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Clay D. Brittain, Jr. Inducted into Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame
03/23/2009
Clay D. Brittain, Jr., chairman emeritus of the Myrtle Beach National Company, was inducted as an inaugural member of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame in a March 12th ceremony held at Pine Lakes Country Club. Along with fellow 2009 Hall of Fame class members Cecil Brandon, Carolyn Cassidy Cudone, Jimmy D’Angelo, General James F. Hackler, Jr. and Robert White, Brittain was recognized for his many contributions to the Myrtle Beach area golf industry.
The Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame was created in September 2008 and individuals were nominated by members of the Myrtle Beach golf industry during the fall. The Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame Board of Directors reviewed each nomination before selecting the most outstanding candidates. All inductees are honored with a permanent monument located in the Pine Lakes Country Club Hall of Fame Garden, adjacent to the newly renovated course and clubhouse.
“I will never forget this day,” said Brittain. “It’s an honor to be among these six wonderful people who all contributed to the Myrtle Beach golf industry. I’d like to express my gratitude to Burroughs & Chapin Company for establishing the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame and the Hall of Fame Board of Directors who included me in this group of inductees.”
“Clay Brittain has always been a tireless promoter of Myrtle Beach golf and tourism” said Pete Pearce, chairman of Myrtle Beach National. “I started working with Clay soon after I moved to Myrtle Beach in 1962 and we were part of the ownership group that formed Myrtle Beach National in 1971. Clay was a driving force behind the success of Myrtle Beach National and it would not be the company that it is today without his leadership. Clay is a grand person and is a deserved member of the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame.”
“You could search the world over and not find a finer, more loyal friend than Clay Brittain,” said Cecil Brandon. “Our friendship is not only one I have thoroughly enjoyed but has been beneficial to all aspects of my public and private life. I am sure all of his other friends feel the same way.”
A 40-year veteran of the golf industry, Clay Brittain, Jr. played an instrumental role in uniting the golf and tourism industries in Myrtle Beach. A native of North Carolina, Brittain moved to Myrtle Beach after college and purchased his first Grand Strand property in 1952 with a 50 percent interest in the Second Avenue Fishing Pier. Hurricane Hazel washed the entire pier away in 1954, but Brittain traded his share in the fishing pier lot for half interest in Sea Captain’s House, the first independent oceanfront restaurant in Myrtle Beach.
Brittain and several Myrtle Beach area hotel owners banded together to form the Myrtle Beach National Company in 1971, and Brittain was named as the first president. The hotel owners wanted to sell golf packages through their hotels but needed golf courses due to the shortage of tee times. Under his leadership, Myrtle Beach National built and acquired nine golf courses through the years and became one of the largest course and accommodation ownership groups in the Southeast. One of his first calls was to Arnold Palmer to ask him to design three premier signature golf courses at Myrtle Beach National. In later years, Mr. Brittain had the foresight to steer the company’s accommodations toward condominiums, a growing trend in Myrtle Beach real estate. In 1997, Brittain was named chairman of Myrtle Beach National until his retirement in 2006.
Brittain was also an important partner in the birth of Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday in 1967, a marketing cooperative formed with the goal of promoting the Myrtle Beach area as the world’s premier golf destination.
While shaping Myrtle Beach National, Brittain also helped develop the entire Myrtle Beach golf industry by serving as president of the Myrtle Beach Golf Course Owners Association from 1991 through 1993, and later served as the vice president of the South Carolina Golf Course Owners Association. He was instrumental in urging the Myrtle Beach chapter to join the National Golf Courses Owners Association.
Largely responsible for establishing the PGA golf degree at Coastal Carolina University, Brittain was later honored for his contributions to the community in 2001, when the Clay Brittain, Jr. Center for Resort Tourism at the university was named in his honor. Brittain was the 2003 recipient of the Don Rossi Award from the National Golf Course Owners Association of America for his long-lasting contribution to the golf association. Brittain received the honorary degree of Doctor of Public Service from the University of South Carolina in 1989 and received the Order of the Palmetto, the state’s highest honor for a civilian from Governor Jim Hodges in 2000. In 2005, he was awarded the Ashby Ward Pioneer of the Year Award for the positive, significant impact he made in the Myrtle Beach area.
