Finding a new favorite hang in an old world golf town.

Standing beneath the clubhouse of the Aiken Golf Club made me ponder my true location. Was I in South Carolina or some shire on the outskirts of London? The club that I discovered there is a place with a rare ambiance. It has age and depth and charm and history. Which may be everything I need.

During the short walk from the well aged pro shop to the first tee, I realized that I had found a new place that celebrates the game and how I prefer to play it. It felt like the kind of place I could someday call home.

The things that make Aiken special could be viewed as oddities or curiosities to those who have yet to let their golfing pallet wonder through the world. This place is no freak show though. It is a hall of wonders. Aiken is an example of just how right American golf once was. Places like Aiken allow us to see our once and future game.

Walking down the first fairway brought the word “quirky” to mind. There is a stage of sorts created by the opening and closing holes of the course. Those on the clubhouse deck have balcony seating for the show. On the right is the short par three 18th which runs along the street. These holes play over a rolling plateau perched above the many valleys of the course. In Aiken, the beginning and end parallel each other and everything in between is an exploration of the highest order.

The seventeenth hole shares a putting surface with the first and straddles a ridge. From the crest the of this hill the adventurous routing begins to reveal itself. The view from this double green provides a preview for the walk ahead. It was the point of no return. The golf that came next offered me a new perspective on what I want in a golf course.