Publisher's Notes

by Kate Metts
Publisher

How did Augusta become the home of the Masters?” That’s a question I sometimes get from visitors this time of year. The question often implies that maybe it should have been located in a more populated city (Atlanta, perhaps?), or a Georgia seashore locale (St. Simons or Savannah maybe?).

I suppose it is a good question, even though Augusta is Georgia’s second-largest city. By today’s standards, Augusta may not have seemed the perfect choice, but a number of factors going back more than 100 years made it so.

First, there was the climate and it was great for golf year-round. The winters were, and still are, very mild. In addition, golf has been an important part of the Augusta area since the late 1800s. Two golf clubs, the Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken and the Augusta Country Club, two of the oldest golf clubs in the United States, have played host to most of the world’s best golfers over their rich histories. So more than 40 years before construction began at the Augusta National, a passion for golf had been an established part of the area.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s, the climate in the Augusta area made for a very interesting chapter in our history—as a winter resort for wealthy northerners. Wonderful golf courses helped fuel the attraction, but there also was horseback riding, fine cuisine and luxury accommodations like the Bon Air Hotel and the Partridge Inn. Augusta entertained many men of achievement including John D. Rockefeller and U.S. Presidents William Howard Taft and Warren G. Harding.

Finally, it was the people who lived in the Augusta and Aiken area that helped to propel the game of golf and Augusta as the rightful choice. Their hospitality, enthusiasm for the game and their overall way of life attracted other well-heeled individuals who relocated companies to the area, built wonderful homes and made their lives here for at least part of the year.

In this issue, we have three articles that expand on these forces: “A Tale of Two Clubs” about the Palmetto Golf Club and Augusta Country Club, begins on page 58. “When Augusta was Much Closer To Miami,” which gives readers a glimpse of Augusta as a winter resort, can be found on page 27. And our featured home of Roddy and Scotta Kitchens, who live in a former summer home on the Hill, begins on page 48. These articles help to tell the story why Augusta is home to the Masters.

So now, whether you’re a resident or a visitor to the area, you, too, can explain why Augusta was the obvious choice.