Southport Magazine

Registration is open for the Southport-Oak Island Area 2020 Golf Classic, teeing off on Friday, December 4 at Carolina National Golf Club. The four-person Captain’s Choice tournament will kick off with a shotgun start at 11 am. Registration is limited to 32 teams and the $340 team entry fee includes four mulligans per team and entry in the closest to the pin contest. Funds raised go to support the Southport-Oak Island Chamber of Commerce and its efforts to support our community’s businesses as they navigate a challenging year. 

This year’s tournament will be different in a number of ways, but promises to be a great time. We spoke to event chairman Ben Frazier about the differences and what this year’s tournament has to offer. 

This year’s tournament is at Carolina National. What does that course offer that makes this year’s tournament special? This is our first year ever having the tournament at Carolina National. It is a magnificent 27-hole golf facility with a variety of holes – tree lined, marsh front, some extremely challenging and others that offer birdie opportunities. The practice facilities and clubhouse are top notch and provide everything a golfer could ask for in a great tournament experience.

How else will this year’s tournament be different? This year’s tournament will feature the same Captain’s Choice/Scramble format as in previous years, but will have several changes. One fun change will be a chipping contests available to the teams where the target is a toilet. The cost will be $5 per chip or three for $10. The prizes will be a case of toilet paper and a prize to be determined. I have played in dozens of golf tournaments and have never chipped into a toilet! Each participant will receive a Moon Pie. There will also be a hole featuring the option to move up to 150 yards on a par 5 for $20 per team. We will also have a $25,000 hole-in-one challenge with $12,500 going to the player that makes the ace and $12,500 going to the Chamber. In addition, there will be cash prizes for the 1st place team in the Championship flight, 1st flight, Women’s flight, and Mixed flight provided there are a minimum of three teams in each flight.  There will be no “check in” and the tournament will have a shotgun start. There will also be no Awards ceremony.

Are you taking any special precautions due to Covid? Yes. The no check-in will prevent a large gathering of players in one place. Also, there will not be an awards ceremony after the event – prizes will be mailed to the winning teams’ captains. Social distancing will be required along with masks when in spaces with people other than your team. There will be keg beer and a box lunch available to players at the turn as well to prevent large groups in one place at a meal.

Can you speak to how important it is to support the Chamber at this time? The Chamber Golf Tournament is essential to the fundraising efforts of the Chamber every year, but this year more so than ever. With so many of the Chamber’s events having to be cancelled or paired down due to COVID-19, this year’s tournament will provide much needed funding as well as energy and enthusiasm to remind everyone in our community of the importance of all the Chamber does in our little corner of the world.