Past PGA President Schaal inducted into Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame

PGA Past President Gary Schaal of Murrells Inlet, S.C., joined the late George W. "Buster" Bryan, as the latest inductees into the Myrtle Beach Golf Hall of Fame. The induction ceremony took place, June 3, at Pine Lakes Country Club's Hall of Fame Garden in Myrtle Beach. Bryan was credited with creating the Myrtle Beach golf package nearly 50 years ago, while Schaal, a golf course owner as well as nationally-recognized administrator, spent the past 37 years helping the area golf industry grow and improve. Bryan and Schaal join the six inaugural inductees enshrined last year. They were Robert White , Cecil Brandon , Clay Brittain Jr. , Carolyn Cudone, Jimmy D'Angelo and General Jim Hackler Jr. "That's a nice list of names, and I'm flattered to be among them," said Schaal. "Those men and women have done a lot for Myrtle Beach. They've taken it to where it is." Schaal began his golf career in 1973 as a PGA assistant professional at Myrtle Beach National Golf Club after serving as a captain in the U.S. Air Force. He was the successor to Augie Schwartz as PGA head professional at Pine Lakes Country Club from 1976-81. He served as president of the Carolinas PGA Section from 1985-86, was awarded the Section's Horton Smith Award in 1978 and 1980 recognizing outstanding contributions to educational opportunities for PGA Professionals, and was named the 1985 Carolinas PGA Professional of the Year. Schaal's dedication to the game took on a broader scope when he was elected PGA of America secretary in 1988, vice president in 1990 and president in 1992. Schaal assisted Cudone during the early stages of the Myrtle Beach Junior Golf Program that she started; is among the founding partners of Indigo Creek Golf Club, Wicked Stick Golf Club and Woodland Valley (formerly Diamondback Golf Club); was a partner in the TSC Golf management company that managed a few Strand courses; and owned and operated his own course management company that operated two courses at Deer Track Golf Links for several years. He has also been a board member of the Myrtle Beach Chamber of Commerce , Myrtle Beach Convention Bureau and Myrtle Beach Golf Holiday, and is a partner with former PGA Tour Commissioner Deane Beman in Cannon Ridge Golf Club in Fredricksburg, Va. Because of his connections in the golf industry, Schaal assisted in luring the Senior Tour Championship to Myrtle Beach for a seven-year stretch from 1994-2000. Schaal also is a member of three other Halls of Fame -- the PGA Golf Professional (2005), Carolinas PGA (2007) and the Ohio Wesleyan University Sports Hall of Fame (1993). In addition, Schaal shares a niche with PGA Past Presidents at the PGA Historical Center in Port St. Lucie, as one of the "Legends of Golf." Bryan was a co-founder of the Dunes Golf & Country Club and the Caravelle Hotel, and was considered by his peers - many of them Myrtle Beach golf pioneers -- to be a visionary. He was a partner in the Caravelle and is credited with bringing the concept of the golf package industry to the Grand Strand in the early 1960s. He began Golf-O-Tels, which was a predecessor to Golf Holiday and included the Caravelle and several other motels. It later was absorbed by Golf Holiday. Bryan was also one of the founders of the Dunes Club, the second 18-hole Myrtle Beach course when it opened in 1949.