In 1970, Heritage golf tournament was shot in the arm for Hilton Head and Arnold Palmer
Editor’s note: This story was first published in The Island Packet on Nov. 26, 1970. In honor of The newspaper’s 50th anniversary, we are republishing stories from our archive.
Can Arnie do it again, or... is this the year of the Golden Bear?
A year ago the Heritage Classic gave the state of South Carolina and everybody’s favorite Arnold Palmer a shot in the arm as far as golf was concerned.
South Carolina found itself in the limelight of the golfing world for the first time in modern history and Palmer proved to himself and the world that he was not, as some golf writers had put it, over the hill.
But the Heritage Classic was more than just meaningful to Arnold Palmer and the Palmetto State, it was also a much needed tonic for the PGA. It brought a glamour golf happening to the fall tour filling in a lengthy void. Students of the game feel that in years to come, the Heritage Classic and Hilton Head will take its place among the most anticipated golf events of the year alongside such established favorites as the Masters and Augusta, the Bing Crosby National Pro-Am and Pebble Beach, and the British Open and St. Andrew’s.
Harbour Town Golf Links, in fact, has been likened to St. Andrew’s and Pebble Beach, but Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus no doubt look to the day when the course they collaborate on will be recognized on its own merits.
The fact that Palmer conquered Harbour Town and won the inaugural Heritage Classic surprised no one but pleased just about everyone connected with the tournament. The press was delighted. If the sports writers of the world had been able to influence the outcome of that Heritage, it would have turned out just as it did.
What more appropriate way to bring big time golf back to South Carolina than to have the man considered by many as the top golfer of all time, winner of the golfer of the decade (60s), and the man who brought the dynamic charge to the golf course, capture the laurels.
But the story before the tournament was of a different hue. Palmer’s name did not appear in the headlines very often during the year of 1969 except under the dubious heading of “what’s happening to Arnie?”
His putting touch was gone, they said, and if you can’t putt you can’t win on the pro tour. It’s those clutch putts so often that determine a tournament champion.
Palmer went right out and took charge on the first day of play. He came in with a first round 68 to take the early lead and never relinquished it although tall Tom Weiskopf challenged him at the midway point by shooting a blistering 65 to set a course record and tie for the lead. But Weiskopf, who shot a first round 74, fell to the wiles of Harbour Town again on Saturday for another 74. He skied to a 77 on the final round as scores were generally high and finished in a tie for sixth with Dick Hart, Bob Murphy and Doug Sanders at 290, seven strokes off Arnie’s winning total of 283.
Weiskopf’s frustration going into the tournament must have been equal to Palmer’s. The lanky Ohion who played college golf with Nicklaus came so close so many times, but could not win a tournament.
Where Weiskopf faltered, Palmer remained steady. On a blustery day he shot his worst round, but everybody in contention had the same trouble. He came in with a final round of 74 but on that day only a handful of par scores were registered and Doug Ford and Jack Ewing were the only duo to break par, both with 70’s. Ford’s effort gave him sole possession of third place at 287 behind Bert Yancey and Dick Crawford who deadlocked for second at 286. Ewing managed a tie with Nicklaus for fifth with a 289 as Homero Blancas claimed fourth place money.
Nicklaus was not spectacular in vying for a championship on his “own” course, but one couldn’t help feeling the Golden Bear had many things on his mind. He was anxious to see how his peers reacted to a different approach to building golf courses for competition in America. He shot two rounds of par for his best scores. At the end of the third round he closed out with a double bogey on the 18th hole when a par would have given him a two-under 69 for the day and he would have been just two strokes off Palmer’s leading pace. He stroked in his last putt and quipped, “Who laid out this mess anyway.”
It was that kind of tournament for Nicklaus. You just do not normally expect that kind of jocularity from the Golden Bear when he’s in the midst of competition.
In winning it Palmer weathered pressure from three directions. People said the course favored his kind of game. That right off added to his handicaps. He had not won a tournament all year and yet he was being listed as one of the favorites along with Nicklaus.
“I had made some brash statements about my chances of winning,” Palmer said. “And the fact that Jack helped design the course put added pressure on me. I had three reasons to blow it.”
But Arnie didn’t blow it. He conquered the course that Jack built and is back for another crack at it.
If the pressure was great last year, it must be monumental this time around. Harbour Town is still the course Nicklaus helped to lay out. People are still saying it favors Arnie’s game. And the fact that Arnie is the defending champion and it would be a safe bet that he would still say he has three reasons to blow it.
But don’t count on it happening. Palmer will have to be a logical favorite this year too. And if Nicklaus was favored a year ago, he must be again. Already he has logged one of his finest years of professional golf competition. A victory at Harbour Town would be as sweet to him as bagpipes calling Rob Roy home.
But golf is an unpredictable game. Any one of 102 golfers could put it all together and take home the winner’s share. But whoever wins it, and in whatever fashion, Hilton Head Island will be the capital of the golf world during Thanksgiving Week, 1970.