Anyone been to HHI for the Heritage golf classic?

[Simba's Mom]

Is it really crazy, crowded on the island? I know that the Heritage classic lost its sponsor, but I found out yesterday, when we were at HHI, that the show will go on in 2011. And it's planned for the week before Easter, 4/21-4/24, probably a pretty busy time anyways. So how is it?

 

[RobDoc]

The Heritage brings LOTS of people to the island for the tournament. The tournament takes place in Sea Pines so the area around the DVC resort isn't affected too much, but all of the restaurants and shops will be much busier than usual especially for dinner and earlier in the day.

Hilton Head is going ahead with the tournament even without a sponsor for 2011, but I'd be very surprised if another sponsor isn't secured going forward. If you will be there during that time, I'd advise having dinner reservations and expect that the shops will be busy too.

 

[dis-happy]

Busy, but not as bad as peak summer. Sea Pines can be a mad house at certain times......but unless you plan on going to the tournament it's easily avoidable.

(and if you want to go to the tournament some radio station was offering 1/2 price daily tickets the other day, either 98.7 or 107.9, might be worth looking in to).

 

[Simba's Mom]

Busy, but not as bad as peak summer. Sea Pines can be a mad house at certain times......but unless you plan on going to the tournament it's easily avoidable.

(and if you want to go to the tournament some radio station was offering 1/2 price daily tickets the other day, either 98.7 or 107.9, might be worth looking in to).

Darn! And we were there the other day-just got home last night-missed those tickets. And we were so looking forward to going to Lake Mary Rookery, in Sea Pines Forest Preserve, in April.
Thanks for the advice about reservations, Doc. We've never needed reservations at any resturaunt at HHI when we usually go. And as I told DH, sounds kind of like a "Build it and they will come" as far as planning the Heritage Tournament without a sponsor for sure.

 

[dis-happy]

Here's the link, looks like they are still available???

http://wykz.halfoffdeals.com/

 

[Halle]

We've been there the past two years. Last year we went to the golf tournament which was a lot of fun. Just seeing all the yachts was exciting. The first year we were there we were told to avoid the circle near Sea Pines. This past year we did venture there and the traffic was not bad. We did have dinner reservations. It's a beautiful time to be there.

 

[WolfpackFan]

We went to the tournament last year. As far as crowds the area around Sea Pines gets very crowded but the rest of the island seemed rather uncrowded in our opinion. We were surprised, we never had to wait at any restaurants. It was no worse than any other time we've visited. All the action seems to be restricted down at Sea Pines.

During the days I watched the golf while DW stayed back at the resort. Unfortunately it was a little too cold for her to sit out on the beach and I felt guilty for leaving her by herself so much. If we do it again, I'll probably get her a grounds pass and let her walk along with me. One hint, get there early, the parking at Sea Pines can get crowded pretty fast; but they do a good job shuttling you back and forth to the course. Also, it is a lot more crowded on Saturday and Sunday rather than Friday and Saturday. A lot of folks drive in for just the day and it is really quite a party atmosphere.

 

[Simba's Mom]

We went to the tournament last year. As far as crowds the area around Sea Pines gets very crowded but the rest of the island seemed rather uncrowded in our opinion. We were surprised, we never had to wait at any restaurants. It was no worse than any other time we've visited. All the action seems to be restricted down at Sea Pines.

That's good to hear! Surprisingly, DH doesn't have any desire to go watch the tournament, but he does want to play golf during that time (but NOT in Sea Pines). Any idea how the Palmetto Dunes courses are during the tournament and just afterwards? He fears that the tournament might attract a lot of golfers, who want to hang around for a couple days afterwards to play golf themselves. I'll be happy if I can get to the gelato place and Signe's without a long wait.