AUGUSTA, Ga. () – Augusta National Golf Club announced a partnership with Tiger Woods, his nonprofit TGR Foundation and the Richmond County School System to create a TGR Learning Lab at the former Lamar Elementary School in Augusta which the Richmond County School Board voted to sell in December 2023.

The partnership was revealed in a Monday afternoon press conference at Augusta National by Augusta National chairman Fred Ridley along with Richmond County Board of Education president Shawnda Stovall and RCSS Interim Superintendent Dr. Malinda Cobb along with Jill Brown of First Tee Augusta.

Ridley says the location for the new learning lab was not an afterthought.

“We’ve been extremely grateful for the enthusiasm and the partnership and the
cooperation of the school board,” Ridley said. “The fact that this was a vacant facility obviously made it a great candidate. And when you look at its location in the Harrisburg neighborhood, close to Richmond Academy and several other schools…and then really in direct proximity to the HUB and the Boys & Girls Club that had been a big initiative of ours and others in recent years, it really made a lot of sense because it really needs to be near the people that it’s going
to serve.

“So, yes, that was intentional.”

Ridley said Woods was originally scheduled to be present in person but could not because of the Achilles injury that sidelined him from competition. Woods did leave a pre-recorded statement regarding his partnership.

“What an honor to be here and to have this moment to be a part of Augusta National, but just in a different way,” Woods said. “To have the ability to design something that will impact the community.”

The TGR Learning Lab will be the fourth of its kind. Woods opened the flagship lab in Anaheim, California in 2006. A second lab opened in Philadelphia in partnership with Cobbs Creek Golf Club and the Cobbs Creek Foundation. It will be located at the former Lamar Elementary School in the Harrisburg community. Chairman Ridley said that 2028 was a target date for completion.

There’s also another site being planned for Los Angeles.

The announcement was made in conjunction with an announcement that Tiger Woods will take the lead in re-desigining the short course called The Patch, also known as the Augusta Municipal Golf Course. Ridley said the planned timeline for completion will be in time with The 90th Masters in 2026.

When the Philadelphia lab opened, Woods declared it to be a fusion of the two things he loves most.

“It combines my passion for supporting youth through education and golf,” Woods said in an article with pgatour.com. “At the Learning Lab, we will provide opportunities for thousands of kids to learn, grow and chase after their dreams for many years to come.”

The Philadelphia lab is a 30,000 square-foot facility with nine classrooms, a multi-purpose room, music recording room, podcast studio and a Full Swing golf simulator. The first location in Anaheim “has served more than 200,000 students” according to the pgatour.com article, and at its inception, the Philadelphia lab was expected to serve more than 4,500 students annually.

Ridley believes the learning lab should be a boon for the Richmond County School System’s approximately 30,000 students.

“Right now, the focus is Richmond County,” Ridley said. I would have to defer to the experts
when it comes to curriculum and exactly how all that’s going to be implemented. But the idea is that it is free. It is open to many, many — as we said, potentially 23,000 students. It really focuses on three things: academic achievement, health and well-being, and college and career opportunities.”