HILTON HEAD GOLF

FIRST TEE’S NEW GOLF CAMPUS OPEN TO THE PUBLIC

The word most often heard around First Tee of the Lowcountry’s new golf campus on Hilton Head Island isn’t “fore.”

It’s “core.”

That’s a referance to the core values the nonprofit organization teaches its young players. “Really, what the First Tee is about is instilling life-changing values in youth through the game of golf,” says executive director Brady Boyd.

GOLF COURSES GET WHAT THEY CRAVE MOST: LIGHT AND AIR FLOW

No one was injured. That was the best part of Hurricane Matthew as it blew through the Lowcountry in early October.

But the storm did leave a heck of a mess. There wasn’t a square foot anywhere that wasn’t covered with branches, leaves or sea grass. In every direction, a tree was blown over, snapped off or lodged in someone’s roof. In all, 2.5 million cubic yards of debris were hauled from Hilton Head Island alone, an amount that would fill up Carolina Panthers’ Bank of America Stadium five times over.

Bluffton is about the lose one of the area’s standout courses. Not anytime soon, but the time is still coming. The course doesn’t have the fame of Hilton Head Island’s Harbour Town Golf Links, but locals sure know about this hidden gem. Need a reminder? Does Hilton Head National ring any bells? Oh yeah, the course without any development on it. Even Palmetto Bluff can’t say that.

Youth development organization rolls out new facility and introduces new executive director Brady Boyd.

Brady Boyd’s story may sound familiar to most of you.

An Ohio native, he fell in love with Hilton Head Island during a visit and decided he wanted to stay, spending his days golfing and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Oldfield Club has retained its designation as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary through the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses, an Audubon International program. Golf course naturalist Jill Kombrink led the effort to maintain sanctuary status on the course. Oldfield Club was designated as a Certified Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary in 2004 and is one of 892 courses in the world to be designated as such.

Experience Green recently received a commendation from the Town of Hilton Head Island for its community leadership and recognition as the winner of the first International Sustainable Golf Destination of the Year Award for the Hilton Head Island area. Experience Green was founded in 2010 with a scope of service encompassing Hilton Head and greater Beaufort County.

The PGA Tour recently announced that Hilton Head Heroes, a Hilton Head Island-based nonprofit beneficiary of the RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing, was a 2016 PGA Tour Charity of the Year finalist. The group was awarded a $5,000 grant from the PGA Tour.

"We are honored to have the PGA Tour recognize the impact we make to families who have children fighting life threatening illnesses,” said Lindy Russell, founder of Hilton Head Heroes. “This donation will allow us to treat more families to a vacation of a lifetime and give them a welcomed break from the realities of having a sick child.”

Berkeley Hall Club senior golf instructor Krista Dunton was recently named among GOLF Magazine’s biennial list of “Top 100 Teachers in America” for 2017-18. Since its inception in 1991, GOLF Magazine’s distinctive ranking has become the industry standard for teaching excellence. New members and the complete list will appear in the March print issue, and online at Golf.com. Dunton has appeared on the Top 100 Teachers in America list since 2011. 

Long Cove Club, in partnership with Darius Rucker and the University of South Carolina, is hosting the sixth annual Darius Rucker Intercollegiate Golf Tournament presented by The Kroger Co. and Reynolds Consumer Products. The tournament will be held March 3-5 at Long Cove Club’s nationally acclaimed golf course on Hilton Head Island. Top teams from around the country will travel to the island to compete for the title.