Palmetto Amateur

The Palmetto Amateur is a prestigious invitation-only amateur golf tournament held annually at the historic Palmetto Golf Club in Aiken, South Carolina. The tournament has been contested since 1976, initially as the Aiken Golf Classic before adopting the Palmetto Amateur name in 1998. The Palmetto Golf Club is one of the oldest continually operated 18-hole golf courses in the Southeast, playing as a par 71 over 6,695 yards with small, undulating greens and strategically challenging bunkers. The event typically spans four rounds of stroke play across four days, usually attracting a strong field of top amateur and mid-amateur players from the World Amateur Golf Rankings as well as past champions and top finishers. The tournament is known for its competitive atmosphere and historic setting. The course record of 59 was set by Dane Burkhart in 2005, who won that year with a 20-under-par score over four rounds.