Hilton Head News

United Airlines has launched twice-daily nonstop flights to Washington Dulles International Airport, twice-weekly flights to Chicago O’Hare International Airport, and weekly flights to New York’s Newark Liberty International Airport.

GET THE MOST OUT OF THE RBC HERITAGE WITH THESE TIPS

First time attending the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing? You’re in for a real treat — but the scene at Harbour Town Golf Links can be a bit daunting to a first-time spectator.

Let’s get the most important thing out of the way first: Do not, under any circumstance, yell “Get in the hole!”

WHAT’S NEW?

The RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing seems to get bigger and better every year, and this year is no different. Annual visitors to the tournament will notice a few additions this year:

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS THAT ADD UP TO HILTON HEAD’S TOP EVENT

Golf is a game of numbers.

When it comes to scoring, the lowest number wins, of course, but we also focus on numbers when we talk about par, hole identifications, yardages, club identifications, placement on the leaderboard, and rankings, for example.

Some of the behind-the-scenes numbers at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing are less obvious, but equally important to the success of Hilton Head Island’s favorite event of the year.

STUDENTS SAY VOLUNTEERING AT HERITAGE HELPS BOOST THEIR GOLF DREAMS

For every young golfer growing up in the Lowcountry — and there are plenty of them — the dream is to one day play in the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

That goal is still a long way off for most students at the International Junior Golf Academy and those in the First Tee of the Lowcountry and PGA Junior League programs, but a handful of local kids get the opportunity each year to step inside the ropes alongside the pros.

ANY OF THESE GOLFERS COULD WIN THE HERITAGE

The 132-player field at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing will be full of talent, but only one golfer will hoist the gentleman golfer trophy, don the tartan jacket, and take home the $1.242 million first prize at the end of the best week of the year on Hilton Head Island.

Here are a few of the players most likely to add his name to the prestigious list of Heritage champs.

THE ROYAL BANK OF CANADA SPONSORS THE HERITAGE AS A GESTURE OF GOOD WILL

When the savior of Hilton Head Island’s annual PGA Tour stop was announced in June 2011, the collective sigh throughout South Carolina was followed quickly by a collective brow-raising.

Why, many wondered, would the Royal Bank of Canada lay out millions of dollars a year to sponsor a golf tournament in South Carolina?

IN HIS OWN WORDS: CHARLES FRASER WROTE ABOUT FOUNDING THE TOURNAMENT

Charles Fraser described himself as a “historian of golf” and a golf businessman, not a “golfer” by recreation. From the beginning, he was convinced that golf would be important in the story of Sea Pines. In 1993, he drafted this description of how he brought golf to Hilton Head Island and later created the Heritage tournament. His daughter Laura Lawton Fraser was kind enough to share it with Monthly. Below are excerpts:

Recently my wife, Amanda, and I celebrated my son Boone’s first birthday. As any new parent will tell you, his first year was a whirlwind, complicated by our rather unique circumstances. Amanda found out she was pregnant the day after I announced I was running for Congress. Boone arrived two weeks early, on a day that I had planned to be in Beaufort for three different campaign events.

PGA TOUR AWARDS GRANT TO SECOND HELPINGS

The Heritage Classic Foundation welcomed PGA TOUR’s Chief Tournaments and Competitions Officer, Andy Pazder, to Hilton Head Island in February. Padzer presented Second Helpings with the PGA TOUR 2018 Charity of the Year award and worked alongside Heritage Classic Foundation trustees, Second Helpings board members, town officials and volunteers to load food trucks at Kroger at Shelter Cove. The award comes with a $30,000 grant from the PGA TOUR to help Second Helpings combat hunger in the Lowcountry.

A pianist from South Korea won the 2019 Hilton Head International Piano Competition. Chaeyoung Park was the first-prize winner, followed by Jakub Kuszlik of Poland in second and Anna Han of the United States in third. Medalists were Arisa Onoda of Japan, Yi-Yang Chen of Taiwan and Yuchong Wu of China. 

Pet owners and dog lovers are invited to join the Hilton Head Humane Association at 8:30 a.m. April 27 for the nonprofit group’s annual Dog Walk on the Beach fundraiser at Coligny Beach. This year’s event marks the 22nd time that people and a small army of dogs will take to the beach to raise money for the shelter. The walk is a great way for your four-legged family members to make new friends or to reconnect with old friends from the shelter.

A plan for a micro-hospital in Bluffton received initial approval by Bluffton Town Council in March. South of the Broad Healthcare is a joint venture between Beaufort Memorial Hospital and the Medical University of South Carolina and the first of its kind in the state. If approved, the facility will be 65,000 square feet on about 12.5 acres near the intersection of Bluffton Parkway, Innovation Drive and Buckwalter Parkway, according to the plan submitted to the town’s department of growth management.

A 300-apartment complex has been suggested for the Hilton Head Christian Academy Campus after the school moves off of Hilton Head Island in 2020.

Charleston-based Spandrel Development Partners filed an application with the Town of Hilton Head Island to change the property’s zoning to allow for residential development and proposed six buildings up to 55 feet tall, parking and amenities on the 13.8-acre site. The buildings “could include a mix of apartments from 500 square feet up to three-bedroom units of about 1,800 square feet,” according to the application. Wood + Partners representatives estimated rents would be $1,200 a month for a studio and $2,400 for a three bedroom, though rents have not been finalized. 

The Breeze trolley service will operate significantly later this season, according to executive director of Mary Lou Franzoni.

Trolley service resumed April 1 on Hilton Head with a significantly later schedule than last year. Trolleys run 1-10:30 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 1 p.m.-12:30 a.m. on Fridays and Saturdays.