It’s hard to imagine now to the multitudes of tourists who flock to its magnificent beaches, and play golf on its world class courses, but just 38 years ago, Hilton Head Island, S.C., was a sleepy coastal island that was more marsh than magic.
Promoters say Palmer’s surprise 1969 victory at the first Heritage Classic literally put the island on the map. “Palmer saved us,” recalled John Gettys Smith in 1994. Smith was a public relations executive for Sea Pines Resort, the island tip development that became the model for hundreds of other coastal Southern gated communities eager to capitalize on northerners’ love for sunshine and golf. “His win brought us instant recognition.”
Harbour Town was the first golf course design that Jack Nicklaus, under the headline tutelage of Pete Dye, ever worked on. With its landmark lighthouse as the backdrop for the 18th green along Calebogie Sound, it remains one of the top golf courses in the country. But, as with many fledgling tournaments, it was having trouble attracting attention for the tournament, then held during the busy Thanksgiving weekend.
A last-minute withdrawal left promoters scrambling to fill a high-profile spot. They called Palmer. He agreed to play, but only on the condition he could land his plane at the still-under-construction airport. It was arranged and photographers snapped pictures of Palmer carrying his golf bag from his plane.
Columnist Jim Littlejohn of the Hilton Head News recalled in 1991 how veteran golf writer Charles Price told naysayers Palmer’s mere participation would assure success. Littlejohn wrote, “Everyone kept asking Price who’d be playing and he’d always say, ‘Nicklaus will play in it because he helped design it and with Nicklaus and Palmer, you won’t need anyone else.’”
Palmer did more than play. Coming off a four-week tour layoff, he vowed to put persistent putting woes “out of my mind or die trying.” In addition, he’d been doing 50 situps each evening and again in the morning to strengthen his ailing hip. A 1-under par 70 gave him a three-stroke lead going into the final day and brought with it a flood of national reporters to the remote island to write another series of euphoric “Palmer’s back!” stories.
He wound up fending off Richard Crawford and Bert Yancey, and did a mock stagger across the 18th green into the arms of Nicklaus before being given the $20,000 first place check. Pictures from the victory show a grinning Palmer holding the trophy with the skeleton of what was the still-unfinished landmark lighthouse in the background.
Smith later recalled: “Our little press tent was barely able to handle the huge surge of reporters from all over the country. But by Monday there were stories all around the world about Palmer’s big win at Harbour Town. It’s impossible to calculate what the Palmer win meant for Hilton Head.”