Palmetto Golf Club - Aiken, SC
As referenced in The Chalk Mine Nine write up, I was able to play Palmetto Golf Club as part of their Masters Week offering. Each year, during The Masters, several of the courses in the Aiken area offer tee times to the captive audience that travel in for The Masters. Last year, Griffin and I played The Tree Farm as part of a similar offering and this year was the Chalk Mine Nine as well as the Palmetto Golf Club. Griffin made the return trip, and we added our buddy Joe R. and my brother in law, Kyle.
Tucked quietly into the heart of Aiken, South Carolina — surrounded by live oaks, stately homes, and a kind of Southern grace that never feels rehearsed — Palmetto Golf Club is the rare course that doesn’t just talk about the game’s roots, it is one.
Founded in 1892 by Thomas Hitchcock — a Long Island sportsman and horseman who helped establish Aiken’s Winter Colony — Palmetto is one of the oldest golf clubs in America. The early members, many of them polo players and foxhunters from the Northeast, brought golf to town the same way they brought horses and high society: with intention, resources, and just the right amount of eccentricity.
Hitchcock himself laid out the first four holes in what is now the closing stretch of the course. From there, Herbert Leeds (of Myopia Hunt Club fame) and James Mackrell, Palmetto’s first professional, completed the original nine. By 1895, it was a full 18 — modest by modern standards, but deeply thoughtful in its routing.
Then came Donald Ross, briefly in 1928, to lend his firm’s touch — likely helping with irrigation and early infrastructure. But the most significant influence, and the one that still breathes through the bones of Palmetto today, came in 1932, when Dr. Alister MacKenzie was fresh off shaping Augusta National. A group of Augusta investors, many of whom also called Aiken home for the winter, asked MacKenzie to help modernize Palmetto — to replace the sand greens with grass, and stretch the course without losing its soul.
It’s been said that when MacKenzie was finished with the work at Palmetto, Augusta National’s founders worried it might be the more appealing place to join. That alone tells you something.
The work was completed by Wendell Miller, who had just overseen the build at Augusta, and some of the materials left over from that project found their way down the road to Aiken. It's one of those beautiful, quiet ties that connects Palmetto to a deeper thread of American golf design — less fanfare, more fingerprints.
Over the years, the course was gently stewarded. Bunkers were tweaked. Trees were planted and (thankfully) removed. In the late 80s, Rees Jones recommended some bunker renovations, which were completed in conjunction with a regrassing in 1995. Then in 2003, Tom Doak was brought in to reintroduce MacKenzie’s artistry — expanding greens back toward their original edges and reworking bunkers to better reflect the rugged boldness MacKenzie was known for.
Today, Gil Hanse serves as the club’s consulting architect, helping guide Palmetto into its next chapter without losing sight of the pages already written.
The course itself is a walking poem. Short by modern standards — barely cracking 6,500 yards from the back — but it never feels small. Instead, it asks you to think, shape, and commit. There are no safe swings at Palmetto — only smart ones. The greens are wild and brilliant, full of tilt and tucked corners that reward local knowledge and punish the indecisive.
Holes 6 through 8 — a wicked par-3 followed by two dogleg par-4s — might be one of the best three-hole stretches in the area. And the closing run, where Hitchcock’s original holes still live, brings things home with quiet grandeur.
Palmetto doesn’t chase relevance. It doesn’t need to.
It’s a club that’s always known what it is: thoughtful, understated, architecturally rich, and played by those who value golf’s finer, subtler details. You won’t see much signage. The pro shop is old school in the best way. The vibe leans more letterpress than LED.
In a time when many clubs are scrambling to feel modern, Palmetto’s elegance is that it never had to change much at all.
Palmetto is a true test of your games ability to adapt. The ground game is important here. If you are in a scenario where you are trying to decide of you should chip or putt from off the green; putt. The greens were firm and fast, and tough to hold a long iron approach.
I have enjoyed getting the opportunity to explore the Aiken area further. Having Aiken GC and Palmetto GC as the historic anchors, with Old Barnwell, The Tree Farm and The Chalk Mine Nine as the modern adaptations of the game is really quite unique for the area. Aiken, South Carolina, is a storied hub of American horse racing, where equestrian tradition runs deep and community pride rides even higher. Home to iconic events like the Aiken Steeplechase and Aiken Trials, the town draws tens of thousands each year to celebrate its thoroughbred legacy. From lively tailgates to sidewalk horse statues and the Thoroughbred Racing Hall of Fame, Aiken blends small-town charm with big-time racing history. Whether you're a lifelong fan or a curious visitor, there's no place quite like it to experience the spirit of the sport. This can be seen throughout the town and the surrounding area when driving in to town.
