“They’ve Got Some Pop to Them”
Biff Lathrop has been with the South Carolina Golf Association (SCGA) for 29 years, so he knows a thing or two about running tournaments. He also knows about the one variable that can bring even the best-laid plans to a screeching halt: a South Carolina summer storm.
“Most of the time here in South Carolina, we’re fighting the heat, we’re fighting thunderstorms,” Lathrop says. “When they do come through, they’re usually pretty severe. They might be short and quick, but they’ve got some pop to them.”
For an organization founded in 1929, that “pop” is a serious threat. The SCGA isn’t just one club; it’s the steward for amateur golf across the entire state, running dozens of championships and events from the mountains to the coast.
“We’ve got tournaments in the Upstate, in the Lowcountry, and everywhere in between. Sometimes we’re on a course where you’ve gotta ride a half mile from one green to the next tee box.” And with that statewide footprint comes a lot of weather-watching.
The Challenge: A Moving Target
“I’ve done a lot of weather watching,” he laughs. “Sometimes you go out there and you look up in the sky and see what’s doing… that helped for a while, but we were using some other free apps and what have you.”
For years, the SCGA used another provider, DTN WeatherSentry, but they felt the need for a tool that was more intuitive, mobile-first, and backed by faster support.
The Solution: A Head-to-Head Showdown
When Perry Weather came along, the SCGA decided to put it to the test. For a full month, they ran both systems side-by-side, comparing them in real-world tournament conditions. The difference became clear, and it came down to a few key things.
First, the live radar. “I am a radar guy,” Biff admits. “I look at the radar when I make a decision. We liked the look and feel of the radar on Perry Weather… If I can see it on there, I know it’s coming. I don’t have to look and guess.”
Second was the support. The ability to get a meteorologist on the line quickly to confirm what they were seeing was a game-changer. Finally, it was the whole package—an easy-to-use app, instant alerts, and expert backup.
“We just felt better with Perry Weather,” Lathrop says simply. “We had the opportunity to kind of compare the two… We jumped ship, we went to Perry Weather and we’ve been happy with it ever since.”
The Result: Saving the Biggest Day of the Year
The real test, however, didn’t happen on a golf course. It happened in the dead of winter, ahead of the SCGA’s annual “Golf Day”—a celebratory luncheon honoring Hall of Fame inductees, with 200 people scheduled to attend. A rare, nasty ice storm was bearing down on South Carolina.
“Local forecasters were calling for everything to be iced over Saturday morning,” Lathrop recalls. The pressure was on to cancel, a logistical nightmare that would involve rescheduling vendors, the venue, and notifying hundreds of guests. “We were having to make a decision on whether or not to pull the plug on this event.”
Biff kept his eye on Perry Weather. While local news predicted doom and gloom, the hour-by-hour forecast in the app told a different story.
“I was looking hour by hour… and based on what Perry Weather said, we were gonna be all free and clear after 8 o’clock that morning,” he says. “We made a very hard decision to go ahead with the process, based on that forecast.”
It was the right call. The storm cleared out exactly as predicted. The event was a massive success, with nearly 160 people making the trip safely.
“I’ll be very honest, if I was paying attention to local weather… we probably would have canceled that event,” Lathrop admits. “Thanks to Perry Weather, we were able to move forward with one of the biggest events that we do all year long.”
For a man who has spent three decades protecting players and a nearly century-old legacy, it all comes down to that one word: confidence. Whether it’s getting juniors off the course before a lightning strike or saving a cherished tradition from a freak ice storm, Biff Lathrop has the tool he needs to make the right call, every time.
“We don’t have to change equipment. We don’t have to bring radars with us or anything,” he says. “You just make sure you got your phone charged up and access to it and you’re good to go with Perry Weather.”
Get a free 14-day trial of Perry Weather—and see how it helps you protect your people, streamline decisions, and spend less time worrying about the weather.
