CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Like Bubba Watson and Waffle House, the game of golf goes hand-in-hand with a cold drink.
No matter the choice of beverage, there is only one local company responsible for keeping the drinks at the PGA Championship cool and that company is Zippy Ice.
NBC Charlotte took a tour of Zippy Ice's Rock Hill-based plant, where winter never ends (quick, someone tell Game of Thrones).
"Dress like it's winter," Christine Mackie President/CEO told reporter Evan West.
Alongside her husband, Howard, the Mackie's started the company ten years ago.
They thought hell would freeze over before they would produce their current amount, 200 tons per day.
What started as something small has grown into two ice producing plants supplying local stores, Carolina Panthers' games, and now the PGA Championship.
"We're always prepared," says Howard of the company's stellar reputation, a big reason why they are the lone ice distributor of the golf major.
"We've got an extra trailer next to us that's full, ready to go."
With two 18-wheelers filled with ice, Zippy's is prepared for all kinds of meltdown's, unless it happens on the course.
"When we commit to doing an event, it's going to be done right," says Howard.
Christine says the ice jokes never cease and if you think she's never heard Vanilla Ice's one hit wonder, "Ice Ice, Baby," think again.
As cheesy as the chorus might be, the title of the song is a way of life for the ice-selling Mackie family.
When you're pushing 400,000 pounds, it makes sense.
