By BRANDON PARKER
bparker@beaufortgazette.com
843-986-5536
More than 40 years ago, up-and-coming golf course designer Pete Dye decided to change things up. Instead of routing the 18th hole of his Harbour Town Golf Links course back to the clubhouse, Dye plopped it next to the shallow waters of the Calibogue Sound.
"Ohhh, I hit it into the doggone sound," Dye blurted out as his approach shot on No. 18 sailed wide left toward the beach. "I'll need a row boat to go get that one."
Dye's disappointment didn't last long, though. The 83-year-old proceeded to admire the beauty of the Calibogue Sound while his playing group, which included his wife, Alice, and PGA Tour veteran Jerry Kelly, finished up their day at 4 under.
Briny Baird led his group to victory in the afternoon pool with a 52 while Jim Furyk's quintet carded a 56 to tie with Camilo Villegas' group for the morning title in the pro-am.
Of course, some might assume that the man who literally built this course with the help of good friend Jack Nicklaus would hold all the secrets for succeeding at Harbour Town. But Dye is quick to hush that view, noting how building a course and playing one can be two very different tasks.
"No advantage there. Absolutely zero," Dye said with a laugh. "I've been back here and rebuilt this golf course five times, so I can't even remember what the original course was like.
"These greens are in as good of shape as anything I've seen today. They are putting great ... for the pros, that is."
Actually, it's getting to these small, Bermuda grass greens that often trips up competitors.
With a plethora of trees hugging most of the tight fairways and pot bunkers strategically placed throughout, precision, not power, is the key on a 6,973-yard course that has avoided any major lengthening over the years.
"Golf pros can get out of bunkers and get out of the rough, but they can't get out of the trees, so that's what makes this golf course competitive," said Dye, who has had a hand in designing more than 70 courses nationwide. "And (the tree lines) have grown, so it's gotten tighter."
Yet for its several challenges, the place that inaugural Heritage winner Arnold Palmer once called a "thinking man's course" has become a favorite for many.
Take Davis Love III. The Charlotte native remembers playing at Harbour Town with his dad in 1969 and getting stuck in the marsh on No. 18. Forty-two years and five Heritage titles later, Love III feels quite comfortable on Dye's course.
"My game on paper shouldn't suit this course, but I figured it out," Love III said Wednesday after his playing group carded a 3-under. "And certainly a lot of players have -- Boo and several other players have won multiple times. And I think once you do get comfortable here, it can look like the hardest course in the world, and it can look fairly easy when you're playing well and you know what you're doing."
Just whose expertise works best will start to emerge when the 41st Verizon Heritage begins today. And even though the course he initially drew up on a cocktail napkin spared little forgiveness for its creator on Wednesday, Dye remains amazed and proud at the staying power of his 42-year-old baby.
"I had no idea what I was coming into when I built this golf course," Dye said. "I wanted to keep this a low-profile golf course, but somehow or another, you never know until after it's done whether you're going to get shot or be put on top of a pedestal.
"I come back here all the time, and I really like it the way it is now."
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