Arriving to the tee at the par-3 17th at Harbour Town Golf Links, the Pete Dye design is no longer cordoned off by an army of massively tall Hilton Head pine trees. What becomes visible is the money view that has made this South Carolina course an iconic stop in American golf and the postcard photo opp that drives the RBC Heritage. I had the chance to play Harbour Town on a Saturday morning in July 2012. I asked for, and got, an early tee time. In fact, I got the first time that day -- a 7:30 a.m. start that would set the pace behind me. But, first, I had to get there. I wasn't staying on Hil ..read more

When someone wins the RBC Heritage at Harbour Town Golf Links in South Carolina, they'll not only get a trophy and a boat load of money (nautical joke), they'll also slip on a plaid jacket. Since the Hilton Head Island tournament almost always falls the week after the Masters on the PGA Tour schedule, golf fans probably figure there's some jacket envy of the Masters green jacket. However, the history of the plaid jacket at the RBC Heritage suggests that's not the case. When organizers started the tournament over Thanksgiving weekend in 1969, there were no plaid jackets. Rather, tournament off ..read more

For new and beginning golfers, golf can be intimidating in a lot of ways. From learning the basic rules of golf, to figuring out which clubs to buy, to finding people to play with, to golf etiquette, there's a lot to learn. And that's to say nothing of how to actually make a reservation to play golf -- or, as most golfers would describe it: how to make a tee time. What is a tee time in golf? A tee time is a reservation to play golf at an appointed time. It's like making a reservation for a table at a restaurant. Most tee times are just a reservation and require no payment to make. If you have ..read more

"What's your handicap?" Other than "Is that good?", that's probably one of the most frequently asked questions in golf. How to get a USGA golf handicap Figuring out how to get a USGA golf handicap is a question that a lot of golfers want the answer to but are too afraid to ask. However, there are several ways to obtain a handicap subscription. Do I need to be a member of a club to keep a USGA handicap index? If you want a USGA Handicap Index, you have to maintain a handicap by joining a golf club. That doesn't mean you have to join a country club. That means you have to join a USGA approved g ..read more

Golf is hard. There are no two ways about it. Most golfers are happy just to hit the ball straight -- or at least straight enough to avoid the woods, or the sand, or the water or any number of very bad places to find your golf ball. However, even bad golfers need to at least understand how to hit a draw (or a hook) and a fade (or a slice). If you know why you produce each shot shape, then you can have a better understanding of why your golf ball flies with the side-to-side shape that it does and, more importantly, have a better chance of being able to change your shot shape when you'd like ..read more

The PGA Tour FedEx Cup bonus pool purse has increased starting with the 2024 season to $100 million, with the winner's share coming in at $25,000,000 -- not a standard payout according to the PGA Tour's prize money distribution chart. The winner gets $24 million of that in cash up front, with $1 million deferred into their retirement account, which is a pension managed by the PGA Tour (very well, we might add). The top 30 players earn some cash from the prize pool, while other players receive money deferred into their retirement pension. After the top 30 players in the lineup, the remaining 1 ..read more

Tiger Woods' Florida house -- specifically located in the town of Jupiter -- is a sprawling $54 million mansion with a ton of square footage and plenty of land, including room for a four-hole practice facility, a pool and much more. Woods moved into the Jupiter Island home in 2010, near the time he was getting divorced from Elin Nordegren, his first wife. The property, which Woods used as collateral for paying his settlement with Nordegren, is on prime real estate stretching from the Intracoastal Waterway to the Atlantic Ocean. He has plenty of beachfront property, and on the other side is th ..read more

Most golf fans kind of take it for granted that a professional golf tournament -- at least on the PGA Tour, LPGA Tour and DP World Tour -- is almost always scheduled to be 72 holes, played in four rounds over four days. But why is a golf tournament 72 holes? What made that the standard for championship golf as opposed to 18, 36 or 54 holes? Why four full rounds instead of, say, two and a half? After all, the Open Championship -- the longest-running major and most significant golf tournament in the world -- wasn't always 72 holes. In fact, when the tournament started in 1860, it was a 36-hole ..read more

The 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship format remains unchanged this year, with the PGA Tour event played at Corales Golf Club in the Dominican Republic. The 2024 Corales Puntacana Championship field is 132 players. The Corales Puntacana Championship field is made up of a variety of players, but the opposite-field event is based on a set of criteria from FedEx Cup standing to sponsor exemptions. Corales Puntacana Championship format The Corales Puntacana Championship format is a 72-hole event. The 132 pros are split into threesomes for each of the first two days. The field is divided into mo ..read more

The 2024 RBC Heritage format remains unchanged this year, with the PGA Tour event played at Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island, S.C. The 2024 RBC Heritage field is 69 players. The RBC Heritage field is made up of a variety of players, but the Signature event field is limited to top players from the FedEx Cup standings from last season, this season and better players in the Official World Golf Ranking. RBC Heritage format The RBC Heritage format is a 72-hole event. The 69 pros are split into twosomes for each of the first two days -- except for Alejandro Tosti, who will play as a so ..read more