Women’s Pioneering Tennis Tournament Celebrates 45 Years in SC's Lowcountry

By Mike Switzer

Published March 15, 2018 at 5:28 AM EDT

Spring is in the air and that means a lot of outdoor sporting events will soon be bringing an economic force to our state. Big golf tournaments in Augusta, Hilton Head, and Charlotte, for example. But first up is one of the premier tournaments in women’s professional tennis, the one that was actually at the forefront of equal pay efforts in the sport 45 years ago.

Mike Switzer interviews Bob Moran, tournament director at the Volvo Car Open in Daniel Island, SC.

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Mike Switzer

After almost 20 years, Mike Switzer retired from Wells Fargo Securities in 2001 as Senior Vice President/Investment Officer and Certified Portfolio Manager. In 1999, he and his wife, Maggie, purchased and operated for eight years the Baskin Robbins ice cream store on Forest Drive in Columbia. They grew the store from a bottom-tier operation in the Baskin Robbins franchise system to one in the top 5% nationwide within three years, tripling sales along the way. While operating the ice cream store, Mike and Maggie received patents for a portable ice cream sink and fold-down sneezeguard they invented and in 2002 started Magnolia Carts, an ice cream cart manufacturing company, which they sold in 2013.

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