The Masters Tournament brings a challenge for CSRA businesses one week out of the year, eliciting both enterprising adaptations from owners and unpredictable numbers. Many businesses have Masters themed events or products, but public response can still prove precarious.
Karli Stone, who bought the SmallCakes of North Augusta from Daniel and Brittany Trahan six years ago, say the first part of Masters week is normally slow for the Edgefield Road bakery, but this year has been unusually busy. Its golf-themed cupcakes, with little edible tees, golf greens and golf bags atop a swirl of green icing, have proven its biggest seller this tournament week.
“Honestly, I’m not sure [why],” said Stone. “But we are thankful for the change.”
Another dessert shop, Whipped Creamery in Columbia County, is offering its own Master’s themed sweets, including decorated custom pies and ice cream cakes.
Its most popular item, however, has been its peach ice cream sandwiches, made with fresh baked sugar cookies, a take on the tournament’s signature treat, says owner Alea Garvin.
“Those that don’t get to go to the Masters, they can have their little fair share outside the gate,” Garvin said.
The Whipped Creamery has been incorporating Augusta’s renowned golf week into its marketing and its menu since Garvin opened the first brick-and-mortar location in Grovetown in 2020.
The ice cream shop has also had the opportunity to offer its catering services to visiting industry for the second time, this year, serving its frozen treats from a pushcart to Nike executives.
Because of how much money the tournament brings to the area, “everybody—whether you’re selling clothing, food, etc… everybody is trying to get in on that, so we’ve got to partake as well,” said Garvin.
Michael Wolff of Augusta Adventure Tours & Events has been offering edutainment tours of the city for some 20 years. The sightseeing expeditions are available all year round, but were never scheduled during Masters Week. Until now.
On Saturday evening, Augusta Adventures will be hosting its Ghost Hunting 101 Paranormal Exploration Tour. Wolff will be partnering with Old Thyme Paranormal to conduct a haunted-house-themed tour of the Marion Hatcher Center.
Augusta Adventures normally holds walking tours, with Wolff leading attendees to observe historical sites from outside. But Saturday’s event will invite tourists on an interactive survey of the historic Phinizy family home and former funeral parlor from the inside, complete with “lessons” from Old Thyme on how to investigate the paranormal.
Wolff has included the location on his tours before, and so has rapport with the venue. The center had no events scheduled for golf weekend, opening up the occasion to launch a new attraction, he said.
“I thought, how cool that we could do something for the week of Masters, for anybody that decided they wanted to come out and join this thing,” said Wolff. “It’s been a goal for me for quite some time to find the opportunity to… tell the history of a building, but also to have it be more of an interactive and immersive experience by people getting to go inside the building.”
Wolff’s niche is the “hometown tourist,” he says, and his emphasis is on representing the Garden City to curious locals as well as visitors, for the other 51 weeks in the year.
“I’m always delighted to be able to have… guests from out of town, and we do, but the reality is that a majority of the people that come on our tours are local hometown people,” said Wolff. “And then honestly, that’s who I’m trying to reach.”
Small Cakes of North Augusta is at 1069 Edgefield Road, Ste. 107. The Whipped Creamery is located at 514 Oxbow Drive in Grovetown and 353 Furys Ferry Road in Martinez.
The Ghost Hunting 101 Paranormal Exploration Tour will be at the Marion Hatcher Center on 519 Greene St., Saturday evening at 7:30 p.m. Reservations are required. For more information, visit Augusta Adventures’ Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/AugustaAdventureTours.
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
