Augusta, GA

Masters: Augusta National unveils $17,000 hospitality experience

Published

2 years ago

April 9, 2024

Masters: Augusta National unveils ,000 hospitality experience

Map & Flag is Augusta National’s brand new off-site fan experience, which you can get into for $17,000. (@TheMasters/X)

AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Augusta National Golf Club prefers — mandates even — a throwback state of calm. No cellphones or electronic signage. No announcements or radios. Just wind whispering through the tall Georgia pines, the way Bobby Jones and Jim Nantz dreamt it to be.

Cue the piano notes and the footage of a babbling Rae’s Creek.

Yet just outside the gates, to, no doubt, the chagrin of the members here, is the blaring rock concert of American capitalism and consumerism. Washington Road, which leads from I-20 to iconic Magnolia Lane, is lined with strip malls and fast food joints, turn lanes and chaos.

There’s the Waffle House, not far from the Tidal Wave car wash. There’s T-Bonz, where they pair Texas Cheese Fries with the New York strip. There’s the Hooters where John Daly sets up shop and sells T-shirts. The dichotomy has always been part of the charm.

Not so much for Augusta National, apparently. Through the years, especially of late, the club has tried to soften the divide by eliminating the need for public interaction with the rest of the world. They’ve bought nearly entire neighborhoods surrounding the club and turned them into grass-covered parking. They’ve rerouted city streets. They’ve acquired shopping plazas and bulldozed them. They built underground tunnels to privatize movement. Former chairman Billy Paine once described a 20-year plan for the club.

There are rumors of expansion into additional housing adjacent to the course, direct, special access to and from the interstate and spreading the club’s footprint out along Washington Road to minimize, if not eliminate, ticket brokers, entrepreneurs and the general carnival atmosphere they can’t control.

Augusta National does plenty of philanthropic work around the region, but in terms of its tournament, it would prefer to exist as a self-contained unit — sort of a Disney World, with fewer independent businesses and citizens of Augusta getting in on the action.

The latest is a push to overtake the independent hospitality operations that have sprung up outside the course to offer companies and individuals places to gather before, during or mostly after a round of the tournament.

Up and down Washington, as well as in homes in the surrounding neighborhoods, people pay for a spot to relax, eat, drink and perhaps hit balls on a golf simulator or hear a pro golfer in a question-and-answer session.

This year, however, Augusta National opened its own offering, the Map and Flag Club, which sits on the corner of Berkmans and Washington, built on land that used to house the Electrolux headquarters.

For reportedly $17,000, you can buy a weekly badge and access to the Club, which includes valet parking, a merchandise shop and places to gather ranging from an outdoor patio and something that resembles a sports bar. The club hypes “inclusive food and beverage with chef-inspired food concepts” and dubs it a “premium patron experience … with a level of service only found at the Masters.”

The Map and Flag is a seven-minute walk from the north gates and the Masters’ first foray into an outside-the-fence business. Eleven years ago it opened Berckmans Place, which is a luxury entertainment club on the grounds behind the fifth hole.

Last year, chairman Fred Ridley hailed Berckmans as “the greatest hospitality venue in all of sports,” but it also changed the dynamics of attending the Masters.

One of the appeals of this tournament was that every patron was treated equally. There is no inside-the-ropes access. There are no VIP boxes, no party decks or special seating. If you were following, say, Dustin Johnson, you could walk right alongside his father in law … Wayne Gretzky. It was all the same.

And if you were hungry, well, everyone ate a cheap sandwich wrapped in green cellophane. The pimento cheese became its own tradition like no other.

Berckmans offered something extra to the richer and more connected. With 90,000 square feet of air-conditioned opulence, there are oysters on the half shell, multiple full-service bars and three putting greens that are replicas of the seventh, 14th and 16th holes. The shop sells items that aren’t available in the main merchandise hall.

It capitalizes on the “next door” phenomenon of people wanting something more special than what’s already special. It has no doubt served its clients well and raked in huge sums for the club, but there is a cost when an event that long prided itself on inclusivity caters to exclusivity.

The Map and Flag isn’t quite that. But it is a business taking over what other businesses are already offering. Put another way, it’s one more expansion of Augusta National that muscles out the “little guy,” if you will.

With each step, this tournament is less about coming to Augusta, Georgia, and a little bit more about just coming to Augusta National’s version of Augusta, Georgia.

Perhaps clean and quiet and nice is preferable.

But there remains something special, too, about slugging back beers with John Daly in a tent next to a chicken wing joint. And it won’t cost you $17K.

Source link

Click to comment

Augusta, GA

Popn’ Off Gourmet Popcorn opens on Broad Street in Augusta

Published

1 hour ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Popn’ Off Gourmet Popcorn opens on Broad Street in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A new gourmet popcorn shop has opened on Broad Street, bringing a Chicago-style twist to downtown Augusta.

Popn’ Off Gourmet Popcorn and Nuts, located at 716 Broad Street next to the Miller Theater, opened late last year. Owner Sheila Jones moved to Augusta from Chicago, where she said gourmet popcorn has a strong following.

“I’m from Chicago where gourmet popcorn is kind of a big deal,” Jones said.

Specialty flavors made in house

The shop offers specialty flavors including caramel, strawberry drizzle, peppermint, Oreo, green apple, and peanut butter — all made in house. Jones said the experience starts before customers even reach the counter.

“The smell is part of the experience. Green apple, strawberry, strawberry drizzle with chocolate. We have a new peanut butter flavor I just did,” Jones said.

