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The Heritage, which lacks a title sponsor, will be played on Hilton Head Island a week later than usual next year, and it will have some company, tour and tournament officials announced Thursday.
In what PGA Tour officials say is a one-time change, the 2011 Heritage will be April 18-24, the same week as the Liberty Mutual Legends of Golf, the Champions Tour event in nearby Savannah.
Since 1983, the Heritage has been played the week after the Masters, which this year is scheduled for April 7-10.
Tournament organizers did not choose the different week but are thrilled to be on next year's schedule at all, Heritage director Steve Wilmot said.
There were times when talks with the tour were close to breaking down, he said.
"It was a long time coming," Wilmot said of Thursday's announcement. "It was a long haul, and to be honest with you, it was tough."
Tour officials expect the Heritage will return to its traditional spot in 2012 and acknowledged having two professional golf events in the same market at the same time is "not an ideal situation."
"This was the scenario we felt best met everyone's needs," said Rick George, the tour's chief of operations. "It's not perfect for everybody, but it's the best situation for where we are today."
Although tour officials considered scenarios should the Heritage fall off its schedule, they did not have an alternate location in mind and always wanted to return to Hilton Head for a 43rd annual Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in Sea Pines, George said.
"Our intent all along has been to host an event at Hilton Head," George said. "We've really always in our mind felt like this would be back on the schedule."
COMPLEX CONSIDERATIONS
The Heritage's date was not finalized until Thursday morning, and discussions involved "a ton of moving parts," Wilmot said.
The Masters will be followed next year by the Valero Texas Open, scheduled for April 14-17. That event is moving from May because of "an anomaly in the 2011 schedule that adds an extra week between the Masters and the Players Championship," according to a tour news release.
Tour officials had proposed the Texas event fill a different slot in April, but that was "not workable" for a variety of reasons, according to the release.
If the tour's schedule had followed its traditional progression, the Players would have fallen the same weekend as the Kentucky Derby, Wilmot said. The tour decided to move the Players back a week to avoid a programming conflict for NBC, which televises both events.
WHAT IT TOOK
Heritage organizers scrambled in recent weeks to secure one, $1 million commitment from Hilton Head Island and another from Beaufort County to prove to tour officials they have the $5.9 million they need to pay the purse and satisfy its TV deals should a new sponsor not emerge.
The Heritage Classic Foundation, which runs the tournament, has about $4 million in reserve.
The governments' pledges were critical to the tournament landing a date, according to Simon Fraser, the foundation's chairman.
"Today's announcement would not have been possible without their commitments," he said in a news release. "No one knows better than the citizens of this community the positive economic impact this tournament has on our region and businesses."
Researchers recently estimated the Heritage generated $81.9 million for the economy in 2010, and the tournament has contributed more than $20 million to charity since 1987.
SPONSOR SEARCH CONTINUES
With their spot on tour secure for 2011, organizers now must find a title sponsor to solidify the Heritage's long-term future, Wilmot said.
Without one, it's possible the Heritage could be in a similarly precarious position next year, he said.
"The weight of the event is off one of my shoulders, but it's placed back on the other one now because we need a title sponsor," Wilmot said.
Organizers continue to work with tour officials to try to find a company to pay $7 million to $8 million to put its name on the tournament. Verizon's title sponsorship ended this year.
Wilmot said he speaks frequently with the tour official who is primarily selling the Heritage.
"I've probably had about 10 phone calls with him this week," Wilmot said. "We continue to work, and we're not just working on '12 and beyond; we're hoping to get somebody in here for 2011."
Wilmot hopes having a date for the Heritage in 2011 could jump-start conversations with companies that otherwise might have been leery of negotiating with the tournament.
"Now that we're on the schedule, hopefully someone's going, 'Well shoot, Hilton Head's there, let's go ahead and focus,'" Wilmot said.
FINANCIAL CONSTRAINTS AHEAD?
Wilmot also is turning his attention to producing the 2011 event, which he might have to do with a limited budget.
Tournament organizers are considering cost-cutting measures such as recycling rope they might have discarded in the past, but they don't want to "take away from the experience here," he said.
"We don't want to say, 'OK, there's going to be no transportation from the parking lot, so you walk,'" Wilmot said.
They also plan to recycle the $5 placards the tournament's 600-plus marshals use to shush the crowd before each shot. Last year's placards bore Verizon's name.
"We've got interns coming in, and they're going to cut Verizon off the top of the 'quiet, please' signs," Wilmot said.
Organizers plan to meet Monday with Sea Pines officials about a new agreement to use the resort's facilities. There are indications the resort will accept a discounted rate, but terms are not firm, Wilmot said.
In a departure from typical practice, organizers plan to offer single-day ticket sales next year, although that change was planned before the tournament was shuttled to a new date, Wilmot said.
