AUGUSTA, GA - Uptown Augusta has the Masters. Downtown Augusta has James Brown. And if ever the two should meet, it would, in all likelihood, be at Surrey Tavern.

The club has achieved household-name status to Augustans in the same manner as many of the city’s other hotspots. Of course, this might have a tad bit to do with the tavern’s 30-year existence. Having first opened its doors for business in 1978, Surrey Tavern celebrates three decades of life this month.

Though the tavern has come to be known for many things, one of the most notable is its role as a lasting Masters tradition. While the tavern draws a decent crowd year-round, there is something to be said about the Masters crowd.

During a 2004 interview about the club’s crowd during Masters week, current manager (and then-bartender) Matthew “Matty” Widener said: “It comes to the point we can’t let anybody else in the bar until we let somebody out.”

Former owner Brent Allen goes so far as to call Surrey Tavern “The Masters hangout.” He claims that although the tavern has never been graced with the presence of “a Tiger Woods” per se, it has seen its fair share of Masters golfers.

“They would come in especially during practice rounds,” Allen recalls.

In pursuit of a place he could call his very own Masters hangout, Sports Illustrated writer John Garrity publicly and reluctantly forfeited Surrey Tavern to a couple of others with whom the club is “too closely identified with: writer Dan Jenkins and the late golfer-TV commentator Dave Marr, who swapped stories and bar tabs [there] for years.”

In regards to celebrities, the golf-affiliated are not the only fame the club has known. Allen quite vividly recollects a not-too-shabby group of football players coming into the bar for a pretty animated and memorable nightcap. Among them? Former Buffalo Bills quarterback Jim Kelley, retired Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino, former Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith and retired Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway.

“They all came in together one weekend,” he says, “and it wasn’t even during Masters.

Furthermore, Allen adds, celebrities demonstrated an interest in the tavern that went well above and beyond the purpose of their own entertainment — actors Burt Reynolds, Dom DeLuise and Jim Nabors actually owned and managed the bar at one time, along with the local, infamous Dr. Augustino Carlucci. During their mid-’70s ownership, the club was combined with a neighboring bar (currently Vue), the two now-separate bars once constituting what was collectively known as Man of War. According to whom you ask, this was the first real lounge to have emerged in the area.

In the decade that followed, however, the club split into two, and what is now Vue then became Chevy’s. Rumor has it the present-day Surrey Tavern became Augustino’s Oyster Bar, though none seem to know this to be certain.

Allen took over ownership of Surrey Tavern in 1996, only abdicating his proverbial throne in 2000 (current owner is Paul Davis) due to the illness of his oldest son, which required the family to do a great deal of hospital searching, both in and out of Augusta.

“If not for that,” he says, “I’d probably still be doing it.”

While the former owner has no intention of taking credit for where the tavern is today in terms of success, he does admit (humbly, I might add) that his four-year reign changed the dynamic of the club quite considerably.

“The Christians [who owned the club for its first 18 years of operation as the Surrey Tavern] were very ‘you’ve had your two drinks — now we’ve gotta cut you off,’” Allen says. “When I took over, I promoted it a little differently. We did a lot of promoting on the younger radio stations. The kids liked to come down and listen to the Motown and jazz.”

Which calls to mind another extremely important factor in the tavern’s continual success — the music. Perhaps the primary thing that the tavern has become known for is its loyalty to live entertainment. As early as the 1980s, musicians such as jazz-blues guitarist Will Noble were showcasing their skills at the tavern.

More recently, PlayBack “The Band” has been the club’s predominant musical talent, having graced Surrey Tavern with its smooth soul sound since 1991. The group began playing the tavern every weekend, and still makes it a point to play there, on average, twice a month. They have earned quite a name for themselves, as well as for Surrey Tavern in the process.

Some might say, in fact, that what exists between the band and the bar is a symbiotic relationship of sorts: The club, having built its foundation, in part, upon this particular type of music (jazz, blues, R&B, Motown), has adopted PlayBack “The Band” as their band — the house band. Both the establishment and the group feed off of one another in a sense that brings to mind that age-old chicken-or-egg pondering: Does the band have the tavern to thank, at least partially, for its success? Or vice versa? My guess is, it is likely a little of both.

According to drummer and vocalist Timm Coxx (who insists on the stage spelling of his name, complete with an extra ‘m’ and ‘x’), PlayBack has been “the one band, of all local groups, to maintain a presence at the tavern throughout the years.”

