The RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing runs today through Sunday. To celebrate the tournament's 50th anniversary, here's a look at its storied history.

NOV. 27-30, 1969. THE FIRST TOURNAMENT

The first tournament was played Thanksgiving weekend at Harbour Town Golf Links, a just-completed, demanding golf course in middle-of-nowhere Hilton Head Island.

The island had a full-time population of about 2,000 and four hotels that could accommodate about 300 guests. Brothers Charles and Joe Fraser hoped their creation of the tournament would showcase their emerging year-round golf resort, Sea Pines Plantation.

There was not much else to showcase on the island. There was no harbor at Harbour Town, no shops and no Harbour Town Lighthouse.

“There was nothing down there then. Hell, you’d step on alligators,” said the late golf writer Charles Price, who worked as an adviser to Fraser and Sea Pines during the first few years of the Heritage.

The Frasers named their new tournament the Heritage Golf Classic. It commemorated the reissue of a charter to the South Carolina Golf Club, which was organized in 1786 and was the first organized golf club in America.

Arnold Palmer won the tournament, ending a personal 14-month victory drought and helping to put the tournament, Sea Pines and Hilton Head Island on the map.

1970-75. ROOMS WITH A VIEW

The villas along the 18th fairway were built in the early 1970s, giving golf enthusiasts views of golfers Johnny Miller and Hale Irwin, who dominated the Heritage in the early part of the decade. The villas remained a popular vantage point during each year’s tournament.

MARCH 21-24, 1974. A SPRING AFFAIR

The tournament moved to a March date, offering a testing ground for the game’s top players preparing for the Masters in Augusta.

Tournament officials penned a network television contract with NBC, gaining national exposure for the event.

MARCH 27-30, 1975. CBS SIGNS ON; SOCIAL SCENE GROWS

CBS began broadcasting the tournament. Jack Nicklaus’ play that Thursday and Friday attracted a record crowd of 40,000 despite fears of a fuel shortage caused by the Arab oil embargo.

The tournament was evolving into something more than just a sporting event: “By the late ’70s, the Heritage had become much more than a golf tournament. It had become THE social event of the year in the state, “ wrote former Island Packet sports editor Terry Bunton in his book, “The History of the Heritage 1969-1989.”

APRIL 14-17, 1983. ANOTHER DATE CHANGE

The tournament moved to April, the week after the Masters. Hilton Head’s resort businesses, which had come to depend on March as a lucrative month following the slow winter months, were in an uproar about the date change.

To appease them, community leaders created SpringFest, a monthlong festival of arts, crafts, food and sporting events.

1986. A NEW FOUNDATION

Hilton Head Holdings, the parent company of the Sea Pines Co. and seven other subsidiaries, filed for bankruptcy and threatened to take the Heritage down.

More than $100 million was owed to about 2,000 creditors, many of them local companies. And Harbour Town Golf Links had fallen into disrepair. The PGA Tour considered pulling the tournament.

A group of community leaders — including former S.C. Gov. John West, Joe Fraser and Sea Pines executive John Curry — set up a nonprofit to take over administration of the tournament and shore up its financial future.

The nonprofit, the Heritage Classic Foundation, soon secured a $1 million line of credit and a title sponsor in long-distance company MCI.

To this day, the foundation runs the tournament, collecting revenue from sponsorships, pro-ams and ticket and concession sales, and distributing it throughout the year to charities and other organizations that have submitted grant requests.

APRIL 14-17, 1988. MUTUAL INSPIRATION

Seventeen-year-old Jamie Hutton of Wisconsin was scheduled for a bone marrow transplant the day after the tournament.

But before the leukemia-stricken boy went to the hospital, he went to Harbour Town Golf Links, hoping to see his favorite golfer, Greg Norman, and perhaps even meet his idol.

He not only met him, but the two formed an instant bond, spending much time together. Norman even chartered a jet for Hutton and his family to return home in, allowing them to stay long enough to watch the final round.

Trailing by four strokes going into the final round, Norman ate breakfast with Jamie, who gave him this simple advice: “Shoot a 64.”

With Hutton following him in the gallery and CBS telling the touching story of his new friend, Norman shot a 66, and that was enough to edge David Frost and Gil Morgan by one stroke.

Norman presented the winner’s trophy to Hutton, who wore a tartan blazer to the closing ceremonies.

1989-90. HISTORIC FINISH

Payne Stewart became the tournament’s first back-to-back champion. He broke the tournament scoring record on the way to victory in 1989, then won again in 1990.

APRIL 14-17, 1994. HISTORIC FINISH II

Hale Irwin, 48, became the tournament’s oldest winner and broke Stewart’s tournament record in the process.

