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One of the most anticipated municipal golf course revival projects is nearing completion just minutes from the home of The Masters.
Augusta Municipal Golf Course, known locally as "The Patch," has set an official reopening date of Wednesday, April 15, 2026: three days after the 2026 Masters wraps. Limited preview play will take place in March, while the course will be utilized for hospitality events during Masters week.
The general story of The Patch is a relatively familiar one in public golf history. It originally opened in 1928 and over decades suffered from benign neglect before falling into disrepair. Despite its decline, the course is a longtime landmark in Black golf history, beloved of Augusta National's caddie corps.
What sets The Patch apart from other "Munaissance" revivals, however, is the cast of figures supporting it. The Patch's proximity to Augusta National Golf Club has enabled the hosts of The Masters to step in and engage with the Augusta community in a new way that leverages their considerable power and influence in golf for the good of locals.
The 18-hole golf course at The Patch has been substantially rerouted and redesigned by two architects with ties to the area: Tom Fazio and Beau Welling. Fazio has been Augusta National's consulting architect for most of three decades. Welling, who worked for Fazio before establishing his own practice, is also part of Tiger Woods' TGR Design group. Welling is a native of nearby Greenville, South Carolina, and one of his projects, Pelican Golf Club in Belleair, Florida, is a facility at which Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley is a member.
Tiger Woods is another key figure in the revitalization of The Patch. He and his TGR Design firm laid out The Loop, which is The Patch's new 9-hole par-3 course. His TGR Foundation is also in the process of establishing a new TGR Learning Lab in Augusta, which is expected to open in 2028, coinciding with The Patch's own centenary year. The first TGR Learning Lab, in Anaheim, California, opened 20 years ago this week. Through this and other programs, The Patch will become not just a golf space but a driver of overall community strength.
Why The Patch is set to instantly become one of the best-value golf courses in the country
Alongside the announcement of The Patch's grand opening comes the unveiling of per-round rates for residents and non-residents. As anticipated, local Augustans will enjoy some of the lowest green fees in the country for a course of The Patch's anticipated caliber. Walking rates for 18 holes will top out at $25 for residents from Mondays through Thursdays, rising to $35 on weekends and holidays. Carts can be rented for $10 per golfer. A round at The Loop will be $15 for locals, with a $5 discount for seniors and juniors. Local residents are being defined as holders of a valid ID with a permanent address in one of five Georgia counties (Richmond, Columbia, McDuffie, Jefferson, Burke) or two South Carolina counties (Edgefield, Aiken). These low rates will also be extended to active-duty members of the United States armed forces.
Even The Patch's non-resident rates are reasonable, given the anticipated quality of the golf experience. Weekday green fees will be $85, rising to $95 on the weekends, while a round at The Loop will be $30. As is the case with the vast majority of municipal courses, golfers may use the putting green and 12-hole putting course for free.
The reopening of The Patch will mark the latest significant step in America's widespread movement to revive long-neglected public golf assets. Even while the National Links Trust faces an existential threat to its plans to remake public golf in Washington, D.C., the ongoing multi-year revitalization of Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek Golf Course is the next-in-line among the most ambitious and transformative of these projects, with an anticipated opening of spring of 2027.
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