Family Golf Week Names Kelly Tilghman Mother of the Year

Family Golf Week, which includes the Parent & Child Team Classic and the Father & Son Team Classic, will honor golf media star Kelly Tilghman as its first Mother of the Year this July at Barefoot Resort & Golf, the tournament’s host facility, in North Myrtle Beach, S.C.

Tilghman has been a trailblazer for women in golf media, achieving many historic firsts, and her journey began in North Myrtle Beach.

She lived on the third hole at the Surf Club, one of the area’s most venerable layouts, and her family owned Gator Hole Golf Club, where Tilghman worked every job imaginable and honed a game that earned her a scholarship to Duke University.

Upon graduation from Duke, she played professionally across the globe for four years before retiring to take a position with then-upstart Golf Channel. Tilghman’s stature grew along with the network’s, and she went on to become the first full-time female play-by-play broadcaster in American sports history when she led PGA TOUR coverage on Golf Channel.

“On behalf of East Coast Golf and Family Golf Week, we are extremely proud to have our First ‘Mother of the Year’ for Family Golf Week, Kelly Tilghman,” said Mike Buccerone, president of East Coast Golf Events, the company that runs Family Golf Week. “Kelly has been instrumental in leading the charge for women in not only the golf world but in the business world as well. I am personally fortunate to serve on the board of directors with her for Gene’s Dream Foundation.  Partnering with GDF and the Mentor Cup and having this kick off our great week is special for us, with the hopes of bringing more awareness to ‘mentoring’ with junior golf and how all this ties back into The First Tee initiative.  We are looking forward to a great week in July.”

Tilghman, a member of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame, and her 9-year-old daughter Ryan will attend the event.

The 24th Annual Father & Son Team Classic and the Parent & Child Team Classic will be played July 15-17 on eight of Myrtle Beach’s best courses. Arcadian Shores, Love Course at Barefoot Resort, Crow Creek, Glen Dornoch, The Pearl, Pine Lakes, Shaftesbury Glen Golf & Fish Club and Wachesaw Plantation East will be hosting this year’s event.

Players can register for the tournament at FamilyGolfWeek.com. The entry fee is $995 per team and includes three rounds of golf, daily lunch, pre- and post-event functions, and a gift bag valued at $500. Included among the gift bag items are a $150 tournament gift card that can be used at host courses for food, merchandise and golf, a logo’d polo shirt, a dozen Srixon golf balls and more.

Family Golf Week will come on the heels of the fourth annual Mentor Cup on July 11 at Tidewater Golf Club. The Mentor Cup, which benefits the Gene’s Dream Foundation, will feature two-person teams – a junior golfer and an adult mentor – that play a 9-hole scramble. The event is designed to create lasting memories and provide young golfers a mentor who can positively impact their lives on and off the course.

This year’s Mentor Cup will be highlighted by a Power Luncheon hosted by Tilghman, Paige Cribb, the first female president of the Carolinas PGA Section, and Dan Brooks, the head women’s golf coach at Duke University, on Sunday, July 11 at Tidewater. Tickets to the luncheon, which will be emceed by Charlie Rymer, are $30 per person.

All proceeds from the Mentor Cup will benefit Gene’s Dream, a non-profit organization created to honor Gene Weldon, a revered PGA professional who worked in the Myrtle Beach market for nearly 50 years before passing away in 2017. Weldon mentored countless kids during his career, including Tilghman, who founded the organization.

For more information, visit FamilyGolfWeek.com.