Let's Just Get It Out In The Open: Harbour Town Is Not A Shotmakers' Course!

Look, I know it's a great week and it's a historic tournament, but the excessive love for Harbour Town as The Heritage faces an uncertain future has reached a level where, despite my chronic Norman Vincent Peale attitude, warrants a response that is less than flowery.

Godich: The Heritage is one of the most recognizable stops on Tour. I think it's special because it's a shot-makers' course. You don't have to be a bomber to win there. But without a title sponsor for 2012, the event is in jeopardy. How big a blow would it be if the Tour didn't return to Harbour Town next year?

Lipsey: After the chatter died down, nobody would notice, except the folks in South Carolina. The Tour will be fine. Things change.

Shipnuck: It's one of the best courses on Tour, in one of the nicest places. If Finchem can't make this work, he should give back his zillion-dollar salary.

Van Sickle: It would be a shame to lose Harbour Town. Just like it's been a shame to lose the countless other Tour stops that are no more. The Tour goes on. That's the way of the world. Vacationers will still go to Hilton Head.

Herre: In the big scheme of things, Rick and Gary are probably right. Everyone moves on. But losing Harbour Town would diminish the Tour in my eyes. The course is one of the coolest the pros play, and the tournament is almost as much a rite of spring as the Masters.

I'm sorry, but shotmaking is not the forced playing of shots on the straightest possible line while avoiding a neverending series of overhanging tree branches. That's just a golf course that needs to trim or remove trees.

Second, we heard for years (mostly from Ken Venturi, God Bless him) about the brilliance of the set of par-3's at Harbour Town. One has a lake left. One a lake right. One has sand around the green and one plays into the setting sun and no one really knows what it looks like. They all have tiny greens, so that means the only day to day variety is wind or tee placement. Sorry, that's not interesting and definitely not going to breed a variety of shots over the course of four rounds.

Finally, the greens at Harbour Town are tiny. And mini-greens do not inspire shotmaking because almost invariably they only offer one way to approach them. Mostly, their size inspires great short games.

The Heritage is undoubtedly a fantastic week for the players and a tour stalwart that deserves to be saved. It's produced many fine finishes and elite champions. But a great shotmaking examination of skill? I'm sorry, it's not.