The 18th hole at The Patch used to be the 3rd hole at Augusta Muni.
Augusta Municipal Golf Course
As the golf world turns its eyes toward Augusta National this spring, local golfers will find a newly renovated course in town, just a few miles from where the Masters is held. It will officially reopen to the public the Wednesday following the Masters and the weekday resident rate will be hard to beat: $25 for 18 holes, and even less for seniors.
We speak of the reimagined Augusta Municipal Golf Course, which has long been known as “The Patch.” Augusta National stepped in three years ago to refashion the course and its offerings — on the back of a new 50-year lease with the city — with a goal of providing jobs while increasing the public golf offerings in the area. To make it all happen, the club partnered with Tiger Woods, Beau Welling and Tom Fazio, who were charged with building something new while maintaining some of the course’s original design.
Its affordability has made The Patch a longtime home to Augusta’s public golfers, particularly Black golfers who for many years couldn’t find access to the most famous private club in town unless they were donning a caddie bib. At any point in the last 40 years you could show up at The Patch and spot either Jim Dent — one of the game’s best-ever Black golfers, who called Augusta home — or his son, Jim Dent. Jr., who served as the head professional. (In 2020, the entrance road to The Patch was named Jim Dent Way.)
The Patch will reopen to the public on April 15, but will offer limited play in a soft launch beginning next month. The 16-month renovation has completely shifted the routing of the original course, moving the clubhouse to the corner of the property, adding a Woods-designed short course called “The Loop” and equipping the driving range with Trackman Range. A 12-hole putting course also is coming to The Patch, and will be free of charge.
From renderings of the new routing, it would appear the new course will maintain the design of five of the original holes, use parts of another six and add seven new holes. (The original layout is below, left, and the new routing is on the right.) While the course has not released an official scorecard yet, it would appear to be a par 73, with five par-5s, four par-3s and nine par-4s. The old driving range is now part of the 15th hole. The new driving range sits near where the First Tee of Augusta had practice holes for juniors.
Before and after.Google Maps (left); Courtesy of The Patch
Pricing for The Patch will be as follows:
Local resident 18 holes: $25 M-Th, $35 weekend Senior/Junior resident (60 and older, 18 and under) 18 holes: $20 M-Th, $30 weekend Non-resident 18 holes: $85, $95 weekend
In other community collaborations, Augusta National has partnered with Augusta Tech’s golf-course management program and the First Tee of Augusta to handle operations of the course. One more fun fact: According to the course’s website, the property’s two courses now resemble the shape of an elephant, which we’ve mapped out below.
Sean Zak is a senior writer and author of Searching in St. Andrews, which followed his travels in Scotland during the most pivotal summer in the game’s history.
