HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S. C. – I made my first trip to this popular resort area in the late sixties, and I have always enjoyed returning. However, there was a period of fifty years when the closest I came to Hilton Head was Savannah.
Spending time here recently brought about a pleasant trip into the South Carolina low country and flashbacks to the Sea Pines resort in its heyday, its spectacular development effected by Charles E. Fraser, a University of Georgia graduate. He gained national, even international, recognition for his real estate development creativity and vision.
Captain William Hilton, an English explorer, is credited with discovering this barrier island, which became a playground for the well-to-do. Along the way, however, it was a Union stronghold after taking over that area of the coast by defeating the Confederates early on during the Civil War. It was also home to many plantations and is where the legendary Sea Island cotton was grown with noteworthy success.
In the early 1900s, in addition to the plantations, wealthy industrialists created several game preserves for hunting and fishing. A swing bridge built in 1956 allowed for automobile traffic, and it is now the current Cross Island Bridge, which ushers countless tourists and residents each day to this vibrant community that was built in 1982.
Many come here principally for golf, tennis, fishing, and, of course, easy living. The year-round population of Hilton Head is 37,675, but the Hilton Head Island metropolitan area, which includes Bluffton and other villages, at the last census taking was 215,908.
Hilton Head seems not to have lost its widespread appeal to the masses on the Eastern seaboard and elsewhere that can’t get enough of low country living.
Charlie Fraser built the iconic lighthouse, which is a focal point of the Harbor Town Golf Links that was designed by Pete Dye (with an assist by Jack Nicklaus), which he thought would attract visitors and residents to the island. Everyone agrees that he succeeded. The RBC Heritage Classic has been a fixture on the PGA Golf Tour since 1969.
Returning to Hilton Head was something of a reunion beyond the island visit in that we met up with good friends Bryan and Ashley Burke, who hail from Oklahoma City.
They are associates of Carl Mayhall of Dallas, our son’s father-in-law who introduced us when the Burkes’ son, Brandon, chose UGA’s Terry College of Business for matriculation. They are passionate college football fans but have special loyalty for Oklahoma, their alma mater. They now include Georgia and Southern Methodist in their loyalty alignment with their second son, Ben, becoming a Mustang.
They can’t wait to visit the Oklahoma campus at Norman but also enjoy trips to Dallas and Athens. They are excited about visiting other Southeastern Conference venues so long as such campuses are east of Austin, Texas.
Longtime season ticket buyers with the Sooners, they know what it is like to have a beer at Heisman Park and to stroll the OU campus and recall the highlights of yesteryear when there were plentiful championships brought about by coaches named Wilkinson, Switzer, and Stoops.
Bryan is an avid golfer with a low handicap and has played many of the nation’s elite golf layouts. His motto could be “Have clubs, will travel.” He has high regard for the Donald Ross layout at the Athens Country Club and is frequently invited to play in serious tournaments related to his work. He is Executive Vice President of Federated Hermes, Global Head of Strategic Solutions, which is headquartered in Pittsburgh.
Soon after her graduation at Oklahoma, Ashley was hired by Ernst & Young, and Bryan began his career with Merril Lynch. They were outstanding students who were eager to find their way in the accounting world. Ashley worked as an auditor at Ernst & Young for years, mostly in Dallas but also in Greensboro and Winston-Salem, N.C., but gave up her promising career in business to be a wife and mother.
Today she accompanies Bryan on many of his trips and visits her sons as they all travel to golf outings, business meetings, and football games. “We certainly have become great fans of Athens, Sanford Stadium, and the beauty of the Georgia campus,” they both say.
They represent the essence of college loyalty and support and even though their passion runs high, they somehow manage to keep their college football rivalries sane.