The most anticipated major on the PGA Tour, Golf fans and players alike look forward to watching and playing in The Masters. The tournament is held at Augusta National Golf Course during the first full week of April. This year The Masters will be April 7 through April 13. Where did this course come from and who designed it? Why is this tournament so special?
The original 400-acre property of Augusta National Golf Club was purchased by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts. The property was originally owned by Fruitlands Nurseries and was purchased for 70,000 Dollars. When the course was designed it was to be playable for current and future members, thus fairways covered 80 acres as opposed to the more usual 30 or 40. The greens would total more than 100,000 square feet, and a carefully tended 36-inch collar of longer grass would surround each green. A special humus-rich soil was brought to the course from Florida by train, donated by the president of the New York Stock Exchange (Links.com). Jones and Roberts hired Dr. Alister MacKenzie to design the course. MacKenzie was already a renowned course architect by this point, he had designed many famous courses, such as Pasatiempo, Cypress Point, Royal Melbourne, and Crystal Downs (Golf.com). MacKenzie remains one of the most important figures in the history of golf course architecture, During World War I, he worked on military camouflage. MacKenzie then used those techniques in golf course design. Even before stepping foot on the Augusta National property, MacKenzie had the entire course designed based on topographic maps of the site (Golf.com). Augusta National is a very exclusive golf club; becoming a member is not easy, you must be invited and the membership is around 40,000 dollars. When it was first built, the membership cost was $350, which is still less than $5,000 in today’s dollars (Golf.com).
Why is The Masters Tournament so special and well-known? The first Masters was played in March of 1934. It was played in March until 1940 when the tournament was moved to the first full week of April. The Masters Tournament and Augusta National inherited Bobby Jones’s fame and quickly became well known. The Masters was not immediately made a PGA major however, it was not until the late 1950s that it was recognized as such. The term “Major” was first used in the 1950’s because that is when golf first became televised and therefore, more popular to the public. When LIV golf started in 2021, some PGA players left to join it like Phil Mickelson and Bryson Dechambeau, the four PGA Majors allowed those players to come back, bringing more players and fans.
The prize for winning The Masters is more than a trophy, alongside 3.6 million dollars, the champion always receives a Green Jacket. The Green Jacket is one of the most coveted prizes in all of golf. The green jacket is a classic, three-button, single-breasted, and single-vent, featuring the Augusta National Golf Club logo on the left chest pocket. The logo also appears on the brass buttons (PGA.com). The idea of the Green Jacket came when co-founder Bobby Jones, attended a dinner at the Open Championship venue in Liverpool, England where club captains were wearing matching jackets to show their position, and Jones liked that (PGA.com). To this day, every member of Augusta and Masters champion receives a Green Jacket, specially made for that person. You cannot just wear these jackets as you would any other, the jackets must only be worn on Augusta National property, and are prohibited from leaving.
Since 1934, the Masters Tournament has been home to some of golf’s greatest moments. Amidst blooming azaleas, towering pines, and flowering dogwoods, the first full week of April brings an unforgettable scene to golf and to sport. Over four days and 72 holes, the smallest field in any PGA major competes for a chance to win the Green Jacket and a place in Masters history. Walk through Amen Corner, and explore the iconic traditions and history of The Masters Tournament like never before, past and present.
