Golden Park

New entryway to Synovus Park, Apr-2025.

The revamped seating bowl.

Looking at the field between innings.

Chronological Tour: Stop 116

• Location: 4th Street (US 280) at Veterans Parkway (4th Avenue, US 27) along the Chattahoochee River, Columbus, Ga. (map it using Google Maps)
• Opened: 1926 (stadium built 1951, renovated 1996, 2025)
• Additional names: Synovus Park (2025)
• Home team: Columbus Cardinals (1951-55), South Atlantic League; Columbus Foxes, South Atlantic League (1956-57), Alabama-Florida League (1958); Columbus Pirates (1959), South Atlantic League; Columbus Yankees (1964-66), White Sox (1969), Astros (1970-88), Mudcats (1989-90), Southern League; Columbus Indians (1991), Redstixx (1992-2002), South Georgia Waves (2003), Columbus Catfish (2004-08), South Atlantic League; Columbus Clingstones, Southern League (2025-present)
• Capacity: 5,000

Rating: 3 baseballs

I got there for a 1997 game, after the field had been restored to its usual baseball dimensions. It sits in the fairgrounds complex on the banks of the Chattahoochee, which at this point divides Georgia from Alabama before swinging into the Peach State and becoming Atlanta’s river.

The day I showed up, they played a doubleheader and no one seemed to know it. The stands were almost empty when the first pitch was thrown, but the fans streamed in steadily as the first game went on and it turned out to be a good night at the ballpark.

The RedStixx, a Cleveland Indians farm club, were moved to Eastlake, Ohio, for 2003. However, the South Georgia Waves relocated from Albany just prior to the start of the season. They were renamed the Columbus Catfish for 2004. However, the transfer of the Catfish to Bowling Green, Ky., for 2009 was approved by the South Atlantic League.

In early 2024, the Columbus city council approved bonds for a $50 million renovation of Golden Park, a condition for attracting another Minor League team. The Mississippi Braves announced that they would head to Columbus for 2025, bringing Double-A ball to the facility for the first time since 1990. The new tenant will be known as the Clingstones, for one of the two main types of peaches grown in this, the Peach State.

The renovation included a new club area above the first-base grandstand, along with a new press box and control room above the third-base grandstand. The former press box area behind home plate is now taken up by luxury suites. While all the seating was replaced, the main seating bowl is original to the 1951 construction. The field dimensions, including short power alleys, also remain unchanged.