Hilton Head’s biggest party makes a comeback: Newly vaccinated celebrate at RBC Heritage
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RBC Heritage 2021
With limited spectators for the 2021 event, RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing is Hilton Head’s first big, in-person event since the COVID-19 pandemic began. The Island Packet is your guide for updates and information throughout the tournament.
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Perched at the seventh hole of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing tournament, veteran spectator Bradley Oehlmann summed up the difference between normal years and 2021.
“Around big players like Dustin Johnson, it feels pretty much the same,” said the Bluffton resident, who has attended the tournament for more than 20 years. “For smaller competitors, the crowd is very different.”
There was an enormous ebb and flow in the crowds gathered Thursday, which marked the first round of competition. RBC Heritage cut attendance numbers by 80%, meaning that about 27,000 fans will attend this year rather than the usual 135,000.
But despite the slashed attendance numbers, crowds of 100-plus spectators congealed and bottlenecked around players like rising star Will Zalatoris, while other trios played through with just a dozen or so people watching.
Cathy Robine, who serves as co-captain of the 7th hole volunteers when she’s not doing school business as a member of Beaufort County’s school board, said she’d had to send volunteers home on Tuesday and Wednesday: “It was dragging.”
But plenty of volunteers remained on Thursday, carrying signs that said “MASKS” in addition to ones asking for silence during golfer’s swings.
On the fifth hole, that reverent silence was broken by the sounds of a home roof renovation.
But tournament veteran Karen Maddison, who was watching the golfers there from her friend Joanne Dunbar’s house, said it was still quieter than usual in “the greatest place ever.” The two women have attended the tournament 26 and 20 times, respectively.
Dunbar had set out champagne and bellinis for Maddison and two other friends watching at her home. All four had just finished receiving their vaccinations for COVID-19, giving them another reason to celebrate.
“We’re celebrating these vaccines,” she said. “This is the coming-out party for us. It’s kind of a return to normal.”
Robin Stump, who was renting a house nearby for her 15th tournament, said the same.
She and nine friends had traveled from Franklin, Tennessee, to watch the golfers, though she said she normally brought more people.
“We just always have such a wonderful time and love the experience,” Stump said. “Once we felt like we were appropriately vaccinated, we decided that we definitely wanted to come back.”
And for tournament first-timer Cyndy Breitzka, the magic was there.
“It’s very nice because it’s a little bit smaller crowds,” she said. “And we just saw an eagle from (golfer Billy) Horschel!”
This story was originally published April 15, 2021 at 3:00 PM.
