Here's how the RBC Heritage is bringing a better bang to this year's opening ceremony
The cannon that opens this year's 50th anniversary RBI Heritage Presented by Boeing got a makeover the winter and should be safer and easier to fire — and a tournament official says more improvements may be on the way.
The cannon has opened the tournament with a literal bang since its began in 1969. It is fired during the opening ceremony as the previous year's champion hits a ceremonial drive into Calibogue Sound on the 18th hole of Harbour Town Golf Links.
In October, the cannon was sent to Tennessee for a checkup and modifications at Trail Park Ordinance, said Morgan Hyde, vice president of operations for the Heritage Classic Foundation.
"We weren't in any danger," Hyde said. "We were just leaning on the side of precaution."
One modification, made for safety, included welding a steel sleeve into the barrel. That won't change the appearance of the cannon, but should improve safety when it is fired.
Trail Park Ordinance's inspection showed the cannon was perfectly safe as it was, Hyde said.
The second modification — a primer cap trigger attached to a lanyard — should help the cannoneer better synchronize the gun's discharge with the defending champion's ceremonial golf drive into the sound.
Previously, the cannoneer had to touch a torch onto the cannon's firing vent, a process that sometimes threw off the timing of the blast.
The pull-string trigger should improve that timing and allow the Heritage to "put on a better show," Hyde said.
The work to improve the big gun did uncover a hidden fact: the cannon is not historical but was fashioned from a piece of a 90-millimeter tank gun barrel. The tank barrel was turned on a lathe to give it the contours of an older cannon.
The cannon was returned to Hilton Head in February, and successfully fired Feb. 18 during a celebration at Harbour Town held to begin the 50-day countdown to the tournament.
Hyde said it is possible that more changes could be coming to the cannon.
For example, it now sits on a naval-style gun carriage with small wheels that makes it hard to move around.
"We're looking to putting it on something similar to a field cannon carriage," he said. The bigger wheels would allow it to be moved more easily and put displayed at at the tournament and community events throughout the year.
The cannon will make its Heritage debut at at 10 a.m. on April 9 during the opening ceremony. There will be a parade from Harbour Town's Liberty Oak to the 18th green.
The opening ceremony will be capped off when defending champion Wesley Bryan hitting his drive into the sound in what tournament officials hope will be perfectly synched with the cannon's roar.
This story was originally published April 2, 2018 at 4:16 PM with the headline "Here's how the RBC Heritage is bringing a better bang to this year's opening ceremony."