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

jeff Kidd
jkidd@islandpacket.com
843-706-8121

OK, I’ve managed to kill the suspense.

If you look at the headline above, the photo below or the list to the right, you won’t have to read to the final paragraphs of this story to know what The Island Packet has deemed the biggest headline in Verizon Heritage history.

Hope you enjoy the list, just the same.

David Lauderdale
dlauderdale@islandpacket.com
843-706-8115

Nobody ever accused Robert Frost of being a golf writer.

But he certainly addressed the unusual way golf changed the course of our local economy, lifestyle and history. The most famous lines in his poem “The Road Not Taken” tell exactly what happened when a swampy Hilton Head Island forest was carved into the Harbour Town Golf Links.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

1895: Horace Rawlins wins the first U.S. Open, played at Newport Golf Club in Rhode Island.

1899: The inaugural Western Open is won by Willie Smith.

1900: Harry Vardon’s tour of the U.S. generates much interest in the game.

1913: Francis Ouimet captures the U.S. Open at Midlothian Country Club in a three-man playoff that includes Vardon.

1916: PGA of America formed.

1926: Los Angeles Open offers $10,000 purse.

1927: First Ryder Cup matches held. U.S. wins.

Originally published Wednesday, April 12th, 2006

The Verizon Heritage began in 1969 as a risky venture by Sea Pines president and developer Charles Fraser.

Since then, tournament organizers on and near Hilton Head Island have deemed golf a venture worth the risk. For as the Heritage grew into one of the most venerable events on the PGA Tour, Beaufort County became an alluring venue for big-time events.

• Heritage champions have combined to win 67 major championships, and only seven ex-champions have failed to win at least one major.

• Since the Heritage first teed off in 1969, the only golfers who have won a major and haven't played at Harbour Town are Ian Woosnam and Paul Lawrie.

• Since 1969, all American Ryder Cup golfers have participated in the Heritage at least once.

• Heritage champions have combined for 386 PGA Tour victories (prior to the start of play in 2006).

The Verizon Heritage may have started in 1969, but its history dates more than 200 years.

After commissioning research on the game’s American origins, Sea Pines Company founder Charles Fraser said he discovered that golf was played in South Carolina and Georgia in 1744 or earlier. That means golf would have come to the eare before the New York-New Jersey area, another contender for the “first in the U.S.” title.

Records showed that golf clubs and balls were shipped to Charleston in 1744 from Edinburgh, Scotland.

For any golfer, the point of The Heritage is to be the one who leaves Harbour Town Golf Links wearing the tartan plaid jacket.

Some of the greatest names in golf -- Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin -- have worn the jacket in the Heritage's storied history.
Seventy-two holes of golf will decide who will wear that jacket again this year, but some local Heritage spectators say they, too, have worn coats of a different color during Heritage week -- especially when the event was first broadcast on television in 1975.

Harbour Town Golf Links sits on the southern tip of Hilton Head Island with its 18th hole -- one of the most famous finishing holes in golf -- bordering Calibogue Sound.

While Harbour Town holds a prominent place in the history of this island, bringing with it a legacy of golf and its champions, it may have had an even bigger impact on the direction of golf course design in this country and around the world.

Harbour Town, which was designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus, who was a consultant, was built in an era of long, winding fairways and greens big enough to build a house on.

1959 -- Sea Pines founder Charles Fraser plans first golf course on Hilton Head Island.

1968 -- Sea Pines announces plans for first Heritage Classic, to be held Thanksgiving Day on the resort's Ocean Course. Weeks later, plans are delayed for one year so tournament can be played on yet-to-be-completed Harbour Town Golf Links.

1969 -- Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus complete Harbour Town just as first Heritage is set to be played. Arnold Palmer wins the tournament -- his first victory in 14 months.

1971 -- "Heritage Classic" become "Sea Pines Heritage Classic."

It was the longest drought of Arnold Palmer's illustrious career to that point -- 14 months without a tournament victory.

Writers were already talking of the untimely demise of the "King" when Palmer came to Sea Pines to compete in the inaugural Heritage Classic on Thanksgiving Day 1969.

But the rumors of his demise were greatly exaggerated.

Palmer led the Heritage wire to wire, holding off Bert Yancey and Rich Crawford to win by three strokes.