Palmetto and Augusta National linked by history

Tom Moore already knew.

Three days before Ben Crenshaw drilled a 60-foot birdie putt on No. 10 in the final round of the 1984 Masters, Moore already knew. Before Gentle Ben edged Tom Watson by two strokes to earn his first green jacket, Moore already knew.

“Ben drove from Augusta to visit Palmetto Golf Club after his opening round in 1984,” said Moore, golf professional emeritus at Palmetto. “When he walked in I told Ben about all the Masters champions who played here before him. I said, ‘You’re going to be next.’”

This year marks the 125th anniversary of the revered private club in Aiken that once played host to the greatest players – and wealthiest men – in the world.

Prior to Augusta National Golf Club being built, Bob Jones and course designer Dr. Alister MacKenzie would meet at Palmetto to discuss plans for Jones’ dream layout 20 miles away. In fact, many of the original Augusta National investors were winter colonists from Aiken, who also belonged to Palmetto.

“What makes this club so unique,” Moore said, “ is our history.”

Inside the pro shop, portraits of Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Bob Jones, Sam Snead and Crenshaw hang on the right side of the wall. On the left are paintings of former presidents Dwight Eisenhower and William Howard Taft — who both played the course.

Prior to his death in 1997, when naming his favorite 18 holes in the world, Hogan listed three at Palmetto Golf Club — Nos. 5, 7 and 13. Jones once famously said, “No. 7 at Palmetto is the best metal par 3 I ever played.”

From 1945 to 1953, Palmetto held the prestigious Aiken Pro-Am the Tuesday of Masters Week. This tournament was won by Masters champions Hogan, Nelson, Henry Picard and Herman Keiser.

In April of 1945, in the middle of Nelson’s record 11-straight PGA Tour victories, he also captured the 1945 Aiken Pro-Am and earned a purse of $10,000.

“This was Nelson’s phantom 12th tournament victory,” Moore said. “In the middle of his streak, he won our Pro-Am with Eugene Grace, the president of Bethlehem Steel Corporation.”

Palmetto has been touched by some of the most famous golfers and architects the game has seen.

According to Moore, when MacKenzie completed Augusta National in 1932, he was tasked to draw plans for converting the Palmetto sand greens to grass and lengthening the course. Wendell Miller of New York, who had just finished building Augusta National, was contracted to manage the project. The work at Palmetto used some excess materials from Augusta National.

In addition, the current clubhouse, completed in 1902, was designed by noted New York architect Stanford White, who also designed the Shinnecock Hills clubhouse. A number of the early members of Palmetto also were members of Shinnecock, Moore said.

“What makes this club so special is very little has changed since the 1930s,” Moore said. “In fact, if Hogan or Snead walked in today, it would look the same as when they left.”

According to Palmetto’s website, the highest compliment paid to the club was from MacKenzie in the May 1933 edition of the American Golfer Magazine.

“The alterations at Palmetto have been such a success that the Chairman of Bobby Jones’ executive committee at the Augusta National writes me saying, ‘We have only one serious complaint to make against you regarding the Augusta National. That layout you designed at Aiken is liked so well that the Aiken colony does not seem to be the least bit interested in coming over to the Augusta National,’ ” MacKenzie said.

Reach Doug Stutsman at (706) 823-3341 or doug.stutsman@augustachronicle.com