The Augusta Botanical Gardens (formerly the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame Botanical Gardens) was a botanical garden located in downtown Augusta, Georgia. Until July 2007, it contained display gardens () along the banks of the

Savannah River The Savannah River is a major river in the southeastern United States, forming most of the border between the states of South Carolina and Georgia. Two tributaries of the Savannah, the Tugaloo River and the Chattooga River, form the norther ...

, and include a rose garden with over 800 miniature rose varieties, as well as sculptures of famous golfers

Raymond Floyd Raymond Loran Floyd (born September 4, 1942) is an American retired golfer who has won numerous tournaments on both the PGA Tour and Senior PGA Tour, including four majors and four senior majors. He was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame ...

, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones, Byron Nelson,

Jack Nicklaus Jack William Nicklaus (born January 21, 1940), nicknamed The Golden Bear, is a retired American professional golfer and List of golf courses designed by Jack Nicklaus, golf course designer. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest go ...

, and Arnold Palmer. Because of financial problems, the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame closed the gardens. Most of the plants died because they were not watered. On September 6, 2007, the sculptures were removed and placed in a maintenance shed on the property, where they remain to this day. The property is still owned by the state, though there is no funding for its upkeep. On June 6, 2009, after a well-publicized eight-day battle with state agencies, the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame allowed a group of two dozen citizens to enter the property to cut the grass. Residents of Augusta and the surrounding areas continue to maintain parts of the property for free, even though the Georgia Golf Hall of Fame will not allow them to use the property except to maintain it. There have been proposals by some city officials and by GA Gov. Sonny Perdue to redevelop some Botanical Gardens property for the construction of a new baseball stadium for the Augusta GreenJackets. The proposed stadium, designed by Cal Ripken Jr. would incorporate the Gardens in its design. The new stadium's turf management crew is proposed to maintain the gardens as part of the stadium's operating responsibilities. The site has now been developed as the home of the Georgia Cyber Center, a two building office complex which is host to multiple cybersecurity companies as well as cybersecurity and information technology programs at

Augusta University Augusta University (AU) is a public research university and academic medical center in Augusta, Georgia. It is a part of the University System of Georgia and has satellite medical campuses in Savannah, Albany, Rome, and Athens. It employs over ...

and Augusta Technical College. Black-Bellied Whistling Duck family

See also