Heritage notebook: Seen and heard at Harbour Town on Friday
Boeing Dreamliner flyover set for Saturday
There will be a Boeing 787 Dreamliner flyover at this year’s RBC Heritage. The tradition began when Boeing became the presenting sponsor of the tournament.
This year’s flyover is expected around 4 p.m. Saturday at the 18th fairway, depending on weather and final flight certificates.
The particular jet, built by Boeing at its North Charleston facility, will be delivered to Vietnam Airlines later this month, the airline’s seventh 787.
Kelly Davis
Boeing celebrates 100th at RBC Heritage
Boeing’s history is on display in a tent by the Harbour Town clubhouse during the RBC Heritage.
“It’s really a history of America,” said Ray Conner, vice president of Boeing and president and CEO of Boeing Commercial Airplanes.
Boeing is celebrating its 100th anniversary this year. A large traveling exhibition has already been on display at the Smithsonian and in Charleston, where the company produced its 100th 787 Dreamliner this year.
Videos shown in the tent outline the age or aerospace, from William E. Boeing’s first wood and canvas plane to the air travel of today.
The company’s web site introduces him this way:
“William E. Boeing was a private person, a visionary, a perfectionist, and a stickler for the facts. The wall of his outer office bore a placard that read: ’2329 Hippocrates said: 1. There is no authority except facts. 2. Facts are obtained by accurate observation. 3. Deductions are to be made only from facts. 4. Experience has proved the truth of these rules.’ “
The Boeing engineer who volunteered to work the tent on Thursday said the companies greatest asset is the “large-scale integration” it takes to coordinate the 2 million parts that make an airplane be in the right place, at the right time, for properly-trained workers using the right equipment.
Also on display in the tent are Callaway XR 16 drivers and woods designed in partnership with Boeing engineers to reduce drag.
David Lauderdale
Clothes make the man (shy)
Jon Neuman may have been wearing a plaid jacket at RBC Heritage presented by Boeing on Friday, but he wasn’t looking for any attention.
The 33-year-old bachelor was dressed by his brother and the six other members of his stag party, each of them wearing red tartan socks, golf caps and sunglasses. When approached by a reporter, he quickly said, “No comment!” and booked it down the 18th hole.
“He doesn’t like this kind of thing so we had to make him look ridiculous,” Ben Neuman, 35, said.
Jon Neuman, though, does like golf. The group flew into Savannah on Thursday from Boston, Chicago, New York and Omaha, spent Friday at Harbour Town Golf Links and the Calibogue Club between the 17th and 18th greens, and will play The Club at Savannah Harbor on Saturday.
He was supposed to wear plaid pants as well for Friday’s festivities, but the online purchase didn’t quite fit, so another friend wore them.
When the other partygoers where asked whether they liked plaid, too, one said, “I’m still drunk from last night.”
Rebecca Lurye
Local firefighters serve up hotdogs for a good cause
Members of the Hilton Head Firefighters Association took a short break from saving lives during the RBC Heritage to serve snacks and raise money for charity.
The group operates a concession stand between the first and ninth greens.
Hilton Head firefighter and association member Kyle Ramsey said Friday that “100 percent of the proceeds from (the stand) are donated back to the community.”
One of the major beneficiaries of the money generated at RBC Heritage is Operation R&R, a nonprofit group that helps military families reconnect after a family member returns from combat deployment.
The association has a series of other fundraisers throughout the year, but the concession stand is the association’s “largest money-maker,” Ramsey said.
“Last year we brought in more than $30,000 after all of our expenses were paid,” he said.
Lucas High
Cold pours, priceless views at 19th Hole
A few men walked passed security and left the tournament grounds Friday morning and into the 19th Hole bar and concession stand.
“We heard this was the place to get cold beer,” one said to the bartender, Dick Farmer, who replied, “The coldest you’re gonna find.”
The bar and stand, where people can also buy hot dogs, pulled pork and other snacks, benefits the Sunset Rotary Club of Hilton Head and the Boys and Girls Club of the Lowcountry, of which Farmer is a past president.
The rotary club has run the watering hole just past the 18th hole for more than a decade, bringing in thousands of dollars each year. And the volunteers get to enjoy one of the best views of the water from their places behind the glossy, wooden bar.
“Look!” Farmer said. “It doesn’t get better than that. But the best part is you get to make people happy They’re never angry when they’re drinking beer.”
Bill Lawrence, also of the Boy’s and Girl’s club, agreed.
“If you can’t laugh, you don’t belong here.”
Rebecca Lurye
Chappell plays well in front of family, friends
Kevin Chappell, who finished his round Friday at six under par, brought his own rooting section of friends and family with him to Harbour Town Golf Links.
“I play my best golf when I’m out there smiling and being jovial,” he said. “I think having family here helps me get away from the game and I can forget that I’m here on a work trip.”
Chappell praised the golf course and RBC Heritage atmosphere.
“I love the feel of being here and being able to walk places,” he said. “The people are great and the atmosphere is fantastic.”
Lucas High
Autographs a sort of currency for kids at RBC Heritage
It’s a contest between the kids scurrying around Harbour Town to see who can collect the most autographs.
There are strategies to the game.
Do you follow one group hoping to get a signature from a top player like Jason Day? Or do you go for volume and stake a spot where the pros pass through regularly?
By Friday afternoon, Ryan Boyd had racked up about a dozen signatures scrawled onto his white RBC Heritage hat.
“We usually just stand here and wait for them (to finish their round),” the New Jersey native visiting his grandparents on spring break said.
Unfortunately for Boyd, he couldn’t snag Day’s autograph as he walked by.
“I was a little bit disappointed.”
Lucas High
Your Guide to the RBC Heritage
This story was originally published April 15, 2016 at 7:49 AM with the headline "Heritage notebook: Seen and heard at Harbour Town on Friday."