Island Packet Verizon Heritage 2008 Coverage | Harbour Town, Sea Pines Resort, Hilton Head Island, SC

You'll enjoy this year's Verizon Heritage all the more if you and your fellow spectators follow a few basic rules of gallery etiquette.

The "courtesies of the course" are more than mere niceties and the last thing a spectator wants to do is make a spectacle of himself.
Here are a few basic rules of etiquette golf fans should remember:

• The cardinal rule of golf matches is to be quiet and motionless while a player is preparing for a stroke. If a player overshoots a green, move away promptly and give him plenty of room.

• Spectators are required to wear admission badges at all times while on the course.

• Do not attempt to talk to a player or ask for his autograph until after he has left the 18th green. Tournament play requires intense concentration, even when the player is not actually preparing to hit the ball.

• Adhere to the tournament marshals' instructions. When a marshal calls, "Stand please," stop where you are. If the call is "fore please," a golf ball is headed in your direction, so watch out.

• Spectators must remain behind the guide ropes at all times. They may cross fairways only at the direction of the marshals at designated crossovers. Never walk across greens or sand traps.

• Viewers in the front of a gallery should kneel or sit so that people in the rear also can watch the play.

• Galleries should be formed away from private residences that line the fairways. You wouldn't want a bunch of strangers walking through your azaleas, would you?

Also, the following items are prohibited on the golf course and may be checked at the ticket office adjacent to the clubhouse before entering:

• Pets;

• Radios;

• Signs or banners;

• Cell phones;

• Beepers, unless vibrating;

• Bicycles.

Also, only authorized press photographers -- those with official credentials -- are permitted to bring camera equipment on the course during the tournament.