks, a senior on the South Carolina men’s golf team at the time, won the qualifier, then took advantage of the opportunity by making the cut and tying for 37^th.

In addition, 36,000 golf fans attended the event with almost 10,000 lodging room nights booked across the Grand Strand. The tournament also helped expand golf rounds across the region, with 285,000 rounds of golf played in May 2025, a record for the Myrtle Beach area that is widely regarded as ‘The Golf Capital of the World.’

Overall, winning the South Carolina Governor’s Cup award helps elevate Myrtle Beach as a premier golf destination while delivering substantial economic and social benefits to the community. It sets the stage for future growth in both the event and regional tourism.

This year’s ONEflight Myrtle Beach Classic is slated for May 7-10, 2026, and will return to the Dunes Golf and Beach Club for a third consecutive year.

About the Myrtle Beach Classic

The Myrtle Beach Classic, a dual-field PGA Tour event hosting 120 players, will be played May 13-16, 2027, at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club in Myrtle Beach, S.C., commonly known as the “Golf Capital of the World.” Updated information on the 2027 event can be found at myrtlebeachclassic.com.

About PGA Tour

The PGA Tour’s mission is to deliver the world’s most compelling professional golf competition, featuring the sport’s greatest players, for fans, partners and communities. The PGA Tour, headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, operates the PGA Tour, PGA Tour Champions, Korn Ferry Tour, PGA Tour Americas and PGA Tour University. To date, events across all Tours have generated more than $4.4 billion in charitable giving.

About Visit Myrtle Beach

Visit Myrtle Beach is the official destination marketing organization for the Myrtle Beach area, promoting the region as a vibrant, welcoming destination made up of 14 unique communities stretching 60 miles along the northeast coast of South Carolina. With a mission to promote, protect and improve the region collectively known as the Grand Strand, Visit Myrtle Beach works to enhance the quality of life for local residents by fostering a sustainable tourism economy that supports local jobs and generates critical funding for public services, schools and infrastructure. For more information, visit VisitMyrtleBeach.com or call (888) Myrtle-1.

About SPORTFIVE

SPORTFIVE is a global sports marketing agency that delivers customer-centric solutions based on trust and transparency, deep industry experience and global relationships, digital intelligence, and innovation. SPORTFIVE strategically and creatively connects brands, rightsholders, media platforms and fans to create and enable contemporary partnerships in sports.

While creating and growing long-term value for all, SPORTFIVE often leads the sports business into the future through innovative digital solutions and strives to be the most progressive and respected partner in sports.

Being at the center of professional sports, SPORTFIVE will use its unique position to make a positive contribution to sustainability and to live up to the social and economic duty and responsibility, which sport and consequently all parties involved, also have. SPORTFIVE operates with a global mindset and network of over 1,200 local experts based in 15 countries around the world, active in soccer, golf, Esports, motorsport, handball, tennis, football, basketball, ice hockey, rugby, Olympics, multi-sport events, and many more.