Austin’s Daily Commentary – Need For An Augusta Experience Attraction

Austin: Yesterday's address by Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley, a little bit anticlimactic because of the earlier press conference this week, that was really the major announcement for sure. The Tiger Woods addition to The Patch Golf Course, The Loop, the small par-3 course that he is going to be designing and attaching to the existing Patch during the renovation process there, and of course, most importantly, the Tiger Woods Learning Lab, which is going to be replacing the site of the old Lamar Elementary School, a joint venture between Tiger Woods, the Augusta National, and the Richmond County Board of Education, an amazing educational opportunity for so many school children in the area.

But dare we ask for more? Folks, I've been saying it for years, we need a 52-week-a-year attraction based on the Augusta Experience. A museum, an interactive learning center, call it what you want to, put it where you want to, but it should be something that's available to all fans, not just the kids, and not just pure education, but also a lot of fun behind it. It would be a natural, and certainly putting it within the Washington Road corridor somewhere between the existing club and the I-20 interchange would probably make the most sense. Again, it's something completely within the grasp, and certainly within the reality of the vision of what the current leadership at Augusta National seems to have for the Augusta area.

A true commitment to the community of Augusta was expressed yesterday by Chairman Ridley. I'd really love to see, not just me, the entire Augusta community would really love to see them embrace a 52-week-a-year attraction built on the incredible story of the Augusta National and the tradition of the Masters, and it is long overdue. Let's see if we can push them a little bit, asking for a little bit extra on top of the incredible Christmas that we've already seemed to have had from Augusta National this year.

And that's a comment. By the way, have a great tournament. Good luck to all the players, and we'll see you this afternoon.

I'm Austin Rhodes, 95.1 FM, News Talk, WGAC.