COLUMBIA, S.C. — It's Masters week, and although the tournament is not in the South Carolina Midlands, businesses in the area say they've seen many people stopping in Columbia.
"Because of the Masters and our proximity it's always been a busy week for as long as I've been doing hotels here," Marcus Munce said.
Munce owns Hotel Trundle, a boutique hotel in downtown Columbia. He said the tournament is attracting many golf lovers.
"A lot of people stay here, and I think it's easier for them just to get reservations from hotels to restaurants. It's a nice, easy drive; we love having them. I mean, who doesn't love going to the Masters?" he said.
Hotel officials say bookings come in months and even a year in advance.
"It starts a year out. I actually just saw a reservation come in for next April yesterday. You can some of the ones that are for the Masters because they might be a few rooms for the some dates so you know they're coming for that block," Munce said.
The Masters Golf Tournament began Thursday at the Augusta National Golf Club, and Columbia golf clubs are seeing its impacts.
"We have a lot of people come out from neighboring states like Georgia, Florida, even some places like the UK," Olivia McDonald said. "We've had four or five groups come from out there which is really cool to see just a bunch of different people."
McDonald is the assistant general manager at The Players Club, an indoor golf club in Columbia.
"It's looking like a pretty busy Saturday for sure," she said. "Sunday, we expect a good crowd; we're having a big watch party, so expect a bunch of our members to come by and watch the final round."