Heritage officials already looking ahead | News

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, SC (WTOC)- With 364 days until the 45^th RBC Heritage, there is still a buzz on Hilton Head Island, across the Lowcountry and throughout South Carolina about the 44^th Heritage at Harbour Town.

The competition might have been a little anti-climactic, with Carl Pettersson cruising to a five-shot win, but that didn't seem to matter because there were so many highs everywhere else last week.

"There's a new sense of celebration and a new energy,'' said Heritage tournament director Steve Wilmot. "I mean, it was a phenomenal week.''

After two years of worrying about the tournament's future, fans, Heritage officials and even players were able to relax and enjoy one of the best weeks of the PGA Tour season, just like they always have at Harbour Town.

And having restored the atmosphere familiar from the Heritage's past, it is easy now to look optimistically to the tournament's future.

"Yesterday, I met with Boeing and RBC during the course of the day to talk about next year, which is pretty amazing where we were last year and we're already talking about next year,'' said Wilmot. "It really was a phenomenal week in many ways, mother nature was on our side, we needed it, we deserved it with everything this community, the state of South Carolina and the PGA Tour have been through the last couple of years.''

Wilmot and his staff hardly stopped working in the first 24 hours following Pettersson's final putt.

They were at Harbour Town until 10 p.m. Sunday night and back at 6 a.m. Monday, breaking down the tournament set-up.

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