Aiken & North Augusta Golf Courses & Tee Times

Who runs public golf in Aiken & North Augusta

South Carolina State Parks runs Hickory Knob in McCormick County, an 18-hole Tom Jackson design through pines along the 71,000-acre Strom Thurmond Reservoir, with lodge rooms on site. Aiken County residents also count as locals across the river at The Patch, Augusta's municipal course, which reopened April 15, 2026 after a Tom Fazio and Beau Welling redesign; the local rate takes a government ID with an Aiken or Edgefield County address. In Aiken, Cedar Creek is an Arthur Hills course finishing a renovation in 2026 and sells a cardholder program. The River Golf Club in North Augusta, a Jim Fazio course from 1998 on the Savannah River, now calls itself a private club.

Public courses worth knowing in Aiken & North Augusta

• Hickory Knob State Resort Park Golf Course: State park course by Tom Jackson on Lake Thurmond, with the water visible or in play on every hole and no houses along the fairways.
• Cedar Creek Golf Club: Arthur Hills 18 in Aiken's rolling countryside, with a renovation wrapping up for the 2026 season.
• The River Golf Club: Jim Fazio design on the banks of the Savannah River, opened 1998; now private with a membership waitlist.

Booking tee times in Aiken & North Augusta: the local rules

Aiken and Edgefield County residents get The Patch's local rate in Augusta, but must show a government ID with a permanent address in one of those counties every time they check in.

Why tee times in Aiken & North Augusta are hard to get

Spring and fall are peak season in Aiken & North Augusta. In summer the heat pushes everyone toward early morning, so the first few hours of the day fill before anything else.

Most public courses open their tee sheet a set number of days ahead, often 7 to 14, and many municipal courses give residents or card holders an earlier window. The best weekend-morning times usually go the day they're released. Leagues and outings take blocks of the sheet before the public ever sees them.

When tee time cancellations happen

Booked-up doesn't mean gone. Plans change: groups cancel ahead of the course's cancellation deadline (often 24 to 48 hours out), players drop when the forecast turns, and a group that shrinks leaves an open spot. Those times quietly come back on the booking page, usually for minutes, not hours.

How to get a tee time in Aiken & North Augusta

Doing it by hand? Here's what works.

1. Know the booking window. Find out how many days ahead each course releases times, and whether residents get an earlier window. Be ready the morning it opens.
2. Look again 24 to 48 hours out. That's when most cancellation deadlines pass and spots come back.
3. Be flexible on group size. Singles and twosomes fit into gaps a foursome can't.
4. Try twilight and weekday afternoons. They're the last to fill and often cheaper.
5. Widen the map. If your first choice is full, check the next town over. Aiken has 2 courses on Yoink and McCormick has 1.

Read the full guide to getting a tee time when everything's booked