PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Hilton Head Island, and the surrounding area of Bluffton, South Carolina, have been an overflowing golf paradise for many years. With 24 golf courses on Hilton Head Island and another 20 in nearby Bluffton, it quickly becomes obvious that visitors to the area need some help in navigating this popular golf landscape.
That’s where the Traveling Golfer television show, and its April episode, comes into play. Show host Tony Leodora takes a big chunk out of what the area has to offer – and that chunk comes courtesy of the Heritage Golf Group, the ownership/management company that has become heavily invested in the area.
Heritage Golf Group has undergone a major expansion in recent years. Originally a small company with only six properties, it was purchased in January of 2020 by Mark Burnett and his group of investors. As president and CEO, the former ClubCorp (now Invited) executive brought his expertise – and aggressive philosophy – to the company.
Since then, he has engineered a mercurial rise that includes an impressive acquisition plan. Heritage Golf Group now has 26 (???) private golf clubs and/or resort daily fee courses in its portfolio.
Included in the company’s holdings are four heralded properties in the Hilton Head area – Shipyard GC, Port Royal Golf and Raquet Club, Oyster Reef GC and its latest acquisition at Palmetto Hall. Those properties boast a total of 135 holes (???) of championship golf. They will be featured in the April episode of the Traveling Golfer television show.
“I started going to the Hilton Head area in the mid-’80s and loved it,” explains Leodora, who re-acquainted himself with the area during an extensive visit to the island during the shooting of the April show. “It’s not just the outstanding golf that holds such an attraction. The lifestyle, the incredible restaurants and the low country atmosphere are absolutely captivating. And the Heritage Golf Group is making great efforts to enhance that experience.”
The Heritage Golf Group philosophy of owning, as well as operating its properties, has proven successful.
“Management companies that come in and manage for a fee have fallen short in performance over the years,” stressed Burnett. “We put in the capital and take the risks. It is the difference between a short-term strategy and our long-term strategy.”
Most of the recent expansion has taken place along America’s East Coast. But, recently, Heritage Golf Group has made its first move west of the Mississippi River, with the acquisition of three properties in Colorado.
The April episode of the Traveling Golfer airs as a scheduled weekly feature show on NBC Sports and NBC Sports + throughout three markets in the Mid-Atlantic regions. NBC Sports airings are 10:30 a.m. on Sundays, 10 p.m. on Tuesdays and 11 a.m. on Thursdays. NBC Sports + airs the show at 8 p.m. Mondays and Fridays. In addition, the show airs nationally, two times every day, on the Fun Roads Network (funroads.tv/schedule) – in the San Francisco, Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, Wichita, Detroit, Chicago, Houston, Philadelphia, Washington State, North Dakota, Raleigh, Orlando, San Jose, Albany and Boise markets.
Additionally, national and international expansion has taken place via the new wingding™ Network, which reaches more than 275 million households. It is available on Roku (50 Million), Amazon Fire TV (55 Million), Apple TV (40 million), Chromecast (56 million) and iTunes (28 million).
The Traveling Golfer also airs a number of times throughout the month on “Rivertalk” on HTC-4 in Myrtle Beach.
The show also airs on the Traveling Golfer network of websites, including The Golf Director Network and The Myrtle Beach Golf Channel (see full list of sites on www.travelinggolfer.tv).
As part of every Traveling Golfer show there is the feature, “Tech Talk”, hosted by Tour Edge Golf experts, such as President Dave Glod. With years of experience as a club maker, Glod presents an inside look at the research and development of high-quality golf equipment.
Responding to golfers’ never-ending demands to learn more about interesting golf courses and golf resorts across the country and around the world, well-traveled host Tony Leodora created the Traveling Golfer so he could take viewers on video trips to some of the most exciting golf locations. In each of its 10 years on the air, the show has been honored by the International Network of Golf with one of its prestigious awards. In four of those years the Traveling Golfer was named the No. 1 Golf Television Show in America.
The Traveling Golfer is a series of monthly shows hosted by Leodora and his partner, Jeff Gilder and produced by Executive Producer Dustin Gilder. All have many years of experience in televised golf. The featured destination stays on the website for one month, before being replaced by a new show. Alternate shows also air in a two-month rotation. All old shows are archived for continued viewing on the YouTube Network and on the home website, www.travelinggolfer.tv.
For more information about the Traveling Golfer, or to find out how a property can be featured on the show, call TL Golf Services at (610) 721-8186 , Zeus Digital Marketing at 843-272-1919 or e-mail Tony Leodora at tleodora@comcast.net. or Jeff Gilder at jeff@wingding.tv.
For more information
Tony Leodora 610-721-8186
Jeff Gilder 843-997-6645
