AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | Ira Miller has seen some new faces file through the pro shop at Augusta Municipal Golf Course in recent months, a byproduct you’d expect when the Masters chairman announces that Augusta National Golf Club is going to invest in the local muni. Miller, the charismatic general manager of the course affectionately known as “The Patch,” gets a chuckle when he hears some of the comments from strangers unfamiliar with the nearly 100-year-old public golf course.
“This is the funny part,” Miller said. “People come out here and say, ‘Man, Augusta National really has put some money out here, haven’t they?’ I say, ‘Man, they haven’t even been here yet.’
“It’s because people haven’t been here in so long. Once that announcement was made, more people start coming here. Which, we benefited from that. Get more people to come, and they see the course is in good shape.”
“The Patch, as (Augusta Municipal) is fondly known, has built a legendary reputation among locals as a place where the game is introduced and taught and where diversity is celebrated and where friendships are forged. All would agree the Patch is a valued community asset.” – Fred Ridley
The Patch came by its nickname honestly. The origin comes from the late Red Douglas, who ran the course for decades. Douglas grew a vegetable garden left of the par-3 10th hole, so folks started calling it the “Cabbage Patch.” The nickname suited a golf course with its share of weeds covering the rest of the acreage as well in leaner years – of which there’ve been plenty.
Augusta Municipal was built in 1928 by Scotland native David Ogilvie, who more famously designed Augusta’s original 18-hole Hill Course for Augusta Country Club in 1908. Ogilvie’s ACC course was redesigned by Donald Ross in 1927 and more recently renovated by Brian Silva.
While the 5,900-yard public course never has been confused with its famously manicured brethren in town, its conditioning in recent years has been a little unfairly maligned. Management company Cypress Golf Management has made improvements since taking over in 2014, and course superintendent Scott Giles works tirelessly with the resources he has to make it more than just playable.
“We’ve got rough, an improvement I never thought I’d ever see, and wish I hadn’t seen,” said Bob West, one of The Patch’s longest and most faithful members. “The golf course has got grass on it, but the nickname The Patch is not for nothing.”
Change is coming, however, to both The Patch and its neighbor facility, the First Tee of Augusta. What exactly that change will entail has not been spelled out, but judging from the source it will be significant.
Fred Ridley, the chairman of Augusta National Golf Club, dropped the surprise during his annual press conference on the eve of the Masters Tournament, announcing a “joint partnership” between ANGC, Augusta Municipal Golf Course, Aiken Technical College and the First Tee of Augusta “to usher in a new era for public golf in our city” that he hopes “will be a model for other communities.”
“The Patch, as (Augusta Municipal) is fondly known, has built a legendary reputation among locals as a place where the game is introduced and taught and where diversity is celebrated and where friendships are forged,” Ridley said. “All would agree the Patch is a valued community asset.”
While folks at the course can’t recall the Augusta National chairman and former U.S. Amateur champion ever teeing it up at The Patch, Ridley said he’s familiar with the course that wraps around Daniel Field airport.
“It has wonderful bones,” Ridley said. “It’s a fantastic facility. It’s got great history, great traditions. So that’s the perfect combination for us to partner with the organizations I mentioned earlier to really make a difference in the community.”
Ridley outlined three components to the partnership plan. Augusta Tech will create educational programs aligned with the First Tee to train and produce the next generation of golf’s workforce. The collaboration is designed to produce programming that will provide affordable and welcoming pathways to anyone who wants to learn or be involved in the game.
But the biggest takeaway for the golfers who already regularly use The Patch is that ANGC will, as Ridley said, “assist in the master planning and renovation of both courses to present a public golf experience for residents and visitors to pursue a lifelong relationship with the game.”
It’s this element of the plan that has the regulars and members of The Patch both excited and a little concerned. Everyone knows what ANGC’s resources are capable of creating, but at what cost? Will upgrades spike fees and price people out – a golf course version of gentrification? Along with persistent rumors about runway expansion for the private aircraft that use Daniel Field which could eat up holes 10-14 on the Patch, the uncertainty is understandable.
“Some believe that when Augusta National takes over, they’re gonna knock us out. I don’t believe that,” said West, who has been playing there for 40 years. “I’m an optimistic man, and I don’t think Augusta National wants to be associated with anything negative.
“There was some concern as to what our future was gonna look like – the affordability. We know if Augusta National gets involved, it’s gonna be first class. Augusta National will not want a municipal golf course that is not up to their standards. We’ve been assured that the rates are going to be reasonable for the locals.”
Jim Dent (blue shirt) and Ronnie Harris enjoy a regular game at The Patch, where Dent is celebrated with a road in his name.
With public rates ranging from $20 (weekday walking) to $37 (weekend riding) and monthly memberships at $155 (plus a $3 trail fee for carts), The Patch is an affordable community asset that stands out from nearby Forest Hills across Wrightsboro Road.
“A win-win would be I’d like to see the prices stay reasonable and it doesn’t change the demographics of the golf course, because that means a lot,” Miller said. “I don’t want prices to get rid of those guys who’ve been here through the storm. I feel very strongly that’s not gonna happen, that they will not change.”
Count Jim Dent among the believers that this is the best news for The Patch since it was integrated in the 1960s.
“I think that will be the greatest thing to happen to this golf course,” said Dent, a homegrown tour professional who eventually won more than $9 million on the senior circuit that’s now called PGA Tour Champions. “They’re gonna make some changes, and you’ll be surprised what they can do to this place.
“I don’t know how they’re gonna arrange it or what they’re gonna do, but it’ll be a great thing. When they redo it, this could be one of the finest public golf courses in Georgia. Whatever they do is going to be a blessing for this golf course.”
Dent, 84, learned the game on the par-3 course down the road at Fort Gordon, but he vividly recalls the first time he ever broke 70 was at The Patch. He still plays with the group of regulars in the large skins matches two or three days a week when he’s in town (he also has a home in Tampa, Florida). In 2020, the city of Augusta renamed the access road to the course Jim Dent Way. His son, Jim Dent Jr., is the head pro at the Patch.
Dent has ideas for upgrades to the course if Augusta National’s architects care to listen.
“Two things I’d like to see. No. 14, the par-3, clean that pond out and bring it down by the water just like No. 16 and 17 at TPC (Sawgrass),” Dent said. “No. 2, I’d make it a par-5 and put it behind the water and make you shoot across the water. Because there’s no holes out here where the water comes into play.”
West said he’s “looking forward to seeing a beautiful golf course” but hopes they’ll maintain some of the characteristics that make The Patch unique, such as how some of its small greens can be vexing to visitors. He also hopes they’ll retain the staff, such as Miller and Giles who’ve put so much work into making the course what it is, and maintain the fellowship that has been such a huge part of The Patch’s charm from the course to the card room.
“When the golf course becomes more inviting to the masses, there’ll be more and more people want to become members,” West said. “They’ll want to put their input in. Certain people might want to come in and take over – status quo change. We’ve been here through thick and thin. For somebody to come trying to get us to change our ways would be a little unfair.
“The only thing certain about life is change – I’m not gonna say for the best or worst. I’m old – might be worst for me but best for the golf course.”