Champions Tour pros share Harbour Town memories

text size

Getty Images

PGA TOUR players have walked the fairways of Harbour Town for over four decades.

This week's PGA TOUR stop is Harbour Town Golf Links, where the Verizon Heritage has been held for 41 years. When Phil Stambaugh asked several players to share their favorite Hilton Head memories, here's what some current Champions Tour players said:

Simpson

"My family had a summer home there at Sea Pines when I was growing up and we would always go back when the Heritage event was played in the fall. In the early years, the tournament was held on Thanksgiving weekend. As a kid, I would follow the players each day until the last group cleared the 13th green. After that, I'd ride my bike back to our house, change into my swimming trunks and then ride back down to the lagoons that were located by the par-3s at Harbour Town. I remember using a pair of athletic tube socks to hold the brand new golf balls I retrieved from the lagoons and by the end of the tournament, I thought I had made out like a bandit. In the early days, they sold only 5,000 tickets and you could follow Jack Nicklaus or Arnold Palmer with a maximum of 100 people in the gallery. It was great, almost like you were getting a private lesson. That's what I remember most about my time at Hilton Head." -- Tim Simpson, a four-time winner on the PGA TOUR

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Roberts

"I remember finishing very strong with the putter in 1996. On the last two holes at Harbour Town, anything can happen and I came to the 17th tee that year with a three-stroke lead on Mark O'Meara. He proceeded to hit it stiff at that tough par-3 hole. Even though I left my tee shot 25 feet short of the hole, I ended up making my birdie putt to keep a three-stroke advantage which was huge. A three-stroke lead going to the last hole at Harbour Town is almost insurmountable, but if it would have been just two strokes, anything could have happened. O'Meara hit it close again at the last hole and I left my approach shot about 40 feet from the hole. I holed the final putt and as I found out later, that birdie gave me the tournament record score of 19-under-par." -- Loren Roberts, a winner of eight PGA TOUR events, including the 1996 Verizon Heritage Classic, as well as nine Champions Tour titles

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Strange

"I never really played well at Harbour Town. I think I was always exhausted after The Masters. The one thing that stands out was how different those courses were in back-to-back weeks. Going from Augusta National, where you had big greens and wide fairways, to down the road to Harbour Town, where you had tight fairways and greens no bigger than the size of a table top, was a real shock to your eyes. To me, that was always the biggest impression when you stood on that first tee after playing at Augusta the week before." -- Curtis Strange, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame with 17 PGA TOUR titles, including the 1988 and 1989 U.S. Open

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

"Even though I won there three times, the golf at Harbour Town was almost secondary to me. I remember winning the third year it was played. When we started, the tournament was played in November and the course was quite difficult -- a very rough, forbidding place. There were not many homes and condominiums built yet. What I remember the most were the people most and how hospitable they were to me every year. In the early years, it seemed like we'd always get some rain and I bet I went to that same house behind the 11th green about half a dozen times. It got to where they expected me to come in. No matter where I was on the golf course, if it started raining and there was a delay, I'd find my way to that same house. The people there were so kind and enthusiastic." -- Hale Irwin, a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame who won 20 times on the PGA TOUR, including three victories at the Verizon Heritage Classic, and 45 Champions Tour titles

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Sutton

"What stands out the most to me was that it was the complete opposite of Augusta. I was more comfortable in that environment at Hilton Head. I never really had much success at Augusta and always looked forward to going to Harbour Town the week after. It was such a relief to me. I was more of an accuracy-type player than a bomber and you've got to think your way around there. In 1985, Bernhard Langer won the Heritage the week after winning his first Masters Tournament. I remember missing a playoff that year by one stroke. I shot 72 in the first round and bogeyed the last six holes coming in that day." -- Hal Sutton, a 14-time winner on the PGA TOUR with victories at the 1983 and 2000 PLAYERS as well as the 1983 PGA Championship

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Morgan

"I remember having some good tournaments at Harbour Town but it always seemed like it was a difficult course to score on because of the trees and all of the trouble. For me, the most significant thing happened in 1995. I shot 62 that year in the third round, playing the four par-3s in 5-under! After making birdie at No. 4, I holed a 7-iron shot at No. 7 and then birdied both of the par-3s on the back. The score matched my career-low round on the PGA TOUR, but the way I did it was quite unusual." -- Gil Morgan, winner of seven PGA TOUR victories and 25 Champions Tour titles