Nine months of improvements has Augusta Municipal ready for Masters Week

Standing at No. 3 tee box, Brian Huffman gazed toward the clubhouse at Augusta Municipal Golf Course.

"It's quite a view," Huffman said of the city-owned course. "But I'll be the first to admit it hasn't always looked this way."

In 1973, as a freshman at Aquinas High School, Huffman took biology field trips to Augusta Municipal in hopes of gathering algae from the pond. Throughout the 1970s and early 80s, the clubhouse was nothing more than a shack at the end of a dirt road.

Over the next three decades, the road was paved and the clubhouse expanded, but the course conditions remained far from ideal.

"I've been playing here since 1963 and it usually hasn't been very pretty," said Russell Cooper, 91. "There was grass in sand traps, not great fairways and the greens were in bad shape.

"I'm proud to say that's no longer the case."

On July 1, the image of Augusta Municipal began to change when Orlando, Fla.-based Cypress Golf Management headed the challenge of improving the course.

Over the past nine months, the management group began fixing greens, while working their way back to manicure tee boxes. Inside, the clubhouse added a 70-inch television, a liquor license and new paint job.

"This course won't get fixed overnight, but every day we're improving," said Ira Miller, general manager. "This golf course used to be called home by a lot more people and we're starting to get those golfers back."

Since last March, local membership has increased from 35 to 63, but remains about two-thirds less than the 180 members in 2011.

Huffman expects membership to continue to expand as locals give the course a second look. During Masters Week, the course is charging $37 per round for out-of-town guests.

"It's hard to describe how far the course has come since July 1," Huffman said. "These greens used to be really bad - I mean they wouldn't hold a quality shot at all. Now, if you hit a good shot, the result will show."

Before Cypress Golf Management took over operations, the course had operated at a significant loss over the past few years. Commissioners voted to outsource it in 2012 to a Scottish businessman who abandoned the lease after a few months and left employees unpaid, according to Augusta Chronicle archives.

Twice after that, negotiations fell through with a pair of management companies.

With Cypress, the city pays a monthly management fee of $3,000 until the course becomes profitable. Then the fee will increase to $5,000, with 70 percent of profits going to the city.

"We're very proud of how far we've come since last Masters Week," Miller said. "We hope guests will be really surprised when they see the improvements."