Well-known instructor, artist to join Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame

If you love golf and have spent any reasonable time around Hilton Head Island, you’ve almost certainly had an encounter with Doug Weaver.

On the flip side, folks might not recognize Linda Hartough in the checkout line but are well familiar with her work.

The longtime teaching pro — more of a golf Renaissance man — and famed landscape artist comprise the third induction class of the Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame, voted in late Wednesday to bring the hall’s membership into double digits.

“It’s just an incredible honor,” Hartough said Friday. “It’s a huge gratification to finally feel included among all the great golfers and people in the world of golf.”

Hartough, who has painted more than 100 of golf’s most iconic holes, and Weaver will formally join the shrine April 1 as part of a dinner celebration at Moss Creek Golf Club. They will become the hall’s 10th and 11th members.

The duo joins a roster that includes Sea Pines founders Charles Fraser and Joseph Fraser Jr., golf writer Charles Price, Lowcountry professionals Mike Harmon, Tim Moss and Jim and Karen Ferree, noted amateur Kevin King and longtime Sea Pines executive Cary Corbitt.

“I am humbled to be (part of) that organization,” said Weaver, whose five years as a touring pro included a role in a U.S. Open record before fully settling back on the island where he arrived as a teen.

“Hilton Head is such a special place,” he added. “I would have never planned (to see) this 20 years ago, so it’s such an honor. I got a lot of goosebumps.”

Weaver and Hartough were chosen from among five finalists, as the selection committee whittled down a candidate list of more than two dozen. Bob Collar, the hall’s executive director, would not disclose the other finalists but did note both new members were nearly unanimous in the final ballot.

Weaver, director of instruction at Palmetto Dunes, has been part of the Lowcountry’s golf fabric since 1977, when he arrived and soon helped Sea Pines Academy (now Hilton Head Prep) win a SCISA state title.

He played collegiately at Furman, where he was teammates with Brad Faxon, and later joined Faxon on the PGA Tour when he earned his card in 1988. It’s a path he wouldn’t have taken without a nudge from his soon-to-be wife, Trish.

“Just imagine your girlfriend saying, ‘People tell me you ought to go try pro golf. Maybe you should do it,’ “ he recalled. “Well, OK, let’s go.”

Weaver became part of U.S. Open lore in 1989 as one of Oak Hill’s “Four Aces” — joining Jerry Pate, Nick Price and Mark Wiebe with holes-in-one at No.6 in the second round. He also competed in five Heritage Classics, but by 1993 was off the tour and back on Lowcountry fairways.

He became an assistant at Shipyard, rose to become its director of instruction, then moved to Palmetto Dunes in 2004. He was the Hilton Head Island PGA’s Teacher of the Year in 2012, coached golf teams at both Hilton Head Island and Hilton Head Christian and may best be recognized for 12 years of hosting TV’s “Hilton Head Island Golf Weekly.”

He also donates hundreds of hours to teaching youth via the Boys & Girls Club, Special Olympics and other outlets.

“All the other things are just an expression of my love for the game,” Weaver said. “I hope people can enjoy it, whether through my teaching or the organizations I work with — Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, wherever. I’ve just been able to continue loving what I do.”

Hartough arrived in the Lowcountry in 1980, displaying her works at the Red Piano Gallery on Hilton Head Island where a chance conversation led to an affiliation with the home of the Masters.

“Someone from Augusta National saw them and asked me if I could do a golf course. I said sure,” Hartough recalled.

Her landscape of Augusta National’s 13th hole turned into a long-term relationship, which also led to calls from other clubs.

“I realized there was a complete void in the market,” she said. “By 1988, I was doing nothing but golf courses. I said, ‘OK, this is good. I’ll do it.’”

For 25 years, the U.S. Golf Association commissioned Hartough to paint a scene from each year’s U.S. Open venue. A similar relationship with the R&A and its Open Championship lasted for 10 years, sending her to Scotland and England. In 2001, Golf Digest honored her with its Lifetime Achievement Award.

Hall of Fame dinner tickets and table reservations are now available via Collar at 843-816-0898. An online purchase option is in the works for later this spring.

This story was originally published January 20, 2017 at 6:46 PM with the headline "Well-known instructor, artist to join Lowcountry Golf Hall of Fame."