Even under ordinary circumstances, it’s difficult to achieve a new moment at Augusta National.
But this week and next – when the famous club will host one great lover of womenfollowed by an invitation with a green jacket and immorality in the game – for all but a modest handful of players, securing a booking is impossible
Which isn’t to say the rest of us aren’t out of luck when it comes to memorable golf around these parts. About 30 minutes northeast of Augusta, lies Aiken, SC, a town rich in history where golf’s roots run particularly wide and deep.
The game in Aiken dates back to 1892 and the birth of Palmetto Golf Clubthe oldest 18-hole course in the Southeast. Twenty years later came Aiken Golf Club, established as an 11-hole layout before expanding to 18. Both properties have a colorful past and present.
But the history of golf in Aiken is as much about what’s new as it is about what’s old. In recent years, the area has seen a tremendous increase in golf courses that have made Aiken one of the nation’s most buzzing golf destinations.
Earlier this year, GOLF.com spent a week exploring the area. What we found is a golf scene animated as much by people as by places. We sat down with Jim McNair, who runs Aiken Golf Club as his father did before him, and who designed a par-3 course that has become home to a local chapter of First Tee. We took a tour Tree Farm with Kye Goalby – son of 1968 Masters champion Bob – who had a big hand in designing it on behalf of Tour pro Zac Blair. We bent Old Barnwell with Nick Shreiber, founder of a uniquely structured private club built around an extremely ambitious social mission. We also got early looks at two courses that are still taking shape: 21 Clubinspired by a lost Alistair MacKenzie course in Argentina and New Holland, which will operate on the UK model – a membership but with set times for away games.
For all its growth, Aiken retains much of the same allure that made it a first-class draw in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It’s a rare and attractive hybrid, quaint yet cosmopolitan, with horse farms circling past a downtown that moves at its own leisurely pace. However, that pace quickens during Masters week, when many of the best courses, new and old, open their fairways for outdoor play (availability varies, so if you’re looking to hook up, check ahead).
As the first major approaches, there’s a good reason to go to Augusta. But any time you make a trip to the area, Aiken is worth a detour.
Watch the full Destination Golf video to see for yourself.
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