Curtis Henley Takes 34th Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship

Curtis Henley of Poquoson, Va., shot a gross 82, good for a net 66, to win the World Championship Playoff at the 34th annual Myrtle Beach World Amateur Handicap Championship Friday at Barefoot Resort's Dye Club.

Henley edged James Dupont of Meadville, Pa., and Charlotte’s Jim Acord, who shot net 67s to finish tied for second place.

Hilton Head’s Wes Long fired a sizzling 68 to win the Gross Division and finished five rounds with a cumulative, gross score of 1-under par.

Making his first appearance in the event, Carl Myers of Dallas, Texas won the Senior Gross Division in a sudden death playoff against Kim Mansfield of High Point, N.C. Myers won on the first playoff hole with a par.

Virginians Ted Hartung and Thomas “Duke” Wagner won the Pairs Competition and along with it a trip to any destination in the world that GolfBreaks.com offers.

A 72-hole, net stroke play tournament, the World Am was contested on more than 50 of Myrtle Beach’s best golf courses.

Players from 49 states and 20 countries competed in the event, which was open to all men and women 18 years of age and older, and players were flighted based on age, gender and handicap. Each flight played a different course every day and after four rounds of competition, all flight winners and ties advanced to the World Championship Playoff at the Dye Club. The playoff was an 18-shootout to crown the event’s winner.

While the competition is initially what lures players to the tournament, it’s only part of what keeps them coming back. At the heart of the World Am’s appeal is the camaraderie among its participants and much of that kinship is fostered at the World’s Largest 19th Hole.

Each night of the event, the 19th Hole overtook all 120,000-square feet of the Myrtle Beach Convention Center, providing participants with free food and drinks, live entertainment, celebrity guest appearances, a golf expo and more.

Among the big names that appeared at the 19th Hole this year were Golf Channel personalities Charlie Rymer, Damon Hack and Chantel McCabe, billiards legend Ewa Laurance and Paige Spiranac, one of the game’s fastest rising personalities. Players also received a gift bag that included a logo’d hat, shirt, PGA Tour Superstore gift card, NexBelt, and an assortment of other goodies.

For more information, visit www.MyrtleBeachWorldAmateur.com.