PALMETTO GOLF COURSE
HOME OF THE USC AIKEN GOLF PROGRAM
Palmetto Golf Club is the home of the USC Aiken golf team. It
was founded in 1892 and is recognized as the fourth oldest golf course in
the
United
States.
The USC Aiken golf team has added to the rich history and prestige of the picturesque
golf course. With the Pacers capturing the 2004, 2005, and 2006 NCAA Division
II
National
Championships,
Palmetto can now boast of being the home course for one of the most successful
collegiate golf programs in the coutry, regardless of division.
Palmetto joined the United States Golf Association (USGA) in the USGA’s second
year of existence. Proudly displayed on the wall in the clubhouse is a membership
certificate that is the oldest one still in existence.
The course itself has undergone some changes over the past century, but the most
dramatic came in 1934. Alister McKenzie, the Scottish golf architect who built
Augusta National, redesigned the greens.
The clubhouse was built in 1902 by the same man who built the Boston Gardens,
Stanford White. White constructed an exact scale model of the clubhouse at Shinnecock
Hills on Long Island, N.Y.
“Palmetto is a great place for our team to practice and play,” said head coach
Michael Carlisle. “It is a terrific place to host our Palmetto Intercollegiate
tournament at as well.”
The annual Palmetto Intercollegiate, part of the Cleveland Golf Series, has become
a highly respected Division I caliber event. In 2007, the Pacers won the event
for
the
third consecutive time and the fourth time in
its ten-year history.
