Will fans be allowed in Harbour Town at this year’s RBC Heritage? Here’s what to know
RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing will be played this spring on Hilton Head Island with limited fans attending, according to a Thursday morning news release from the Heritage Classic Foundation.
The PGA Tour event is scheduled for April 12 through April 18, 2021.
With fewer tickets available for distribution, the Heritage Classic Foundation will work first with the tournament’s official partners, then open sales to past ticket buyers, according to the news release.
The skyboxes and private hospitality venues that usually surround the Harbour Town Golf Links course will be replaced with open air villages and concession areas.
Face coverings will be mandatory, along with social distancing, the news release said.
The course will be closed to spectators on Monday and Tuesday.
Given the limited number of spectators allowed, the Heritage Classic Foundation has created new tournament ticket types and pricing. All tickets and passes will be valid for one day only.
Hilton Head Mayor John McCann said Thursday that he has a “high level of comfort that the tournament will be presented safely.”
“Although we are still in the midst of a public health pandemic, tournament organizers and officials have demonstrated to us that they are taking every health and safety protocol into consideration as they plan the event,” he said.
2021 Heritage ticket options
- Wednesday Ticket: $20, Offers grounds access on Wednesday to watch the RBC Heritage Pro-Am. Includes access to on-course concession areas. Cameras are allowed.
- Plaid Pass: $150, One-day access to the tournament grounds and on-course concession areas. Available Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- Sponsor Village Ticket: $300, Offers one-day access to the tournament grounds plus entrance to the Sponsor Village, an exclusive area between the 17th green and 18th tee, which includes a video board, complimentary food and beverage and socially distanced bleacher seating. Available Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
- Youth Ticket: Free, Children ages 15 and under are admitted free with a ticketed adult. All children must have a youth ticket to access tournament grounds. Up to four youth tickets can be reserved with each adult ticket purchased. A limited number are available each day.
“We are looking forward to conducting the 2021 RBC Heritage Presented by Boeing to support educational and charitable initiatives and to enhance the quality of life and economic vitality in and around the State of South Carolina,” Tournament Director Steve Wilmot said in the release. “The 2021 tournament will look a little different than it normally does, but the experience will still be PLAIDTASTIC!”
2020 event
Last year, the PGA Tour event was scheduled for mid-April and was canceled on March 17. PGA Tour reversed course later in spring, and the event was held without fans June 18-21.
Nick Watney was the first PGA Tour player to test positive for COVID-19 and withdrew from Heritage after the first round to isolate.
The event didn’t bring the positive press Hilton Head typically depends on.
“Restaurants were teeming inside and out, bicyclists were swarming dedicated paths and side streets, hotels were running at or near capacity judging from the overflow parking lots, and Mom-and-Pop shops were bustling. ... Social distancing? A dismissed exercise. Masks? About a ratio of 1 to 10 against. It’s as if the coronavirus never reached these shores,” Steve DiMeglio wrote for GolfWeek.
Player Justin Thomas said “they’re seeming to not take it very seriously. It’s an absolute zoo around here. There’s people everywhere.”
Following the tournament, island leadership passed a face mask requirement for all commercial spaces on the island, which went into effect July 1 and has been extended to at least Feb. 3.
Still, tourism to Hilton Head boomed throughout the summer and fall seasons.
Pumping $105 million into the local economy, RBC Heritage is one of the biggest economic drivers in Beaufort County.
Around 135,000 people attended the 2019 event, according to the Heritage website. Of those spectators, the site says 62% were 50 years or older.
This story was originally published January 28, 2021 at 9:19 AM with the headline "Will fans be allowed in Harbour Town at this year’s RBC Heritage? Here’s what to know."
