Local businesses reflect on lessons learned during golf week

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Local businesses reaped the benefits from this year’s tournament.

Some have been fixtures in the area for years. Others are getting to enjoy tournament week for the first time. But all of them probably learned a thing or two no matter how well they did.

Top Dawg Tavern tells us they hit sales goals on multiple days. Other businesses say they didn’t knock it out of the park but are sure the experience will help down the line.

Busy roadways ...

“There’s a lot of a lot of traffic,” said Top Dawg Tavern General Manager Anthony Harley.

Disappearing almost like tournament week never happened. A return to reality after anything but a normal week.

“We didn’t know really what to expect last year. It was busy. Definitely. But this year, we kind of blew it out of the way,” he said.

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They made more than $20,000, twice, thanks to good planning and preparation.

“We had the Ultra bar for the whole entire week. Deep Eddie’s came by and some other vendors, so you want to make sure that you plan. If one is moving out if they’re only there for a couple of days, the next one is moving in that didn’t overlap,” said Harley.

It took time. Top Dawg says the last few years of tournament week had them feeling like anything but the top dawg.

“It’s kind of like word of mouth and stuff like that. I was quite surprised because last year we didn’t have as many regulars that normally come throughout the week here. This year they were here,” he said.

The same feeling Café Dulce is feeling less than a mile up the road.

“We didn’t meet the goals we wanted,” said Owner William Leisey.

On average, he says the locals usually help them bring in $21,000 a week. Still a relatively new business, only being around six months.

“The locals here kind of avoid Washington Road during Masters week. And that’s our bread and butter,” he said.

But they know more time and involvement in the community will help them next year.

“We’re also hoping that by one year, you know, we’ll be a little bit more known. We didn’t do a lot of marketing and everything at first, because we wanted to kind of start off slow,” said Leisey.

Both businesses tell us it’s all about taking the feedback they received and making it more inviting and exciting for next year’s tournament week.

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