• The PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship is a four-day, 72-hole flighted tournament, that will be held August 25 – 29, 2008, in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

• The 2008 event is the 25th Anniversary of the “World’s Largest Amateur Golf Tournament” with a record participation expected.

• The tournament is open to any amateur golfer with a verified USGA handicap or foreign equivalent.

• On the fifth day, Friday, August 29, the championship round is held at the renowned Dunes Golf and Beach Club where all flight winners and ties will meet in an 18-hole playoff to determine the “World’s Amateur Golf Champion”

• The World Am is played on more than 55 courses in the Myrtle Beach area, including seven of the 10 Grand Strand courses that were recognized in Golf Digest’s 2007-08 “America’s Top 100 Greatest Public Courses”.

• The tournament field includes six divisions: men (49 years of age and younger), senior men (50-59 years of age), mid-senior men (60-69 years of age), super senior (70 years of age and older), women (49 years of age and younger) and super senior women (50 years of age and older).

• Players will be flighted according to their handicap index, with a maximum handicap index of 36.4 for men, and 40.4 for women.  Each flight averages 100 players.

• Entry fee for the 2008 tournament is $550 and includes:
o Four rounds of golf with matched handicap flights
o Four evenings of food, drinks, golf exposition, live entertainment, contests and camaraderie at The 19th Hole, the Myrtle Beach Convention Center
o The 19th Hole will also be the site of the “TOUR Van Experience” presented by the PGA TOUR Superstore featuring a 10,000 square foot demo and club-fitting area, fashion makeovers; contests and games; game improvement areas and seminars by Dave Pelz, Jesse Ortiz, Bobby Grace and Joe Inman.
o Golfers will receive a gift bag on arrival as well as $130,500 in gift certificates from PGA TOUR Superstore, random drawing prizes and trophies, and top-ten prizes for the top finishers in each flight. In total, more than $250,000 will be awarded to golfers at the 2007 World Am.

• Golfers from 48 states and 33 countries are expected to participate in the 2008 World Am. In 2007, golfers from  31 countries were present: Andorra, Australia, Bahamas, Belize, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Algeria, France, Germany, Great Britain, Guatemala, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Norway, Oman, Philippines, South Africa, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Uganda, United Arab, Uruguay, Venezuela and Zambia. In 2006, golfers from 50 states and 24 countries competed; Argentina, Australia, Bahamas, Bermuda, Brazil, Canada, Columbia, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Guatemala, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines, Portugal, Scotland, South Africa, Sweden, Venezuela and Wales.

• There are contests for low net, long drive and closest to the pin plus a special prize for hole-in-ones. On Thursday night, there will be random drawings for all participants for prizes including golf vacations, golf clubs and golf memorabilia.

• The grand prize at the Random Drawings Thursday night at the 19th Hole will be a once-in-a-lifetime trip for two people to all four Major events in 2009; the Masters, the U.S. Open, the British Open and the PGA Championship. The prize includes airfare, accommodations and ticket for each event.

• In 2008, the World Am will once again host one of the United States Qualifiers for the International Pairs Championship. World Am participants will compete as a twosome for the opportunity to win an all-expense paid trip to St. Andrews to represent the United States in the 2009 International Pairs World Finals.

• The World Amateur’s will once again honor past participant Cory Lemke with the Cory Lemke Parent-Child Championship, a free of charge tournament for any combination of parent and child participating in the World Amateur. Before tragically losing his life in a 2006 motorcycle accident, Lemke competed in the World Am with his father, Mark Lemke, and won his flight in 2002 at the age of 15. Registration for the Parent-Child Championship is limited to the first 150 teams. The top 10 teams with the lowest net scores will receive PGA TOUR Superstore gift certificates.

• The tournament staff continues to improve the handicap monitoring system. The current system utilizes an adjustment system, which reduces players’ handicap index during the tournament if exceptional scores are recorded. The staff also uses a past score history program which compares all past players’ incoming handicap index with their past performance at the event and a handicap search team researches players’ handicaps to find inaccuracies in scoring habits during the event. Additionally, new players’ handicap indexes are judged prior to the event based on number of scores posted, posting habits and tournament rounds. 

• The PGA TOUR Superstore World Am website (WorldAmGolf.com) offers a daily glimpse at the World Am with updated standings, news releases and photographs from the 25th annual tournament. The website will also offer live scoring during Friday's championship round at The Dunes Golf and Beach Club.
About PGA TOUR Superstores
PGA TOUR Superstores are owned and operated by Golf & Tennis Pro Shop, Inc. (GTPS), headquartered in Atlanta, Ga. Each Superstore is dedicated to providing consumers with exceptional selection, services and prices within an entertaining, interactive store environment. GTPS is the PGA TOUR’s exclusive PGA TOUR partner for off-course/off-airport golf retailing. Two Superstores operate as Martin’s PGA TOUR Superstore in Myrtle Beach and North Myrtle Beach, S.C. Other Superstores operate in the Atlanta area (Roswell, Kennesaw, Duluth, Buckhead) and two stores operate in the Dallas, Texas area as PGA TOUR Superstore. Future expansion plans include locations in Chandler and Scottsdale, Ariz. in early October 2007, as well as Orlando, Fla.; Houston, Texas; and the Southern California cities of Los Angeles and San Diego in the near future. All Superstores are focused on game improvement in golf and tennis, as well as growing the games. Each store offers swing analysis, golf instruction by professional instructors, club fittings, indoor practice greens, and hitting nets, as well as golf and tennis apparel, golf-themed home furnishings, and a vast selection of golf and tennis equipment. The PGA TOUR Superstore’s Web site address is www.pgatoursuperstore.com.

About Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday
Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday is a non-profit trade association of 77 championship golf courses, 104 golf package providers and five golf schools in the Myrtle Beach, South Carolina area. Founded in 1967, the organization has been and continues to be the driving force behind the growth of the Myrtle Beach area golf market. The originator of the “Stay and Play Package,” Golf Holiday provides non-biased information about the area accommodations and golf courses to assist golfers in making the most informed decisions when planning for their next vacation. Golf Holiday also hosts seven events and tournaments annually to help grow the game of golf and attract golfers to the Grand Strand during slower times of year. In addition to hosting the PGA TOUR Superstore World Amateur Handicap Championship – the world's largest on-site golf tournament, Golf Holiday also manages the Hootie & the Blowfish Monday After The Masters Celebrity Pro-Am Golf Tournament each spring, Summer Family Golf Tournaments, the Spring and Fall Palmetto High School Golf Championships, the Veterans Golf Classic and the FDNY 9-11 Memorial Golf Outing. For more information, call Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday at 1-800-833-8798 or visit GolfHoliday.com.