Former owner Allen also credits the band, to some degree, with bringing the bar to life. “Bobby and Butch have both passed,” he says, “but these two — Heaven, God love ‘em to death — they would come in wearing their pimped-out outfits. Everything red. Feathers sticking out of their hats. They would make their entrance, and the bartender would have their drinks ready. They were like that, and it was that kind of place.”

Allen further expresses his sorrow over the loss of them both, claiming that their absence has “taken a lot away from the tavern.” Butch, who was also a caddy at the Augusta National Golf Club (for a number of famous people), gathered quite a loyal following via his job. Many, according to Allen, would follow him right on into the tavern. “There were some who would come in to hear him at every opportunity,” he recalls. “They just loved him.”

Aforementioned drummer (and Surrey veteran) Coxx laments the lack of positive recognition received by the club, despite its “mature music [and] clientele.” He suggests that, in a city with “so many divisions, and so many people saying our political structure is screwed up,” Surrey Tavern should be acknowledged more for its efforts to reconcile differences and provide people of all walks of life with a decent, reputable place to hang out.

The tavern, he asserts, is easily the most diverse public nightlife venue in town, in terms of race, culture, gender and age. “Twenty-eight-year-olds will come hang out with their 50-year-old fathers. Girls will bring their mothers. No other club in town has that kind of ambience,” he offers.

In addition to the unparalleled diverse crowd the club draws, there are other things that make Surrey Tavern the hottest club around, says Coxx. “It is located in a good part of town, parking is readily available, prices are reasonable and it’s just very homey and comfortable.”

Although PlayBack has been one of few bands to consistently cater to the famous Surrey Tavern crowd of regulars, it is not the only group to perform there. Several other bands frequent the venue as well. Some include Tony Williams and Blues Express, Soul Dimensions, Perfect Picture and Cagle’s Choice — all R&B groups, which contribute further to the tavern’s laid-back vibe.

Furthermore, offers Surrey Manager Matt Widener, the club has featured widely successful bands from outside of Augusta — Who’s Bad? (a tribute to Michael Jackson) and the KISS Army, just to name a couple.

“No one believes me when I tell them they’re gonna play here,” laughs Widener, “until they actually see it. These are groups that have played the Georgia Theater. And for me to be able to say that they play at a little hole-in-the-wall bar in Augusta is pretty cool.”

Inquiries concerning the history of Surrey Tavern consistently spawn the same story, as the teller invariably (and excitedly) shouts, “Oh, oh, oh — the bar!” Bruce Jackson, owner of Gentry Men’s Wear (the oldest continually operating business in Surrey Center, and a long-time neighbor of Surrey Tavern) remembers the notorious Whitehorse house.

His eyes glaze over, staring off into some unknown space behind me, and I know that he is back there again. “I was a little boy, and I would go there with my father. Of course, I wasn’t allowed to go inside.” According to Jackson, there was a bar downstairs, and much more going on upstairs, which he advises against putting in print. “The actual bar, though, dates back to the ’30s or ’40s,” he says, “and it’s what’s in Surrey Tavern now.”

Brent Allen later confirms the story, just as ecstatic in his telling of it as Jackson. “Before it was there, though,” he says,” it was in England. It was actually shipped over from England, put in Whitehorse Saloon and is now in Surrey Tavern.” He enthusiastically adds that the bar is composed of all genuine materials. “Real ivory, real gold, Tiffany glass.”

“I actually have an interesting story about that bar,” says Allen. “During Masters week one year, a guy came in and offered us $30,000 for it. Of course, we couldn’t sell it — it belongs to Mr. Boardman [owner of Surrey Center].”

An additional, not-so-ancient, literal piece of history is the back wall, which Allen would have all celebrities who came into the bar sign, though he has no idea whether the wall still exists as it was or not.

There is an extensive wealth of history behind Augusta’s Surrey Tavern that is, quite honestly, remarkable and enormous in scope. As I have personally discovered, it is simply a matter of talking to the right people, as the bar means something different, and yet the same, to every individual who has been there.

So, whatever the cause — whether it be the club’s reputation, location, affordability, entertainment or simply all of the above — the effect is huge: What began 30 years ago as a “sleepy little club on the Hill” has evolved into an Augusta landmark.

To read the personal stories about Surrey Tavern, click here.