AUGUSTA, Ga. — Three years ago this week, Masters Chairman Fred Ridley made a promise. His club, Augusta National, was going to branch out into the community like never before, partnering with local establishments to refashion Augusta Municipal Golf Course. The course nicknamed “The Patch” had “good bones,” Ridley said, meaning that even if its appearance sagged, its structure was something an Augusta National budget could work with.
And work with it they have, in the only way Augusta National knows: expeditiously.
A year ago, the Patch was dirt. Next week, it opens to the public. On Wednesday morning, two-time major champion Retief Goosen was ripping around it for the first time, part of a soft launch for VIPs during this Masters week.
What Goosen and a handful of others found was a good golf course that will absolutely become great over time. A great place to hang during Masters week. A great place for Augusta juniors to learn the game. A great place for the public to find extremely affordable golf.
By most every metric, The Patch project should be considered a success. Course designers Tom Fazio and Beau Welling made it a much more compelling track. Countless trees were removed, opening up the sprawling scenery that was once hidden by forestland. After time, its greens will grow softer and its fairways will look tenured; it will be the most fun public course in the vicinity of the Masters. You will want a tee time, and may struggle like hell to get one.
The vibe will feel decidedly public, too. The veranda wrapped around the clubhouse peers out over the 10th tee and 9th green — a place you’d want to have lunch. Or just drink beers, like The Patch Pale Ale, a new brew you can only get on property. The Loop, a short course designed by Tiger Woods, could become the real treat. Guests played its floodlit holes until well after bedtime Tuesday night. Next to the 18-hole putting green is an immense practice range, outfitted with Trackman hitting bays. Every derivative of golf seems to exist there, and it makes me happy for the potential it offers.
What we don’t know about The Patch is how it will feel to those who called it home forever. For decades, in a not-so-distant past, the caddies at the private club in town — Augusta National — were Black, and many of them played their golf at the public course nearby — Augusta Municipal. They were the lifeblood of the muni, and they’ve been remembered in spots by the people who reshaped it.
In one corner of the pro shop is a shrine for Jim Dent, the Augusta-raised Black golfer who competed on the PGA Tour in the 70s and 80s. His Callaway Big Bertha driver is tacked to the wall in a display case, near signed photos and a signed trading card. Dent’s role at the muni was so strong — it was the first course he ever shot in the 60s at, the same course his son was the head pro at — that the entrance to the course was renamed “Jim Dent Way” in 2020. When he passed away in 2025, they held a ceremony for him at The Patch. He probably deserves a statue out front.
There are also framed pictures in that same corner of the pro shop, devoted to four legendary Black caddies: Jariah “Jerry” Beard, Willie Peterson, Willie Lee “Pappy” Strokes and Tommy Bennett. Beard, Peterson and Strokes all won Masters as caddies. Bennett was on the bag for Tiger Woods during his debut at Augusta National.
This Patch is different from the Patch they knew. So different. But Jim Dent was stoked about its prospects when he was interviewed three years ago. He loved that it was a partnership with the local First Tee. The land is recognizable, but the aesthetic has changed. The old clubhouse, where Black caddies played card games for hours, was razed to the ground.
The Patch will undoubtedly be a public asset, and when you’re there, even on a quiet day during this soft launch, you can envision the golf magic it will feature on a warm April night. But it will not feel much like The Patch of old. And frankly, that may be too much to ask. It’s hard to make something so demonstrably better for everyone without completely altering what it once was. But the fact that it was changed, via the funds and direction of an inspired and generous Augusta National, means something. It used to cost locals $20 to play 18 holes. Now, it’ll be $25. Put your faith in that. And harken back to that press conference Ridley gave three years ago.
“If we are successful working on this project,” Ridley said, “I really do think it’s a model for other communities, and we are very interested in taking this on the road, as we say.”
What could that mean? Where could that mean? The mind wanders, and optimistically so.
