The Aiken Golf Club

The Aiken Golf Club traces to 1912, when an 11-hole course was built as an amenity for the Highland Park Hotel, a Winter Colony resort tied to the Tufts family of Pinehurst. It was constructed by professional John R. Inglis, a disciple of Donald Ross who served as club pro from 1915-39; under him Aiken was reportedly the first U.S. club with ladies' tees. The hotel was demolished in 1941; the City of Aiken bought the course in 1939 and sold it to golf professional Jim McNair Sr. in 1959. Decades later, with encouragement from architect Bill Coore, Jim McNair Jr. undertook a years-long hands-on restoration that reintroduced Golden Age, Ross-style features, earning wide critical acclaim.