RBC Heritage will be signature event on PGA Tour next year

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (WTOC) - The RBC Heritage has been named one of eight signature events on the PGA tour this upcoming year.

It’s a designation that solidifies the local tournament as one of the biggest in the world, and as our Tyler Manion reports... the folks involved say this isn’t just a big deal for the golf community, but the entire area.

Isn’t your normal mid-August weekday at the Heritage Classic Foundation.

“I’ve gotten a ton of people asking when tickets are going on sale”

The new signature designation brings Hilton Head’s tournament to a new level.

“We’ve always been looked upon as almost a step down from the majors being an invitational, and now we’re being recognized on the next level below a major,” Steve Wilmot said.

Joining us from a PGA tour event in Memphis is tournament director Steve Wilmot, who says our area is the talk of the golf world thanks to this distinction.

“The players, the caddies, rules officials, PGA tour officials everyone’s excited about seeing us in April.”

Last year’s tournament brought out some of the best players in the world, this year though the top 50 are set to come... launching our area’s businesses into a spotlight no advertising budget could imagine.

“We’re getting coverage nationally as well as internationally and that’s advertising and marketing that certainly we can’t buy,” Bill Miles said.

Here at the chamber of commerce the PGA recognition and increase in demand that comes with it, are challenges they say they’re ready for.

“We think we can continue to grow and take it even to another level.”

Our local business community isn’t the only one that’ll benefit from bigger profits.

As many of you know the tournament that takes place right here in Harbour Town puts millions of dollars into area charities and as those donations grow, a lot more people win than they guy who puts on the tartan jacket in April.

Tickets are not on sale for the 2024 RBC Heritage just yet, but the foundation tells us information on when they will be is coming soon.

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