Next year’s Masters after-party? Topgolf Augusta

Your future Masters Week hangout will not be along Washington Road or just down the street from Augusta National. No, it’ll be a couple miles away, back by the Savannah River, tucked along the Georgia-South Carolina border. 

That’s where Topgolf Augusta is, and the future golf after-party will be. Now, please don’t stop reading because you’ve heard this before. Yes, of course, Topgolf is popular. But this branch is unlike most. 

For starters, it’s the only one in town! Tens (or is it hundreds?) of thousands of golf fans come through Augusta annually in the first half of April. They walk giddily onto the grounds, stop at the merchandise pavilion and watch all day long. But then what? Augusta isn’t known for its nightlife. 

Topgolf will be ready for those folks. The facility is just two miles away from Magnolia Lane, northeast on Alexander Drive. (This is the street that turns into Berkmans Road, by the way.) It has the hitting bays (equipped with TopTracer) we’ve come to expect, but also a mini golf area and a quasi-beer garden with a 110-inch video wall. With doors opening at 10 a.m., pregaming with a bucket o’ balls doesn’t seem ridiculous at all.

“There’s one hundred thousand plus spectators that end up flocking in,” says local manager Nick Treadway. “Including key figures and celebrities and players and all of the above. We’re hoping to be the spot where people want to come hang out.”

If the packed house on the Wednesday night before a fan-less Masters was any indication, Topgolf might be the toughest tee time in Georgia next April. That’s the month circled on the calendar down here. When life may have returned to somewhat normal.

The location would have been a hit this year had the Masters gone on as scheduled. It was expected to host multiple events the first week of April — including one night headlined by contestants of the Women’s Amateur — with a full public opening the Monday of the original Masters week. But, as Treadway reminded, “Things bigger than Topgolf happened this year.”

One can imagine the corporate events that will rent the entire space for a night (or at least part of the evening) during Masters week. If major golf companies host parties for even fewer golfers during the annual PGA Show in Orlando, a night at Topgolf Augusta feels far more effective and, importantly, fun.

In five months (hopefully) it will feel like a natural step toward making Masters Week a golfy derivative of Super Bowl week. All the biggest names are here, in the same place, all week long. They’re at the course during the day but they need a place to kick back at night. It’s easy to envision Callaway — TopGolf’s new parent company — launching equipment there, or offering free putter fittings for the folks who followed Xander Schauffele during the day.

And so, while it might be a bit sad to watch the Masters from afar right now, just know that Augusta is already better this year than it was last year. And that there’s a bay waiting for you in 2021. When you arrive, order the drink named after Arnold Palmer. “The King” is really, really tasty.