RBC Heritage tees up 2022 event with fan experience improvements top of mind

Then: Steve Wilmot signed on to assist tournament director Mike Stevens stage the PGA Tour’s Heritage Classic on Hilton Head Island in summer 1986. Office personnel could hold a staff meeting in a room the size of a broom closet.

Now: Wilmot, who became tournament director in 1997, oversees a staff that has grown exponentially with full-timers supplemented by interns, and the office is a beehive of activity.

Then: In Wilmot’s first Heritage in 1987, PGA Tour players competed for shares of the $650,000 purse and Davis Love III earned the winner’s swag, $117,000.

Now: In Wilmot’s 36th tournament over the Harbour Town Golf Links, $8 million will be on the line in the RBC Heritage, and the winner will bank more than Stewart Cink’s $1.278 million haul from a year ago. The player who finishes 15th will probably match Love’s 1987 check.

Times change, obviously.

Title sponsors have come and gone, thus creating multiple names — but almost always including “Heritage.” They even played one year without a company supplying the financial wherewithal that keeps the tournament operating. One generation’s great players have been replaced by the next generation’s stars.

But one constant remains.

“We always want to enhance the experience for the fans, to make the next tournament the best yet,” Wilmot said. “That will happen this year. The staff’s energized and things are happening. We’re absolutely back, full speed ahead.”

Like with many other endeavors, the coronavirus outbreak played havoc with the tournament. The Tour canceled spring tournaments in 2020, then a spectator-less Heritage emerged in the re-configured schedule. Safety precautions limited the 2021 event to 5,000 fans a day.

“We just wanted to get to ’22,” Wilmot said.

That tournament’s 54th edition is about two months away, April 14-17, and the most noticeable change will be in ticket distribution. All tickets will be handled virtually, “a project that has been four or five years in the making,” Wilmot said.

More significant to fans at Harbour Town: Lines will be shorter — the product of the Wilmot’s “enhance the experience” credo.

“We look back after every tournament and critique, seeing what we can do better,” he said. “Obviously, ’20 (without fans) and ’21 (limited spectators) aren’t good measuring sticks, so we go back to ’19.

“We realized on Saturday in 2019 we couldn’t get another person on the course. Traffic, parking, gallery movement, lines at concession stands and restrooms ... those things did not make for an optimum experience. We’ve come off that number of tickets.”

With that in mind, plus keeping health and safety concerns at the forefront, “We’ve planned a little differently,” Wilmot said. “Last year with limited fans provided a different vibe, but we couldn’t survive financially that small. We definitely will have an enhanced value for our fans in April.”

The tournament director takes a lesson from the changes through the years and “expects some hiccups” from the move to digital tickets. “Spectators will get something wearable like a badge for identification,” he said, “but virtual tickets are the future.”

In terms of tickets, he reports sales are ahead of the 2019 pace, and “they really pick up in February and March,” he said. “We’re where we’ve planned for” in sales.

Officials have not announced any players who have committed to compete this year, but golfers sponsored by RBC are almost certain to be in the field. They include Dustin Johnson, Jim Furyk, Webb Simpson, Matt Kuchar, Corey Conners and Adam Hadwin. The South Carolina contingent likely will include 2017 champion Wesley Bryan, Kevin Kisner, Lucas Glover and Matt NeSmith.

Be sure the 54th Heritage will crown a worthy champion. That’s one thing that hasn’t changed since a guy named Arnold Palmer won the first one in 1969.

Chip shots. The 2022 Augusta Women’s National Amateur field will include five players with South Carolina connections: Jensen Castle, West Columbia/Kentucky; Anna Morgan, Spartanburg/Furman; Hannah Darling, USC; Ivy Shepherd, Clemson; and Savannah Grewal, Clemson. ... The South Carolina Junior Golf Association will introduce the Players Series this year that will provide the opportunity for juniors to develop their skills and earn exemptions into the organization’s major championships. Priority will be given to boys 13-18 outside of the state ranking’s top 75 and all girls 13-18. ... The Daniel Island Club, located near Charleston, has been selected the host site for two USGA championships — the 2023 U.S. Junior Amateur and the 2026 U.S. Women’s Amateur Four-Ball.