Roaring Gap, Aiken, and Palmetto

Continuing their debriefing of their early-October Southern swing, Andy and Garrett review their visit to Roaring Gap Club in the Blue Ridge Mountains near the North Carolina-Virginia border. A 1925 Donald Ross design, Roaring Gap is charming and faithfully restored—an old-fashioned hideaway. Andy and Garrett talk routing, topography, mowing lines, and whether Ross courses can be compared to Bruce Springsteen albums. They wrap up the conversation with a tribute to maybe the best golf town in America: Aiken, SC, home to the public Aiken Golf Club as well as the private Palmetto Golf Club. They touch on not only the outstanding architecture of these two courses but also the laid-back, welcoming atmosphere that defines them and the town in the general.