K so…
I was on a work trip through TN, GA, and AL to visit a bunch of stores and courses and sell them crap and yada yada. One stop on the itinerary was to Augusta GA, which I have never once been to (let alone seen any part of the ANGC)
Since I was only staying in town for one night, I told myself that I HAD to take a picture of/with the ANGC Members Only sign. I woke up Monday morning and drove past the course, which GPS had directed me to go in through the Old Berckmans Rd entrance (not the one with the sign). I kept driving and saw google maps only had Magnolia Dr running to Washington Rd, but then stopping short of the golf course.
As I was peering into the course whilst trying to keep the rental car in the right lane, I very briefly spotted “the sign” tucked inside the the perfectly manicured hedge being guarded by a rather intimidating security guard. In the biggest “shoot your shot” moment, I made a U-turn and pulled into the unmarked entrance and faced the guard head on.
“Can I help you sir?”
“Maybe…I’ll be honest I’m just passing through town, and was wondering if I could just take a photo of the entrance sign. I work in the industry and figured I would ask before I just ran onto the grounds.”
“Well I appreciate the honesty, but unfortunately we don’t allow photos on the grounds unless you’re an invited guest.”
I told him I understand and didn’t want to cause any trouble. He was SUPER cool about it and asked me just to pull around the guard shack and back onto Washington Rd.
I’ve never set foot on property, nor have I ever visited as a patron, so my first glimpse onto the grounds was a quick peak down Magnolia Lane, the lush green grass and perfectly contrasting “red” of the pine straw, and the beautifully painted building and gate keeping knuckleheads like myself out when not invited.
Did I get IN to ANGC? No. Was I technically on the grounds? According to my man at the front gate…yes. I will say that being direct and honest with the guard probably kept me off the “no fly list” (though you never really DO know…) and made for a pretty cool story.
Google Maps didn’t even get in:
