Arnold Palmer needed the win. Sea Pines Founder Charles Fraser needed the publicity. When the first Heritage Classic Tournament was played, right down Lighthouse Road from Swallowtail at Sea Pines, there was drama behind the great golf for which the RBC Heritage came to be known. Folks who stay here at Swallowtail are just about as close as you can get to the action. In fact, they’re staying in a place that is as much a part of Fraser’s vision for Hilton Head Island as the tournament itself.

You see, Swallowtail was part of the original design for Sea Pines, and the founder put us right here in the middle of the “Miracle Mile,” halfway from the Yacht Basin to South Beach. We’ve been in the center of it all ever since.

What a Friend Found

Just a few years ago, a friend named Bill Carson found an old Bell & Howell home movie camera, back in the closet where it had gone unnoticed for years. Inside the Bell & Howell was honest-to-goodness footage of the very first Heritage Classic trophy being awarded to Arnold Palmer. Despite the legends alive in the footage, the scene was more casual than today. It is almost as if people didn’t expect things to get this far.

In fact, there in the background is the Harbour Town Lighthouse – topped out and framed, but no walls, no stripes yet, still under construction. Somebody said the Lighthouse looked like a tall child still in his pajamas – wearing a hat. The “throwback” look of everything reminds us that Hilton Head Island didn’t become “Golf Island” by chance. It was a work of vision and perseverance. Every year about this time, we are reminded. And here in Swallowtail at Sea Pines we’re grateful to be an original part of this dream come true.

A Real Celebration

What passes for winter is past, here on our subtropical sea island. The spirit of the Heritage is partly a celebration of long, sunny days, green grass, shady palms, stately oaks, and gentle breeze. It’s said that the only people who enjoy this Heritage season more than our guests and visitors is the people who live here year-round. And the only people who enjoy it more than our residents are the PGA professionals who come to play. One player told us that bringing his family here to the Heritage, the week after Augusta, is like playing in the Super Bowl and then going to Disney World. They look forward to it every year.

If the pro’s advice makes sense to you – to have something you can look forward to every year – then there’s a guy you should talk to. Call George Flathmann at 843-671-5551, and ask about Heritage Vacations. It’s much easier than you think, to own your own piece of the dream that became America’s favorite vacation island. Find out about the lifetime memories waiting for you in Swallowtail at Sea Pines – the center of the original Hilton Head Island Dream.