Serving Greater Bluffton Since 1987

The Bluffton Eccentric was the first and only newspaper the town of Bluffton has had in fifty years. We felt such a kinship with them that we asked Graham Bullock, publisher of The Bluffton Eccentric, if we could resurrect articles from previous issues and republish them. Graham graciously gave his permission and loaned us volumes of old papers. It has been a treat for me to read them and it is with great honor that I get to share them with everyone again. So, kick back, relax and get ready for a blast from the past.

Building a National Course at Home

hen Donald O’Quinn traveled old Buckingham Road in the early 50’s en route to captain the ferryboat Pocahontas, little did he know that 38 years later he would be building a national golf course on that very same road.

Today the Buckingham Road is nationally known as U.S. highway 278 and native Blufftonian O’Quinn is the project manager of the $2 million Hilton Head National Gary Player “signature” golf course, now under construction.

HHN is the 11th golf course Donald has built, the fourth one he has built with golfing legend Gary Player. In 1973 he and Gary helped build Dolphin Head at Hilton Head Plantation. Also in the 70’s, he and Gary worked on Palmas del Mar in Puerto Rico and Brender Mill in Richmond, VA.

One of golf’s greatest legends, Gary Player has claimed over 130 championships around the world, distinguishing himself as the “International Ambassador of Golf.” Player is one of only four golfers in history to win all four major championships-the U.S. Open, British Open, The Masters and the PGA. (Remember the date of this retro story...)

Located approximately one mile west of the bridge to Hilton Head, the course will be available for play by residents of the Bluffton/Hilton Head/Savannah area as well as resort vacationers.

Bill Palmer, a principal of Scratch Golf Company, developers of the 310 acre tract where the course is located, hopes the course is open for play by late fall, 1989.

Palmer and Jim McGlothlin (also a principal of S/G) recently purchased the tract and engaged the Gary Player Design Co. to plan and construct the 18-hole course.

They expect HHN, Player’s first “signature” course in the area, to be one of the most popular area courses due to its and the reasonable cost to play.

Gary Player said, “ I don’t know if we can say that we’ll be any better than anyone else, but we’ll try. This is a beautiful place. It was like being a mosquito in a nudist colony, I didn’t where to begin.”

Basing HHN’s construction on state-of-the-art technological and mechanical advances Gary said, “In my opinion, Hilton Head National will be a much better course than Harbour Town. The course will offer a challenge to everyone who plays it, from beginner to professional. This will be one of the greatest public golf courses in the world. If it’s not one of the greatest 100 all over the world, they’d better hang me on the 18th green.”

Donald’s work on building golf courses began with the Sea Pines Harbour Town Course, where he was responsible for all phases of golf. He was there before the putting greens and driving ranges of the now internationally famous course were even conceived. Construction of the championship course began in 1968 and was completed by Thanksgiving week, Nov. 1969 when the first Heritage Tournament was played.

“Thirteen years ago Billy Palmer worked for me at Sea Pines; now he’s getting back at me,” said Donald.

Billy said, “A long time ago I actually worked for him as a pro. Donald is partly the reason Sea Pines became what it did.” He elaborated that Donald was an integral part of the success of the course. “ Billy is paying me a little more than I paid him,” Donald laughed. “In Texas we put Donald at the head of the herd,” said Jim.

As project manager, Donald coordinates all aspects of building the course. He works with the engineers, the environmentalists, and the developers and with Gary on each phase. On Dec. 9th he and Gary walked the course, adjusting the engineer’s drawing to the actual terrain.

“Gary and I are elated to work together again, we had a good time in the 70’s-we had a good time out here this morning; it was like old times. We walked the course this morning. Holes 3-5, 14-18, and 9 are completely cleared enough to determine bunker placements, green elevations and contours. We spent the morning applying drawings in the field. We moved bunkers instead of trees-a design as you go procedure. Hopefully, HHN will open for play in October of 1989. The grass may go down in June or July,” said Donald.

On the other courses, he has worked with other golfing legends Arnold Palmer, Pete Dye And Jack Nicklaus. He worked with Nicklaus and Dye on the Harbour Town course.

More recently he left Murrell’s Inlet where he was building a course at Watchasaw Plantation. “I left there to come home. Working on HHN wasn’t planned, it just worked.” said Donald.

One of the best rounds of golf Donald ever played was on the Harbour Town course; he was playing with Gary Player. “I shot a 79; he shot a 71 on that course,” said Donald.

“I sent Gary a hat for luck to wear in the Masters. He won the tournament and sent back the hat. He wouldn’t send back the jacket, though,” he laughed. Gary said, “Yeah. The Jacket was too small.”

“For over 20 years, it has been a pleasure to be associated with such a great in the game of golf as Gary Player,” said Donald. “I feel the same about you my friend,” replied Player.

Gary poked fun at Donald saying, “Donald could kill you with his handicap, he’d come to play with his hanky, I’d give him some extra strokes and he’d wind up giving you his crying towel,” said Gary. “His arms are the size of my legs,” Gary continued in amazement. “I wish I had his arms.”

Before returning to the course, Gary proclaimed his love for southern food, grits and in particular, Dot’s (Donald’s wife) fried chicken. “Donald is a very important member of our team,” said Gary.

Donald threatened that this may be his last course; he’s looking towards retirement and sharing time with Dot.