Heritage Classic Foundation to donate 8,400 golf balls to The First Tee

The Heritage Classic Foundation on Friday will deliver 700 dozen golf balls to the organizers of The First Tee of Hilton Head Island Chapter.

In July, the Boys & Girls Club of Hilton Head Island entered into an agreement with the The First Tee program to establish a chapter on the grounds of the Boys & Girls Club.

The golf balls were used in April on the practice range by the PGA Tour professionals during the RBC Heritage presented by Boeing.

The First Tee chapter plans to operate on 15 acres on Gumtree Road leased from the town Hilton Head Island for $1 a year. A proposed practice facility in the property, estimated to cost $793,000, would include a driving range, chipping area, practice green, fairway and pro shop, according to drawings submitted to the town. The public could use it when not occupied by the club's programs.

Club officials say they have been crafting a business plan to make lessons affordable and raise money for a practice facility, which would be built within the next 12 to 18 months.

The Hilton Head program will be First Tee's only chapter in Beaufort County and its seventh in South Carolina. It has about 200 chapters throughout the U.S., as well as six in foreign countries, according to its website.

This story was originally published November 14, 2013 at 3:37 PM.