APRIL 18-21, 1996. ANOTHER SCORING MARK

Loren Roberts used a Saturday 63 to drop the tournament record another notch, completing 72 holes at 19-under-par 265.

APRIL 15-18, 1999. A VISIT FROM TIGER

1999 was the only year Tiger Woods played in the tournament, then called WorldCom Classic – The Heritage of Golf. He finished tied for 18th behind winner Glen Day.

Woods’ gallery was the largest in recent history, requiring officials to re-rope the course at certain points to spread the crowds out and security personnel to create windows around Woods to stop spectators from getting any closer than 10 feet.

2000. COURSE RENOVATIONS

Harbour Town Golf Links, the course where the tournament had been held since the start, closed for months to undergo a $3.5 million renovation.

It included the reworking of tee boxes, bunkers and fairways, the installation of an extensive drainage system and a new strain of Bermuda grass on the greens, making them faster.

2002. SPONSOR WOES

The Heritage Classic Foundation dropped WorldCom as its title sponsor after the company declared bankruptcy in the wake of an accounting scandal.

2003-05. OFF YEARS

For three consecutive years, tickets didn’t sell out in advance.

And 2005 was a particularly off year for the tournament. Conditions were unseasonably cold and windy, and none of the biggest names in golf played.

APRIL 16-19, 2009. GAY’S SUNDAY STROLL

Brian Gay turned in the most dominating performance in Heritage history, becoming the first man to finish at 20-under par. That was 10 shots clear of anyone else in the field.

2010-11. VERIZON OUT; RBC AND BOEING IN

The tournament lost Verizon as its sponsor. Gov. Nikki Haley, U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham and other state leaders set out to save the Heritage, citing the tournament as an iconic S.C. event and an important economic development tool.

In 2011, they convinced Royal Bank of Canada to sign on as the new title sponsor and airplane manufacturer Boeing to become the presenting sponsor.

APRIL 17-20, 2014. RETURN OF THE YACHT BASIN

Tournament sponsors, yacht owners and partygoers took advantage of the newly dredged Harbour Town Yacht Basin. The privately funded project allowed bigger boats to access Harbour Town and put a prestigious oomph back into the tournament’s sails.

2015. CLUBHOUSE REBORN

Sea Pines’ owner, the RiverStone Group, unveiled the new $23 million Harbour Town Clubhouse to meet the needs of Heritage players and help secure the tournament’s future in Sea Pines. The clubhouse replaced the original one from 1969.

Harbour Town itself underwent another upgrade after the RBC Heritage, tearing out every blade of grass to lay down a fresh covering in late spring. The irrigation system also was replaced with the latest technology.

2016. CHRISTMAS IN JULY, MATTHEW IN OCTOBER

Both RBC and Boeing agreed to long-term extensions of their sponsorship deals, securing the tournament’s place through the 2023 edition. With those, the RBC Heritage faces its longest outlook of sponsorship peace.

Three months later in October 2016, Hurricane Matthew slammed into Harbour Town and the rest of Hilton Head Island on its path up the Eastern seaboard. Though initial reports raised concerns about how long the island would need to recover, all three Sea Pines courses were operational again within a month. Harbour Town lost 268 trees, with Sea Pines importing more than a dozen to replace strategic losses.

If you go

Here's what you need to know for this year's RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing that runs today through Sunday.

• To purchase tickets, visit https://rbcheritage.com/tickets. Those under 15 get in free when accompanied by a ticketed adult.
  
  
• General parking returns this year to the Honey Horn tract, 70 Honey Horn Drive on the north end of Hilton Head near the Coastal Discovery Museum at Honey Horn. Buses will shuttle fans to and from Harbour Town (about a 20-minute ride), 6:30 am–9:30 pm daily. There is no general parking inside Sea Pines Resort. A free shuttle service is also available from Coligny Circle to a special drop-off spot near Harbour Town, 6:30 a.m.-9:30 p.m. daily.

• During tournament hours, taxis and Ubers can pick up and drop off riders at The Shops at Sea Pines Center, 71 Lighthouse Road. Once tournament play has ended, they will pick up around Harbour Town Golf Links.

• A few rules to remember: cameras are allowed at Harbour Town for practice rounds and pro-ams Monday through Wednesday. They are not permitted during tournament play. Phone calls are allowed only in designated areas.

Coming Thursday

You'll find everything you need to know about this year's RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing in The Island Packet's and Beaufort Gazette's special Heritage section. Check it out in Thursday's paper on page 1H.

This story was originally published April 12, 2018 at 12:00 AM with the headline "Heritage tournament produces 50 years of memories."