This is Golby was in elementary school when his father won his Masters, too young to fully understand the magnitude of the achievement.
He learned quite quickly.
Bob Goalby’s 1968 win it came, of course, with a lifetime invitation to the Masters, which in turn prompted a concert for his son. By his late teens, the younger Goalby was caddying for his father on tour. Although the years passed and he relinquished these duties, he continued to return to see and walk the grounds. His ties to the Augusta area run deep.
In recent years, those ties have extended to Aiken, SC, which Goalby says has become something of a “home away from home.” That love is due in part to Palmetto Golf Club, a historic layout whose understated vibe and character-rich design suit Goalby’s laid-back sensibility, not to mention his love of fine golf architecture. But his affinity for this area also has a professional dimension. An ex-former for people like Tom Doak and Gil Hanse, Goalby has established a reputation as an accomplished architect in his own right, and one of his credits is in Aiken.
GOLF recently spent time with Goalby in the Aiken area, tracing his love of the region and visiting Tree Farm, one of the most prominent courses in an area of South Carolina that has become one of the hottest destinations in American golf.
Run by Doak and designed by Goalby on behalf of Tour pro Zac Blair, Tree Farm doesn’t require attention. Then again, neither is modest Goalby. Not one for chest-beating, he took a restrained approach to the project, which his collaborators shared.
“At the time we were building this, and even today, the courses you see are trying to get Instagram photos and have a dramatic look, and I was sick of it,” he says. “Nobody cared about the ratings when we were building this. Let’s not rely on too many flashes and let the land do the talking.”
The result is a sprawling, rambling course that benefits from multiple elevation shifts, gracefully weaving across the terrain in ways that, in places, recall Augusta National’s broad-shouldered drive. The fairways are generous, but the angles off the tee are essential. Greens look calm, but require careful thought and a delicate touch. Bunkering is free of the grandiose edges in vogue elsewhere, and around the greens, Goalby often dispensed with bunkers altogether, trusting the terrain itself to provide more than enough intrigue.
For more on Goalby, Tree Farm and the Aiken golf estate, watch the video above.
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