Taking another course of action

WITH Augusta National off limits to all but the select few, it is tempting to think a visit to this corner of Georgia is merely for spectating during Masters week.

Nothing could be further from the truth and while the city of Augusta is full to the brim with visitors during the second week in April and courses bump up their green fees, there is plenty on offer for golfers beyond the gates of the National course.

“Augusta is a golf destination simply because of its proximity to the National,” says Katrina Hollman of the Augusta Visitors and Convention Bureau. “There are some great courses pretty close, and it’s a very historic area for golf.”

Masters week in Augusta can act as a 13th month for local businesses, such is its impact on the area and lodging tax collections alone for the month of April 2009 were 203% above average at $9.75m (€7.2m). That kind of influx inevitably affects your chances of getting a tee-time and Hollman recommends planning ahead.

“It is very, very busy during Masters week and it’s usually better to set up tee times ahead of coming to town for the Masters because a lot of places do book up very quickly.”

Once secured, though, golfers will find that Masters history extends across the area to many of the old golfing haunts of the tournament’s founding father and Atlanta native, Bobby Jones.

During Jones’ famous Grand Slam year of 1930, he played the Donald Ross-designed Forest Hills and won the Southeastern Open there before going on to win the British Amateur and Open, the US Open and the US Amateur championships.

The course, home of the Augusta State University golf team, is still in good nick and hosts an annual collegiate tournament that has been won by the likes of Phil Mickelson, Justin Leonard, Davis Love III and Charles Howell III as well as Augusta’s own Larry Mize, and it was voted Augusta Magazine’s 2009 Best Public Golf Course.

“He sat at Forest Hills Golf Club and that’s where the idea for Augusta National was born,” says Hollman of Jones. “A lot of his ideas came while he was playing different course in the area and the National is kind of the baby of the other Augusta courses.”

Situated around 150 miles from both Atlanta and Charlotte international airports, Augusta National and its annual invitational acts as a magnet for golfers throughout the year but not for no reason is the Masters played in April.

“The summer months are pretty warm here, very humid,” Hollman added. “But still great if you play early in the day.”