On the Sunday before the 2020 Masters, seven days before Dustin Johnson slipped into a size 42 long green jacket, I typed the address of my destination into Waze. It spit out my first direction from Savannah/Hilton Head International Airport and informed me I was 106 miles from 2604 Washington Road in Augusta, Georgia.
Like Jake and Elwood Blues in “The Blues Brothers,” I was wearing sunglasses and I felt like I was on a mission from God. Augusta National Golf Club is holy land for us golf fanatics. I’d made some version of this drive for more than 20 years to attend the year’s first major in April, a rite of spring and one of my favorite weeks of the year. This would be a Masters unlike any other in November – fall foliage at Amen Corner! – due to COVID-19, but on the drive I reminisced about a summer trip to Augusta.
For one week a year, this once-vibrant cotton center and winter retreat on the banks of the muddy Savannah River is the center of the sporting universe. But what is it – and neighboring Aiken, South Carolina – like the other 51 weeks of the year? And what golf options exist for those of us who never get to drive down Magnolia Lane and tee it up at the third-ranked course on Golfweek’s Best Classic Courses list? After all, it’s easier to attend a White House state dinner than it is to play Augusta National.
To see the “other Augusta” is what I set out to do in August on my way home from the Wyndham Championship in Greensboro, North Carolina. I spent Sunday night at the Partridge Inn, which seemed like a fitting spot to begin this adventure. It long has reigned as the epicenter for social activity and out-of-town guests during Masters week, not to mention being a favorite watering hole of the Golfweek gang. There’s a good chance you’ll find us holding court at night on one of the wraparound verandas that echo antebellum grandeur.
The Partridge Inn in Augusta, Ga. (Courtesy of Hilton/Brian C. Robbins)
Located on “The Hill,” the inn is surrounded by homes of some of the city’s most prominent families. This classic Old South hotel takes up a city block in the Summerville Historic District and is a blend of Prairie style with Southern vernacular – an unlikely combination that somehow works. It’s part of Hilton’s Curio Collection now, and my room was roomier than I expected and well-appointed after a recent face-lift to the century-old structure.
My wife met me there, and the next morning we made the short drive across the border into South Carolina to play Aiken Golf Club, which has been dubbed the state’s best-kept secret. At least that’s what the sign near the first tee claimed.