Tied for the lead after regulation with Jordan Spieth at -17, Matt Fitzpatrick hit his 9-iron approach shot to within a foot on the 17th hole, the third playoff hole, winning the 2023 RBC Heritage with his tap-in birdie. It was his first regular PGA Tour event victory and backs up his major win at the 2022 US Open. Matt has been vacationing with his family to Hilton Head Island, South Carolina since he was six years old. He first appearance at the RBC Heritage was in 2014 where he made the cut and finished tied for 23rd as still an amateur.
This was the 55th playing of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing and has been played at Harbour Town Golf Links in Hilton Head Island since Arnold Palmer won the first tournament in 1969. The list of other past champions contains some of the greatest names in golf including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Nick Faldo, Greg Norman, and 5-time winner Davis Love III.
The tournament is hosted by the Heritage Classic Foundation. Since its inception in 1987, it has donated $50 million dollars to over 80 charities in South Carolina, supporting education, emergency housing, food insecurity, animal shelters, and much, much more. If you live in South Carolina, one of the unique ways you can support the foundation is through the purchase of Heritage Classic Foundation vanity license plates for your vehicle. Will you be within one and a half hours of Hilton Head during the tournament week? If so, sign up to join the waiting list to volunteer at the 2024 RBC Heritage!
A bridge allowed automobile traffic to Hilton Head Island beginning in 1956. Soon after, real estate developer Charles E. Fraser developed Sea Pines Resort. The resort has four golf courses including the Harbour Town Golf Links. Pete Dye designed the course along with the help of Jack Nicklaus. It is a classic Pete Dye design with plenty of risk/reward holes, narrow fairways and one of the smallest average green sizes on the PGA Tour, second only to Pebble Beach. The development of Sea Pines Resort, and the several other resorts that followed, cemented the South Carolina Lowcountry as a tourist destination.
Maybe surprising to some, I had never heard of the geographical area around Hilton Head Island referred to as the Lowcountry before this year, where it was mentioned several times on the coverage.
When I hear RBC Heritage and specifically Harbour Town Golf Links, I always think lighthouse. The circular Harbour Town yacht basin, inspired by a harbour in Portofino, Italy, is home to the Harbour Town lighthouse. It was built during the first RBC Heritage, with its frame being up behind the 18th green to see Arnold Palmer’s winning putt, and was completed in 1970. The red and white striped icon is 93 feet tall and has 110 steps.
Some dismissed the need for a lighthouse, yet it has become the most recognized landmark on Hilton Head and serves as a private aid for navigation.
God’s living word of the Bible serves as a guide helping us to navigate our lives.
Read the Bible and allow its wisdom to lead your life.