A business built for family

Jones said her move to Augusta and her decision to open the business were driven by her son, who is on the autism spectrum. She said she believed he would be more comfortable in Augusta and wanted to build something that would benefit him long-term.

“I wanted him to have something when he gets older. He has a job already if he wants one. He already has a business,” Jones said.

Jones said starting the business has been harder than she expected. She handles most operations herself, with some help from family. She said the purpose behind the shop keeps her motivated.

“Coming into this every day is fulfilling because I built it. I’m building it and I just wanna see how high we’ll go,” Jones said.

Popn’ Off Gourmet Popcorn and Nuts is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The shop is also holding a pop-up Saturday at noon on Gordon Highway.

Here’s a link to their Facebook page: www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584084467886#

Source link

Augusta, GA

Deputy fired over on-duty sex with co-worker’s wife, documents show

Published

13 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Deputy fired over on-duty sex with co-worker’s wife, documents show

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – A deputy was fired for having sex with another deputy’s wife while on duty, according to personnel documents from the Richmond County Sheriff’s Office.

And it’s not the first time his love life has raised questions − he left a job in Aiken County after a similar problem.

Sgt. Christopher Chavous was dismissed after the matter was reported by the deputy whose wife was allegedly having the relations with now-fired deputy, according to the documents.

Chavous admitted it when confronted by an investigator on Feb. 16, according to the documents.

He said he first slept with her before Christmas and had continued doing so at least one or two times a week, according to the documents.

He also admitted that he’d done so at least once while on duty, according to the documents.

The husband said he’d suspected for some time that his wife had been sleeping with another deputy, but he initially didn’t know who it was.

Eventually, the husband tracked his wife on his phone to an apartment he knew belonged to Chavous, according to the documents.

Additionally, the husband showed Sgt. Walter McNeil, who was investigating the allegations, a video he’d obtained that showed his wife standing in the doorway of the apartment while kissing Chavous.

The husband also provided additional images of his wife’s car at the complex, as well as Chavous’ unmarked patrol car there.

The husband “advised that he doesn’t feel comfortable with the fact that Sgt. Chavous is in a peer support role with the agency, and he sleeps around with other Deputies wives,” McNeil wrote.

When confronted by internal affairs, Chavous admitted he’d been sleeping with the other deputy’s wife for about a month and a half, according to the documents. Chavous said he was going through a divorce of his own, according to the documents.

“It is imperative for all employees of this agency to always demonstrate sound judgment, both on and off duty,” McNeil wrote in the report. “Additionally, staff members must conduct themselves in a manner that upholds the integrity and reputation of the Sheriff’s Office. The actions of Sgt. Chavous fell short of these established standards.”

The personnel documents state the final disposition for Chavous, who also runs the Support 1 charity: “Termination.”

In response to the action, Chavous told News 12:

“I will have to refer to this to my counsel. I am appealing the decision.”

He faces certain investigation by the state.

Anytime a law enforcement officer is fired in the state, it automatically triggers an investigation by the Georgia Peace Officer Standards and Training Council.

Here’s a look at his POST records so far:

News 12 learned that before he came to Richmond County, Chavous retired from the Aiken County Sheriff’s Office in 2023 after a complaint of an inappropriate relationship with a confidential informant.

These sex scandals seem to be a recurring problem for law enforcement agencies across the CSRA:

In January, we reported that Aiken County Sheriff Marty Sawyer took action to demote two employees for allegedly engaging in an inappropriate sexual relationship while on duty, according to officials.
In December, we reported that deputy Diana Santiago was arrested after admitting to an “intimate relationship” with a member of a gang and using Richmond County Sheriff’s Office databases to look up information for that member while on duty.
In 2023, we reported that an open microphone in a patrol car revealed that two supervisors had sex during working hours. They were demoted.
Two other Richmond County deputies were fired after their relationship was uncovered. They were fired not for the relationship but for lying about it.
In 2023, we reported that a deputy had sex with a woman who’d called 911. He was put on probation for one year.
In addition, Burke County Sheriff Alfonzo Williams has been involved in a lawsuit by a former employee who alleges he was involved in sexual harassment.

Source link

Augusta, GA

SAFETY ALERT: Recalled fried rice could have been sold in Augusta

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

SAFETY ALERT: Recalled fried rice could have been sold in Augusta

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) – Augusta-area residents could have purchased fried rice that was recently recalled because it may contain glass pieces.

The brand − Ajinomoto Yakitori Chicken with Japanese-Style Fried Rice − was sold at Costco, according to a recall letter received by a local customer.

Ajinomoto Foods North America in cooperation with the U.S. Department of Agriculture announced a voluntary recall of some lots because it may contain glass. The affected products have “best by” codes ranging from 110825 through 011227.

It’s the same recall that was issued a few days ago for store-brand chicken fried rice that was sold at Trader Joe’s stores.

Althogh the name is different, it all comes from Ajinomoto.

Nearly 3.4 million pounds of frozen chicken fried rice products sold at Trader Joe's stores... — Nearly 3.4 million pounds of frozen chicken fried rice products sold at Trader Joe’s stores and in Canada because they may contain pieces of glass(US Department of Agriculture)

The Trader Joe’s version was sold in 20-ounce plastic bags. The affected packages have best-by dates of Sept. 8 through Nov. 17, 2026. The products are stamped with the establishment number P-18356 inside the USDA mark of inspection.

The problem was detected after four consumers complained of finding glass. No injuries have been reported. Consumers should avoid eating the product and throw it away or return it to the store where it was purchased.

Source link