MYRTLE BEACH, S.C MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. - Crystal "Shy" Roberts climbed the roughly 10-foot pole at the Penthouse Club, gripping its metallic surface with her thighs as it swayed a foot in both directions.
On that early April Friday night, Roberts played to mostly small groups of men seated around small cocktail tables in low-slung chairs at the Horry County club. Many of the men wore polo shirts and baseball caps and smoked cigars as dancers moved from lap to lap through the room.
For a dancer such as Roberts, spring means more dollar bills from the men who sidle up to her on the stage as golfers flood the area's courses and strip clubs. Many golfers will drive for hours to come from the Northeast and Midwest during peak season, which club operators say runs from mid-February to early May.
Some golfers come just as much for strip clubs as for the golf, she said.
"There's golf courses everywhere else. Why come to Myrtle Beach if you don't have strip clubs?" 27-year-old Roberts said between dances.
Golf is big business for South Carolina's northern coastline, known as the Grand Strand, during the spring shoulder season as players fill up courses, book hotels and eat at area restaurants. But less discussed among tourism industry leaders, elected officials and golfers themselves is the money they spend on adult entertainment. That spending has given rise to an array of strip clubs drawing women from across the United States and other countries to dance.
There are at least 14 operating strip clubs in Horry County, which includes Myrtle Beach and has a population of about 269,000, according to the 2010 Census. There's at least one club in southern Brunswick County, N.C., just across the state line. By comparison, Atlanta, with a population of 420,000, has 19 strip clubs, according to a 2010 Atlanta Journal Constitution report.
There are no statistics on the amount of revenue generated by strip clubs in Horry County because the taxes paid are lumped in with all restaurants and bars, said Samantha Cheek of the S.C. Department of Revenue. But club owners and managers say they are major contributors to the state and local tax base.
The industry's nearly 3,900 clubs nationwide generate about $12 billion in revenue annually, although that figure was higher before the recession, said Angelina Spencer, executive director of the Association of Club Executives, an adult club trade group.
"I would say that that assessment is pretty typical, especially given you're in a tourist area," she said of the county's 14 clubs.
"The number of clubs gives the Myrtle Beach area a dual identity, said Mike Rose, owner of The Gold Club.
"We are a family destination, but also it's a resort town, and golf is a big part of the business here," he said. "The golfers want to go out and have a good time."
Tourism officials promote the area as family-friendly and seldom mention strip clubs.
"They put blinders on and like to think that we're not here," Rose said.
Strip clubs have been part of the landscape for a while, but they aren't essential to getting golf tourism, said Stephen Greene, president and CEO of the Myrtle Beach Area Hospitality Association.
For example, Palm Springs, Calif., has lots of golf, but doesn't have a lot of strip clubs, he said.
"(Strip clubs are) a part of the vacation experience we have in the Myrtle Beach area, but it's not something we push on our overall marketing of the family experience," Greene said.
