Over 40 years after the golfing legend put the island on the map with his victory in the first Heritage Classic, he held a clinic and greeted fans at the grand reopening of the Wexford Plantation golf course, on what Hilton Head Island Mayor Drew Laughlin proclaimed to be “Arnold Palmer Day.”
October 20, 2011 was proclaimed to be “Arnold Palmer Day” in Hilton Head Island, S.C. by the town’s mayor, Drew Laughlin, in conjunction with the golfing legend’s return to the island for festivities surrounding the grand reopening of the Wexford Plantation golf course, which carries the signature stamp of the Arnold Palmer Design Company (APDC).
“Our town and community are committed to excellence in all that we do,” said Mayor Laughlin as part of the festivities, “and nothing exemplifies this better than Arnold Palmer and Wexford’s new golf course.”
Palmer landed on the island aboard his Cessna Citation, accompanied by members of his design team, and following a tour of the new Wexford golf course that now bears his name, struck a ceremonial tee shot and entertained during a lunch and media event.
Palmer first made his mark on Hilton Head in 1969, when he captured the PGA TOUR’s inaugural Heritage Classic on then brand-new Harbour Town Golf Links. His victory lent invaluable credibility to not only a tournament and golf course, but promoted the growth of the entire island.
Now, APDC has added to Palmer’s legacy on the island by putting its signature stamp on the Wexford Plantation golf course, part of a 525-acre golf, yachting and tennis community in the heart of Hilton Head’s bustling south end.
The 18-hole Wexford course, originally designed by Willard C. Byrd, opened in 1983. Wexford celebrated its first 25 years in the spring of 2008, and recently spent $3.9 million renovating its Coastal-style clubhouse. The club shut down its golf course for renovation in April so it could be reopened as an Arnold Palmer Signature Course.
Considering Wexford’s diverse membership, which includes working professionals, 100-plus children, active boaters, tennis players, croquet players, golfers and retirees, the club wanted a golf course where three generations of members could play and have fun.
APDC oversaw an imaginative, complete remodel of the golf course, without sacrificing its character, that has allowed the course to fit the property naturally and provide the layout with a more timeless feel and style. Palmer’s design company transformed the playing strategy, characteristics and look of the Wexford layout, while also incorporating design changes that have improved drainage and will reduce maintenance costs.
“Our intent was to create a new design in the spirit and tradition of America’s classic golf courses and bring a modern interpretation or twist to their enduring standard,” said APDC Senior Architect Brandon Johnson, lead designer on the Wexford project.
Added APDC Senior Architect Thad Layton: “Wexford is by no means a replica course. We took inspiration from certain places, and our inspiration for the Wexford Plantation remodel was founded in traditional and classic golf course architecture.”
The Wexford renovation encompassed repositioning and reorienting tee complexes, significant bunker removal and strategic old/new bunker placement and modifying, along with tree removal, to increase sun exposure and widen fairway corridors. APDC also added more character to the greens and surrounding complexes, which now provide an enjoyable challenge featuring roll-offs, roll-ons and strong visuals.
“We wanted to give the golfer several options of play off the tee and around the greens, to cause him or her to think about their upcoming shot,” Johnson said. “By significantly reducing the amount of bunker space, repositioning them in more visible and strategic locations and widening the fairways, we were able to add a previously missing strategic element to the golf course, while allowing more room and avenues of play for the higher handicap player.”
The new design winds through a display of stately Southern residences within the plantation, and is blended with the natural setting to provide a meticulously maintained journey through tall, majestic oaks and stately pines, over intimate ponds and next to expansive coastal marshland.
Following the APDC renovation, each hole at Wexford now presents a distinctive look, challenge, or strategy in the form of risk-and-reward situations, heroic shots, preferred angles of approach or delicate plays that require thought, imagination and a deft touch. Width may be friend or foe, depending on the slopes and angles between a golfer and their target.
APDC also renovated the Wexford driving range and golf practice area, mirroring the renovation of the golf course by adding enhanced tee space and target greens, while also improving visibility.
While Wexford will stand as the only Arnold Palmer Signature Course on Hilton Head, this will not be Palmer’s first design in the Lowcountry. APDC also designed Crescent Pointe in Bluffton, S.C., along with internationally renowned Old Tabby Links on nearby Spring Island.
“We are delighted to be back in the Lowcountry to create a special and unique golf experience for the membership at Wexford,” said Arnold Palmer. “We hope the strategy, options and variety of play challenge your intellect and allow you to find the best ways to navigate the course based on your personal game. Wexford is a special place to us and we enjoyed the responsibility of remaking this exceptional club.”
At the October 20 reopening, Palmer was “cheered and celebrated by several hundred fans that turned out to revel in his every move,” the Associated Press reported, “reflecting the undying affection Palmer gained [from] the region when he won the first-ever Heritage Classic in 1969, bringing national exposure to a largely unknown recreation area.”
Palmer told the crowd that he and his late wife, Winnie, loved the area and considered relocating to Hilton Head before choosing Bay Hill, Fla., which hosts Palmer’s annual PGA Tour event each March.
“Winning here was very important in many ways,” he said. “I loved Hilton Head and really considered settling here.”
At the event, Palmer took a tour of all 18 holes, then put on a clinic for spectators. These days, the 82-year-old Palmer said he barely plays and does not practice the way he used to, as his swing-speed has slowed significantly.
“Someone asked, ‘Why don’t you have your spikes on?’” he said. “I don’t even need them.”
Still, Palmer hit several crisp shots and took questions from the gallery. He was asked about his start in golf and recounted how at 2, he began going to the course with his golf-professional father, Deacon, because of Palmer’s newborn sister. His father fashioned clubs out of small sticks for his toddler to grip and swing. A few years later, Palmer was playing every day and practicing as often as he could.
He’s now made some sacrifices because of age, using hybrid irons instead of the blades he struck as a younger man. Palmer said he still puts together his clubs from pieces sent to him.
Palmer kept urging those ringing his clinic area to push back, joking that he couldn’t be sure what direction his shots might fly. He needn’t have worried, striking the ball solidly on the new practice range, which was built in January and February.
About his only wayward ball came on the ceremonial opening drive on the first tee, when he hooked his shot into the trees. “No, that doesn’t count,” said Palmer. The crowd egged him on for a mulligan, which Palmer struck much better to land in the fairway.
The driver will be framed and hung in Wexford Plantation’s clubhouse.
After Hilton Head Mayor Laughlin read the proclamation making Thursday, “Arnold Palmer Day,” on the island, Palmer said, “I don’t know that I deserve it, but it’s fun.”
Palmer said he followed the Heritage tournament’s recent search for a replacement title sponsor after Verizon left, and did what he could to encourage businesses to look at backing the tournament. RBC stepped in this past June to sponsor the PGA Tour event the next five years.
Palmer also said that he keeps up with the game and enjoys watching young, rising stars like Webb Simpson and Rory McIlroy reinvent the sport.
He did add that he wishes the business side of the industry was as strong as what he sees on the PGA Tour. He said his design company is down from 29 people to three, as the demand for courses has declined. APDC is among those bidding to design the Olympic golf course when the sport makes its debut at the Rio de Janeiro Games in 2016.
He also said that he hopes golf’s young bombers don’t make smaller, tighter layouts like Harbour Town Golf Links, site of Palmer’s Heritage victory 42 years ago, obsolete. Palmer remembered the narrow fairways and small greens designed by Pete Dye and Jack Nicklaus.
“It was so narrow, I had to walk single-file with my caddie,” he said. “But the straightness I hit it with is really what afforded me the championship.”
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