Heritage notebook: More seen and heard at Harbour Town

Watch the RBC Heritage on TV... on the course

There’s a video board near holes Nos. 17 and 18 where you can watch the TV broadcast while your favorite tour pros come home.

In addition to the video board, the PGA Tour has provided 11 scoreboards that are set up at various points along the course. According to Morgan Hyde, assistant tournament director, the scoreboards will track the progress of the tour pros and flash their brief bios.

Wade Livingston

Rope – miles of it

How do you keep thousands of spectators in the areas they’re supposed to be ... and out of the areas where they’re not?

Rope. About 8 1/2 miles of it.

Hyde said his crews will put out approximately 45,000 feet of rope around the course to secure fairways, tee boxes, practice facilities and areas that might present safety concerns.

Wade Livingston

Giant golf bag pictures give patrons the opportunity to win prizes

While you stroll around the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing tournament, you may notice four large golf bags with names of previous winners on them throughout the grounds.

According to Julia Primavera, brand ambassador for Heritage, patrons who take pictures with all four of the bags are eligible to win prizes every day of the tournament.

By taking a picture, participants will also get a card with that picture on it to wear.

Caitlin Turner

Plaid items are biggest seller at the Merchandise Pavilion

Everything plaid must-go at this year’s RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing tournament.

Those in search of the tournament staple can head to the Merchandise Pavilion near the Harbour Town Clubhouse.

Assistant golf professional Tony Pineda said the most popular items patrons are buying are the $30 plaid Hogan hats and putter head covers with previous tournament champs on them.

Caitlin Turner

He took Arnold Palmer to school

When the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing was first held in 1969, the world was Hilton Head Island’s oyster — literally.

Emmett McCracken of Bluffton explains in this recollection about his father. H.E. McCracken was a public school principal and superintendent in Bluffton, where a middle school is named for him.

“My father, H.E. McCracken, recalls an oyster roast during Heritage week when the tournament was in November,” Emmett McCracken said. “Donald O’Quinn, a Bluffton boy then in the ranks of Sea Pines, had a home on Plantation Drive.

“The oyster roast was at his home and my folks were happy to be on the guest list. As the oysters were being shoveled on to the tables, my father found himself standing next to Arnold Palmer.

“He noticed early on that the golfer was having trouble getting into the oyster and proceeded to give him tips on this procedure.

“He often recalled this story to grandchildren and anyone else that would listen — concluding that ‘Arnold Palmer may be able to hit a golf ball but he needed help in opening an oyster.’ ”

David Lauderdale

Three generations of volunteering

“RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, how may I help you?”

If you hear that smooth question on the telephone when you call the tournament office, you may be talking to a third-generation volunteer.

Mary Christian Brewer is a Mary Kay consultant who comes from Huntsville, Ala., to volunteer. But her local roots are as deep as the Heritage itself.

She is a granddaughter of Marian McDuffie, who volunteered at 45 concecutive tournaments, beginning with the first one in 1969. McDuffie sewed the tartan skirts girls wore in the first Heritage opening parade.

Brewer’s mother, Debbie Chester, is a red coat volunteer, chairing the uniform committee and the volunteer tent.

And her husband, Mac Brewer, and father, Chuck Chester, are also volunteers, working the ShotLink.

This is the first year the Bonnie Hunt is not greeting people in the tournament office. She retired after last year’s tournament, ending a run of 46 years.

David Lauderdale

Pro-am iron men still rocking

Dr. Nelson S. Carswell Jr. of Dublin, Ga., teed off for the 48th time in the Wednesday pro-am at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

The 86-year-old, who still practices pediatrics two days a week, has played in the pro-am every year since the tournament began.

One of his playing partners was Michael Smith of Concord, N.C., who is No. 2 on the pro-am longevity list. This was his 40th appearance.

For both men, the event has become an annual retreat for their full families. It’s something they all mark on their calendars. “It’s not if we’re going, but when we’re going,” he said.

“I told Dr. Carswell, ‘As long as you play, I’m going to play,’ ” Smith said. “And he said, ‘As long as you play, I’m going to play.’ ”

Smith said their records mean two things.

“Your health has to be good and your financing has to be OK.”

David Lauderdale

Can you read this headline?

If so, then you weren’t one of the people who lost their reading glasses this week at the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing.

Peter Brougham-Cook, who has volunteered at the Heritage for the past three years through Rotary International, was manning the will call booth Wednesday, where the lost and found is.

“People come looking for their cellphones or darkglasses,” said Brougham-Cook, who is originally from South Africa, where they say “darkglasses” instead of “sunglasses.”

Cellphones and sunglasses, though, are the kind of lost item that often fall under the unofficial finders-keepers policy that some humans abide by so they don’t usually make their way to Brougham-Cook’s window.

But there’s one item he sees a lot of.

“We’ve had plenty of reading glasses,” he said.

In fact, just as one kind person came to the booth to turn in a pair of reading glasses, the spectacle’s owner appeared to inquire whether they were there.

“Perfect timing,” Brougham-Cook said. “Now they don’t have to be checked in.”

Liz Farrell

And a Happy Heritage to you, my friend

John Farrell, director of golf at the Harbour Town Golf Links, wishes everyone in town a happy Heritage this week.

“Happy Heritage,” he said. “It’s what we say here. Like Merry Christmas.”

Farrell was at the clubhouse golf shop Wednesday afternoon, where he helped customers find the right golf gear.

“You’d be amazed at the multi-generation gathering here,” he said. “It’s like a family reunion. Grandparents, parents, kids. They see each other and say ‘Happy Heritage. Happy Heritage.’”

Liz (no relation to John) Farrell

This story was originally published April 13, 2016 at 2:38 PM with the headline "Heritage notebook: More seen and heard at Harbour Town."