Special Places - Harbour Town Links

Two weeks after Charl Schwartzel walked away with the Green Jacket at the Masters, the stars on the PGA Tour move across to Harbour Town Golf Links, South Carolina for the Heritage - where plaid is the order of the day as the winner gets a tartan jacket. One of the most traditional and prestigious events on the Tour schedule, the Heritage has been staged at the Sea Pines Resort on the southern tip of Hilton Head Island for 43 years and is awash with American and golfing history.

The list of past champions reads like a who’s who in golf including the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Johnny Miller, Tom Watson and Greg Norman. The first winner in 1969 was Arnold Palmer who ended a 14-month drought and at the same time put a fledgling resort and a new course by a young designer on the map. Hilton Head, today boasting 24 courses, has evolved into one of the premier destinations for golf anywhere in the world and Pete Dye has gone on to reach iconic status as a golf course architect.

Dye designed Harbour Town Links with help from Jack Nicklaus. The layout is a compact 6350 metres, playing to a par of 71, with trees and water the most prevalent features. Most of the holes are carved out through mature woods, and overhanging branches frequently underline the precise shot-making required to successfully navigate around this challenging golf course. Water is in play on many of the holes and is a significant factor on all the par threes. The course’s resistance to scoring is further aided by some strategically placed bunkers and the almost ever-present winds that can vary from a gentle refreshing breeze to gale-force gusts off the ocean.

The round begins with a very tight tee shot down a narrow chute through the trees to find the fairway, and ends with one of the most spectacular finishing holes in all of golf – the 18th that is framed by the waters of the Calibogue Sound running along the entire left side and the landmark red and white lighthouse in the background watching over the proceedings.