Best golf courses near Aiken, SC

Just outside Augusta, Ga., and about an hour from Columbia, S.C., Aiken Golf Club is a short, old-school public layout that dates to 1912 when the first 11 holes were laid out. Tipping out under 6,000 yards, the course is extremely short by modern standards but still provides ample challenge given the narrow driving corridors and small greens. Aiken Golf Club is a popular option for patrons each April during the Masters and should be considered for any South Carolina football fan heading to a game in Columbia up the road.

Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken is one of the best courses in South Carolina. Discover our experts' reviews and where Palmetto Golf Club ranks in our rankings

Built just down I-20 from Augusta National, there's no mistaking Sage Valley's resemblance to its neighbor. The pine straw, the perfect conditioning and symmetric mowing paterns, the perfect bunker sand—it's all an ode to Augusta, where Tom Fazio, the architect at Sage Valley, served as the consulting architect for many years. Sage Valley has plenty of room off the tee, similar to its counterpart, but less drastic green complexes, characteristic of Fazio's approach—giving higher-handicappers a chance to run balls up on the ground in some spots—actually similar to how Augusta was originally designed by Dr. Mackenzie. Sage Valley fell off our Second 100 Greatest rankings in 2019 due to a lack of ballots—but it returned in 2023-'24.