James May-June 2023 web - Flipbook - Page 46
Augusta Canal into a recreational paradise. “There was
a lot of contamination down there, but it had potential.
I could see it one day becoming Augusta’s version of
Central Park,” Dayton Sherrouse, executive director for
the Canal Authority says.
Today, replicas of historic Petersburg boats ply the
canal along with kayakers as people fish on the banks
and others enjoy the miles of hiking trails and tributary
footbridges all along the Savannah River Corridor.
Then there’s the Masters. In April of every year, national sports writers descend on Augusta for the annual
tournament and describe the famous Augusta National
golf course as “the garden of Eden in the middle of a
trailer park.” Yet the sports writers jeered that a Hooters
restaurant was within walking distance to the hallowed
grounds of the Augusta National.
While the Hooters is still serving guests, most of the
landscape in the National Hills area has changed dramatically. Augusta National has slowly continued its buying
spree of entire neighborhoods so that the club’s footprint
extends across Washington Road by the use of tunnels.
The area looks like a public park for most of the year.
This year saw unprecedented crowds for the Masters Tournament, according to sports journalist Ashley
Brown. “Not only are we seeing record crowds, ticket
prices skyrocketed. Several years ago, a Wednesday
practice round ticket would sell for $500. Now I saw
them on the internet for well over $1,200 dollars and
that is just for a one day practice round,” Brown said.
He says people are also snapping up the Saturday
Women’s Tournament tickets, primarily to get access to
the Augusta National’s gift shops where a $60 Masters
gnome can be resold on Ebay for as much as $1,000.
Indeed, according to the Hull College of Business at
Augusta University, the Masters Tournament has an annual economic impact of over $120 million for Augusta.
TH E AU G U S TA N ATI O N AL FAC TO R
Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley announced
that the golf club, along with Augusta Technical College, were in partnership to take over the Augusta
Municipal Golf Course— commonly called “The Patch.”
The Augusta National has plans to spend multiple
millions of dollars on upgrades to the course to make it
an international destination course. But Mayor Johnson
notes they have agreed to keep the prices low. “This
initiative offers a unique opportunity to contribute to
two areas of utmost importance to Augusta National’s
mission, our community and golf development,” Ridley
said at his annual press conference.
All the landscape improvements have had an effect
on the quest to bring more industry to Augusta, according to Cal Wray, director of the Augusta Economic
Development Authority. “Quality of life for employees
Here in the great Peach state, we approach all things with a sense of pride
and hands-on care, and our locally grown products are no exception.
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M AY/ JU N E 2023
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