McNair went with his heart

“We finally came to a point that every golf course comes to,” McNair said. “You have to make a very hard decision on which direction you go. And we made what we thought was an easy decision to preserve this incredible golf course that had been here long before our family ever took it over.”

Aiken Golf Club, which is sandwiched between Hitchcock Woods and the downtown area, traces its origins back to the Taylormade Burner 2.0 irons bustling Winter Colony scene of the early 1900s.

The original Highland Park Hotel had burned down in 1898, but it was rebuilt in 1912. A four-hole layout had been built a few years before, but the new hotel expanded it to 11 holes. In 1916, the course gained fame as the first in the nation to offer women’s tees.

The McNair family entered the picture in 1959 when McNair Sr. purchased it from the city and switched the name back to Highland Park.

McNair Sr. died in 2001, but he knew that his son was restoring the course.

“It has been a lifelong journey not only for me, but for my father,” McNair said. “I think he’d be very proud of where we’ve been and what kind of club we are now. He’d be very proud.”

The club recently held its third annual callaway razr x irons McNair Cup – the event that honors McNair Sr. – and the players marveled at the challenges presented by a course that plays just 6,048 yards from the medal tees.

Now, as the club celebrates its centennial, the hard work is being recognized. Golfweek recently ranked Aiken Golf Club as the 13th-best place to play in South Carolina for courses that are accessible to the public. That comes on top of other awards that have given the club kudos for its charm and affordability.

Inglis and legendary designer Donald Ross are generally given credit for the course’s design. With the work done by McNair in the late 1990s, the Morgans thought he should get equal billing as one of the layout’s co-designers.

During Masters Week, a team of course raters from Golfweek descended on Aiken Golf Club.

McNair said he had visualized his work plenty of times.

Aiken Golf Club attracts a variety of golfers. Senior players enjoy the lack of length. Players on a budget enjoy the low cost. Scratch players enjoy the challenge when McNair sets the pins in difficult locations.

“We will continue to make improvements. There will be a time when the next generation will take over,” McNair said. “Golf courses are always changing, and I think we’ve really set the standard discount golf clubs for what this golf course should be. I think the next 100 years will be exciting.”