‘Not an option:’ Hilton Head’s RBC Heritage won’t be rescheduled, director says
The 2020 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, a PGA Tour event scheduled for April 13-19 that was canceled Tuesday, will not be rescheduled, RBC Heritage Tournament Director Steve Wilmot said.
“Postponing or rescheduling was not an option,” he said Wednesday morning of the annual Hilton Head Island event. “We will be back and better than ever next year.”
The announcement comes in response to efforts aimed to slow the spread of the coronavirus, which causes respiratory illness and is particularly dangerous to older adults.
As of late last week, Heritage tournament officials were still hopeful even as other major sporting events announced cancellations. But a recent Centers for Disease Control recommendation to cancel or postpone large gatherings for the next eight weeks made playing the event all but impossible, even without fans.
“We certainly feel this is the right decision to make for the health and safety of everyone,” Wilmot said in a statement. “We remained optimistic as long as we could knowing the event generates more than $3 million dollars a year for local charities and has a yearly economic impact of $102 million for the state of South Carolina.”
The Heritage was one of four additional events canceled by the PGA Tour, meaning the season won’t restart until at least May. The PGA of America announced Tuesday it would postpone the PGA Championship, the year’s second major scheduled May 11-17 in San Francisco.
The Heritage decision comes on the heels of other major cancellations in the spring sports calendar. The PGA Tour canceled events leading up to the Heritage, including The Players Championship after one round had been played. The Masters was postponed, leaving Heritage next on the schedule.
On March 12, the NBA suspended the rest of the professional basketball season due to the pandemic. On that same day, Major League Baseball announced the cancellation of the remainder of spring training games, and officials said they anticipate at least a two-week delay in Opening Day games, which had been scheduled for March 26.
By pumping $105 million into the local economy, RBC Heritage is one of the biggest economic drivers in Beaufort County.
Around 135,000 people attended the 2019 event, according to the Heritage website. Of those spectators, the site says 62% were 50 years or older.
“As with everything associated with this, it’s disappointing, but it’s completely expected,” Hilton Head Town Manager Steve Riley said Tuesday of the cancellation. “It’s the right thing to do in these circumstances.”
Heritage’s significance on Hilton Head Island
The PGA Tour event has been played on Hilton Head since 1969 at the Harbour Town Golf Links, the signature course designed by Pete Dye in consultation with Jack Nicklaus.
Many past champions, including Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Nick Faldo, Hale Irwin, Bernhard Langer, Johnny Miller, Greg Norman, Nick Price, Tom Watson and the late Payne Stewart, have become enshrined in the World Golf Hall of Fame, according to the Heritage website.
The event has become the largest social gathering on Hilton Head Island, where neighbors, elected leaders, celebrities and fashionistas come to see and be seen on Hilton Head’s south end.
Although Wilmot said in early March that most spectators come from inside the United States, Heritage is broadcast in 23 languages to 226 countries.
This story was originally published March 17, 2020 at 5:42 PM.
