Course Preview and Fits: RBC Heritage

Another fantastic iteration of The Masters is in the books, and rather than a throwaway week, the PGA Tour continues its schedule from the last three seasons, running directly into another signature event at the RBC Heritage. Given its signature-event status, it should come as no surprise that the field will be stacked. 19 of the world’s top 25 players will be in attendance for the four-round, no-cut signature event.

The Course:

Harbour Town is once again set to host the RBC Heritage as a par-71, 7,243-yard layout with three par 5s, four par 3s, and 11 par 4s. The grass will be a rye overseed on the tees, rough, and fairways with a poa overseed on the greens. Designed by Pete Dye in 1969, Harbour Town underwent a significant renovation just six months ago, rebuilding and restoring all the greens and bunkers across the golf course. While Davis Love III oversaw the restoration, we should still expect to see a golf course that embraces the architectural features that made Dye famous: uncomfortably shaped holes, tight corridors, railroad ties, and an emphasis on angles. While these things are uncommon to traditional PGA Tour venues nowadays, they ask different questions than many bomb-and-gouge setups players have become accustomed to. Since 2019, driving distance across the field has averaged just over 270 yards here, one of the lowest figures across all Tour venues in that span. Most of this is because Dye takes the driver out of players’ hands at times. Either through unnatural tightening of the hole the further you hit it off the tee, or forced landing zones because of hazards, tree lines, dog legs, or trouble that causes the entire field to hit toward the same landing area.