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

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.

"I remember (tournament organizers) would tell us all to be on the 17th hole. Then they'd blow a whistle and we all had to run to the 15th hole," said long-time island resident Cathy Goodell.

"They strongly encouraged us to wear hats and sweaters and bring jackets so we could switch (them with each other)," recalled Goodell, "so when (the camera) panned the gallery on the 17th, it wouldn't look like the gallery on the 15th."

That illusion is no longer necessary.

The Heritage has grown in popularity, now directly follows professional golf's biggest event -- The Masters -- and is seen annually on CBS.

In the early years, though, the galleries were sparse. Some estimated as few as 2,000 spectators -- not including alligators -- attended the first Heritage Classic won by Arnold Palmer on Thanksgiving weekend in 1969.

"Small, but enthusiastic," is how long-time tournament information director Arnie Burdick described that very first crowd.

Hilton Head Island was itself sparsely populated when the Heritage was first played in 1969. A two-lane swing bridge connected the island to the mainland, and only three golf courses had been built, compared to the more than 20 now operating on the island.

The spectators were mostly islanders who were off work and out of school for the Thanksgiving holidays. Now, schools arrange their spring breaks to coincide with Heritage week and some businesses close their doors altogether.

"We thought it was a national holiday," said Goodell. "But we found out later it was only a national holiday on Hilton Head."

Nonetheless, the holiday was celebrated with vigor. Open bars positioned conveniently near the fairway were the norm -- with one located about every 15 feet -- keeping the sparse crowd in a good mood, Goodell said.

The Heritage has often been referred to as "the largest outdoor cocktail party in South Carolina."

"Well, that's only because Augusta is in Georgia," said Jim Chaffin, a former real estate broker and vice president at Sea Pines. "It would be very presumptuous of us to say that we're a bigger cocktail party than the one at (Augusta) National."

Friends began meeting friends in Hilton Head during Heritage week. Soon, it became an annual social event that has grown along with the purse of the golf tournament it is built around.

"People started having bigger and bigger cocktail parties just off the 18th fairway," said Chaffin. "Eventually, they had to outlaw those parties because they were interrupting play."

But not everyone wears a jacket at the Heritage.

"And then there was the streaker -- right out on the 18th hole," said Goodell. "There was quite a confab over that one."

The name of the game

In 1969, Chaffin was one of the many Sea Pines salesmen wearing an "Ask Me About Real Estate" button on his jacket lapel.

"I didn't really see a lot of golf -- I was out hustling real estate," he recalled.

And Chaffin has finally sold something to Arnold Palmer and his wife Winnie.

Chaffin said he spent a lot of time showing Winnie Palmer property at Harbour Town, but the couple never bought anything there.

But several years later, Chaffin, a developer, and Palmer, a course designer and player on the PGA Senior Tour, worked together to develop Old Tabby Golf Links on Spring Island, midway between Hilton Head and Beaufort.

Palmer bought a lot on Old Tabby's 18th fairway, Chaffin said.

While Chaffin didn't make that Harbour Town sale to the Palmers, others were made in 1969 and in the years that followed. The tournament itself was designed to showcase Sea Pines and increase play at its three courses.

Instant fame

Palmer's win, which ended a 14-month victory drought, brought the international media to Harbour Town and gave the tournament instant respectability, Price said.

Strangely, even the course's name added a certain aura to the event that might not be found in other places.

"The old English spelling of 'Harbour' in Harbour Town helped," said the late golf writer Charles Price, who worked as an advisor to Sea Pines during the first few years of the Heritage. "In Europe, the newpapers said, 'Palmer wins at historic old Harbour Town,' even though it was a brand new course."

By the time Price arrived on Hilton Head in 1969, he had already covered his 21st Masters. His first advice to Fraser about the Heritage was to cancel it.

But the tournament, first planned as an exhibition, began to take shape, and Price returned from New York to work on it with Fraser. It was originally planned for Sea Pines' Ocean Course, but Harbour Town -- still in the planning stages -- won out.

"Nothing was finished (on Harbour Town)," said Price. "And I said we've got to put this place on the map somehow. I told Charles that if we move it (to Harbour Town), Nicklaus will play and if you know tour sociology, so will Palmer."

They played, Palmer won and the headlines spelled out Palmer's victory throughout the world.

"A guy sent me a clipping (about Palmer's win) from Hobart, Tasmania," said Price. "Hilton Head is a long way from Hobart, Tasmania."

Palm-er trees?

No, that's not how palm trees got their name.

Ann Parker, a former hostess for Sea Pines, recalled those first years of the Heritage experience. Palm trees swayed in the autumn breeze on the Harbour Town Golf Links as they do now throughout the island.

"A woman who came down with the tour asked me if they named palm trees after Arnold Palmer," Parker said, still a little puzzled. "That one kind of took me aback because I thought I'd heard everything."

Well, maybe not quite everything.

Goodell's father, Dr. James Goodell, was the official doctor for the first few Heritage Classics. And once during those early years, the doctor found himself answering a strange call from the side of a fairway.

"The woman was standing there one minute and was out cold the next," said Cathy Goodell.

The spectator had apparently been struck by a golf ball, which Dr. Goodell, upon examination, found in the woman's bra.

One must assume it wasn't a good lie.