Palmetto deserves boost in fanfare

Every year when national golf magazines come out with their lists of the greatest golf courses in each state, I read them, shake my head and wonder:

How come Aiken's Palmetto Golf Club is never ranked?

It happened again in the May issue of Golf Digest. Palmetto didn't even make it as one of the top 25 courses in South Carolina.

Yet, the South Carolina Golf Association thinks enough of Palmetto that it recently announced that the course has been selected to play host to the SCGA's 75th Amateur Championship in 2006.

"Seventy-five is special and we wanted to go to a special place," said SCGA executive director Happ Lathrop. "With the history and tradition of Palmetto, we thought it was a natural. To say it's been around for a long time is an understatement."

"Being we're probably their oldest member, it's probably fitting that they do have it here," Palmetto head pro Tom Moore said of the 75th Amateur Championship.

Indeed, Palmetto predates Augusta National Golf Club by 40 years. Palmetto was established in 1892; Augusta National opened in 1932.

It's not only tradition that makes Palmetto so great. The design, by Thomas Hitchcock, W.C. Leeds and Jimmy Mackrell, is among the best you'll find, and it has been lovingly cared for since Moore took over as head pro in 1982. Palmetto is such a jewel that it probably could be ranked in the top 100 in the country if it were better known.

"They puzzle me too," Moore said of the rankings. "People in golf in South Carolina know a lot, but not every one of the people who vote on these things have ever been out on the golf course."

In the April issue of South Carolina magazine, Palmetto was ranked No. 2 in South Carolina's Midlands area behind Graniteville's Sage Valley, and 16th in the state. Sage Valley was No. 2 in the state, behind Harbour Town. Sage Valley, which opened in 2001, also broke into Golf Digest's America's 100 Greatest Golf Courses list this year. The Tom Fazio-design ranked 78th.

Lathrop said it probably hurts Palmetto in the rankings that developers across the country are bringing in top architects and spending "$7 to $10 million to build spectacular new courses." he said.

"A good old course like Palmetto is pleasing to the eye, but it's just not the Pete Dye-type course that some people think are great," Lathrop said.

Former Augustan and 1987 Masters Tournament champion Larry Mize calls Palmetto "fabulous; I love it and it's fun to play. You've got all that history that's over there. It's a classic."

The only drawback, Mize said, is Palmetto's lack of length for a modern-day course. For years, the par-71 course has measured 6,380 yards.

That is in the process of changing - 200 yards are being added to the course, Moore said.

MORE PALMETTO: USC Aiken All-America golfer Scott Brown broke the Palmetto Golf Club course record last Thursday.

Brown had 11-under-par 60 with nine birdies and one eagle to beat the 61 held by Scott Usher and Brennen King. Usher's round came in the third round of the 2003 Palmetto Amateur, so he still has the competitive course record.

Brown made birdies on Nos. 1, 3, 5, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16 and 18 and had the eagle on No. 10. His playing partners were Dane Burkhart and Rob Diaz.

Frank Lock held the course record of 62 from 1968 until King shot 61 in 1997.

Reach David Westin at (706) 724-0851 or david.westin@augustachronicle.com.