Augusta was the starting point for April's Tour de Georgia bicycle race. The Augusta Chronicle

Once a year, Augusta becomes the center of the sporting universe with the Masters Tournament, but there is so much more to the local sports scene than Amen Corner, green jackets and Tiger Woods.

There are Pollards Corner, the GreenJackets and the Clemson Tigers.

There are two minor league sports franchises in town, three metro-area Division II colleges and six more Division I and I-AA sports programs within a two-hour drive.

There are more than 50 area high schools where football, basketball and baseball teams challenge for state championships. There are tens of thousands of acres of ballfields, courts, and fishing and hunting grounds for weekend warriors.

And there are some of the finest public golf courses in the Southeast.

Augusta also has become a well-known name on the national sports map thanks to its minor league baseball team, the Augusta GreenJackets, and minor-pro hockey team, the Augusta Lynx.

The 2004 season for the GreenJackets will mark their 16th season in Augusta. The team plays in the low-A South Atlantic League and enters its sixth season as an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.

The Jackets play at Lake Olmstead Stadium, a ballpark hailed by visitors as one of the finest in the low minors. Since "The Lake" opened in 1995, the GreenJackets have ranked in the top seven in the South Atlantic League in attendance, averaging more than 2,600 fans a game, despite playing in one of the league's smallest markets.

Augusta has won two SAL championships, 1995 and 1999, since the ballpark opened.

Minor-pro hockey is now in its sixth season in Augusta with the Lynx, an affiliate of the Florida Panthers of the National Hockey League.

Coached by former NHL forward Stan Drulia, the Lynx are members of the ECHL, one of the top developmental leagues in North America with 31 teams from Alaska to Florida and from Illinois to Texas.

The ECHL is the equivalent of Double-A baseball, two steps below the NHL.

Beyond the Masters and minor league sports, Augusta is home to several annual events such as the Augusta Futurity, National Barrel Horse Association championships, Nike Peach Jam, Augusta Arsenal Soccer Shootout, the Head of the South regatta, and the LPGA's Asahi Ryokuken International Championship.

According to data provided by the Greater Augusta Sports Council, more than 30,000 athletes participated in sporting events held in the Augusta-Aiken area in 2002.

Sports represented ranged from fishing and rowing events to boxing tournaments and gymnastics meets.

Augusta also is home to some of the finest recreational sports facilities in the southeast, including: