Palmetto Golf Club

Detailed description of Palmetto Golf Club

Palmetto Golf Club, is a Private, 18 hole golf course located in Aiken, South Carolina.

The Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, South Carolina traces its beginnings to 1892.

The founder of Palmetto, Thomas Hitchcock, laid out four holes in 1892, where the present 16th, 17th, and 18th holes are now located. In 1895, an additional five holes were added. The layout and construction of the revised nine-hole course was the joint venture of Hitchcock, H. C. Leeds, and Jimmy Mackrell. Mr. Leeds had previously designed the Myopia Hunt Club in the Boston area.

Sometime between 1895 and 1897, additional land was purchased and a complete 18-hole course was laid out and constructed by Hitchcock, Leeds, and Mackrell. The newly acquired land also included a large farmhouse which became Palmetto's first clubhouse. The original 18-hole course had Bermuda fairways and sand greens. It is the oldest existing golf course in South Carolina and one of the 10 oldest in the nation.

In 1901, the Board of Governors decided to build a new clubhouse. They engaged Stanford White of the New York firm McKim, Mead and White to design an appropriate structure. Mr. White was a close friend of W. C. Whitney and had previously designed the clubhouse at Shinnecock Hills on Long Island as well as Madison Square Garden and the Herald Building in New York City. The Palmetto clubhouse, as it stands today, was completed in 1902.

In 1932, Allister MacKenzie drew the plans for converting the Palmetto sand greens to grass as well as lengthening the course. Rees Jones had input in the late 80's on bunker renovations. Tom Doak, a noted expert on Allister MacKenzie's course designers provided restoration guidance for the course that was completed in 2005. The course has maintained the MacKenzie design hallmarks for more than 75 years.

Tournament tees (M): par-71, 6,713 yards, course rating 73.5, slope rating 138.

Middle-Red tees (M): par-71, 6,481 yards, course rating 72.0, slope rating 134.

White-Red tees (M): par-71, 6,303 yards, course rating 71.0, slope rating 130.

Forward-White tees (M): par-71, 5,357 yards, course rating 70.4, slope rating 128.

Senior-Gold tees (M): par-72, 5,298 yards, course rating 66.5, slope rating 126.

Blue tees (W): par-71, 5,180 yards, course rating 70.5, slope rating 117.