AUGUSTA, Ga. — For all the merriment surrounding Augusta National Golf Club’s announcement last week that a new partnership would be forged with Augusta Municipal Golf Course, there was anything but a look of glee on Jim Dent Jr.’s face the day after the 2023 Masters wrapped up and Jon Rahm was fitted for his first green jacket.
The son of the former PGA Tour pro and 12-time PGA Tour Champions winner, Dent Jr. has been the head pro at Augusta Municipal, known as “The Patch,” for five years since relocating from Shreveport, Louisiana. He played college golf at Talladega College, an HBCU in Alabama, after growing up in Florida. He moved to Augusta to take the job at this historic course and be closer to his father.
Dent Jr. thinks the news is a major coup for the course, which stands to gain a considerable investment from the new partnership with Augusta Municipal, the First Tee of Augusta and Augusta Tech, which previously announced a deal with the City of Augusta to assume the operation of The Patch by 2025. As part of this new announcement, Augusta Tech will relocate its golf course management program to The Patch, creating a living classroom environment.
But while that should mean better conditions for those who play the course designed by David Ogilvie in 1928, it puts Dent Jr. in the awkward position of not knowing whether he’ll be part of the campus’s future.
“It’s good for the golf course,” Dent Jr. told Golfweek on Monday. “But we’re still in limbo because we’re with the management company. Things are going to change, for sure, and we don’t know where our jobs are going.”
Head pro Jim Dent Jr. stands behind the counter at Augusta Municipal Golf Course, known as “The Patch,” which will partner with Augusta National on a major initiative. (Photo by Tim Schmitt/Golfweek)
As with many municipal golf courses, The Patch works through a management company, which helps handle day-to-day operations. In this case, the company is Cypress Management of Orlando, which took over the course nearly a decade ago. So it’s possible the change to Augusta Municipal and the stronger relationship with Augusta National could force Dent Jr., course superintendent Scott Giles and general manager Ira Miller to the side if Cypress Management is not retained. No details have been released on that business arrangement.
Still, Dent Jr., who clearly has the trust of regulars, has tried to stay positive for those who will reap the rewards of…
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