COURSE REVIEW

Aiken Golf Club:
Prepare to be Impressed

By Gerard Voos,
Staff Writer

AIKEN, SC - New and improved. Usually, that means you'll pay more for less of the same thing in a slightly different package. That's not the case at the renovated Aiken Golf Club. New? You won't recognize it if you've ever played it when it was the Highland Park Golf Club. Improved? Can you say orders of magnitude better. Pay more? Slightly, but it's still one of the better golf values around. Different package? You bet!

It is one of the oldest golf courses in the nation, originally built in 1912 with a portion of its design attributed to John Inglis. This is a course awash in golf history. According to Brent McGee, Director of Golf, "professional golfers Babe Didrikson Zaharis and Patty Berg, among others played here. Fred Astaire and other celebrities would come to Aiken during the cold winter months and play here." He also mentioned that May Dunn was instrumental in making it the first course in the U.S. to feature tees especially for women.

The restoration was done by four men, including McGee and club Professional Jim McNair, Jr. None are professional course designers, but the results will make you think otherwise. They took a course with limited irrigation, original sand pushup greens and tees, and timeworn amenities and transformed it into a Scottish links-style course.

The Aiken Golf Club is set amongst rolling hills; few of the holes don't have some degree of incline or decline from the tee. It is a short course, though. It has some of the longer par threes around, all ranging in the 195 to 215 yard range from the back tees. Limited by its central location, its small package belies its challenge. It plays 6,048 yards from the Medal Tees, 5,685 yards from the Mid Tees, and 4,730 yards from the Fore Tees. The greens, though, are the great equalizer.

All were rebuilt to USGA specifications and are in splendid condition. Most of the undulating, Bermuda grass greens descend from back to front, and have two or more levels. Fast and bewildering, trying to pitch onto these greens, leaving yourself an uphill putt from the correct shelf, can give new meaning to word "touch."

The par-four, 330-yard first hole seems straight forward enough. A long drive leaves a short pitch to the green. That's when the fun begins. The first green is contiguous with the 17th green, the latter residing a few feet higher. Pot bunkers have been placed to the left and right of the green.

It slopes down towards the fairway and has internal undulations in addition to its several levels. Pitch the ball behind the pin and you're looking at a downhill putt. Pitch it too short and the ball probably will roll off the green into the fringe or worse, back onto the fairway.

Sand waste areas were incorporated throughout the course during remodeling. Areas between tee boxes and landing zones, distant right and left areas along fairways, and borders to some greens are the main places you'll find them. It's a great idea. Planted with lovegrass, they look good and serve an important role. Considering that the native soil is sand, and the heat during the South Carolina summers is intense, the less area requiring irrigation the better.

From the elevated back tees, the second hole requires you put a draw on the ball over the sloping waste area if you want a clear shot at the green in two. Listed as a par-5, this 465-yard hole usually plays in two if you follow the above advice. If you hit it right, you'll have to play a short iron shot along the edge of the trees and lay up about 50 yards short of the green. The green is tucked into a corner and has a large bunker front left, and sand and grass bunkers in the rear. Like all the others, it slopes to the fairway and requires you pick the correct club length on your approach shot, or chance rolling off.

The third hole is a work in progress. The fairway is extremely narrow, slanting from right to left, on this 402-yard, par-4, making it the most difficult hole on the course. This is one hole where McNair will have to work some more of his bulldozer magic. The green and its approach, on the far side of a small stream and narrow wetland area, was in terrific shape and angles, but can frustrate.

Four is an uphill, 196-yard (from the back tee placement), par-three. A sand waste area borders the green on the left and this green, like all the others, will test your short game skills.

Unlike newer courses where the ninth hole comes back to the clubhouse, you won't return there until you finish the 18th. The eighth through the 14th holes are separated from the rest of the course and are located across Dibble Road. If this is your first time playing the course, use the map on the back of the scorecard.

Eight is a short par-4 (355 yards). The fairway drops off the last 100 yards and a booming drive can find itself rolling onto the apron of the green located at the bottom of the hill. Sand will gobble up any ball to the left or right of the green.

The tenth hole is the courses longest, a 520-yard, par-five. From the elevated tee, you can see all the way to the green. Try and keep your drive in the center of the rolling fairway. Anything left or right and you'll have to contend with overhanging trees on your second shot. The green is uphill, long, and angles right. Pin placements in the back corner are brutal and very misleading when calculating the distance of your third shot.

Eleven requires a slight fade around an overhanging tree to get to the right-side pin placements. At 215 yards, this is the longest par 3 and the second hardest hole on the course.

Back across the road, on the way to the clubhouse, the 15th hole is a downhill, 295-yard par-4. You'll be tempted to think you can drive the green, but you'll have to do it on the fly (and if you're lucky enough to do that, it probably won't stay there). The undulating fairway has a trough down the center, which runs into another trough perpendicular to it in front of the green. Most drives end up in the latter trough. The pitch is onto a narrow undulating green with several levels and steep drop offs on all sides.

The 198-yard, par-three sixteenth is the signature hole at The Aiken Golf Club. It was the first hole completed during the restoration and is located at the confluence of two roads, so passersby had a view of things to come. Looking down from the elevated tee, it is a beautiful golf hole. The green is surrounded in front by three bunkers and in the rear by grass covered hummocks.

Eighteen is another of the long par-threes. It is 194 yards, requiring a slight draw around a high tree limb protruding from the left just in front of the green.

The club has a fully supplied pro shop, chipping green, and putting green. Though there isn't a driving range, there is a hitting area with nets for warming up before you smash your first drive. The newly renovated grill will open June 1st and will overlook the first tee and fairway. Drinking a frosty brew after walking 18 holes, and sitting on the deck watching the sun set seems like a great way to end an exhilarating day of golf.

Expect to pay (greens fee, cart & tax):
Monday - Friday: $31.00
Saturday - Sunday & holidays: $36.00
Walking is allowed (take $11.00 off above prices)
Twilight rates (after 3:00 p.m.) available

The Aiken Golf Club
555 Highland Park Drive
Aiken, SC 29801
Tel: 803.649.6029

Directions:

From downtown Aiken: travel west on Park Avenue; at the yield sign, go straight onto Highland Park Drive. The Aiken Golf Club is about a quarter mile down the road on the left.

From Columbia: follow I-20 to US 1 exit; travel south on US 1 to Park Avenue (downtown Aiken); turn right onto Park Avenue and travel west until the yield sign; travel straight through the intersection onto Highland Park Drive. The Aiken Golf Club is a quarter mile down the road on the left.

Any opinions expressed above are those of the writer and do not necessarily represent the views of the management. The information in this story was accurate at the time of publication. All contact information, directions and prices should be confirmed directly with the golf course or resort before making reservations and/or travel plans.