The map and layout of the Augusta National Golf Club is available on GOLF.com.
Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is a golf club in Augusta, Georgia.Augusta National is a for-profit corporation and does not disclose its income, holdings, membership list, or ticket sales.[5]
The course was designed by Jones and Alister MacKenzie and opened for play in 1932.Since 1934, the club has hosted the annual Masters Tournament, one of the four men's major championships in professional golf, and the only major played each year at the same course.It was the top-ranked course in Golf Digest's list of the 100 greatest courses in America in 2009, as well as the number ten ranked course by Golfweek Magazine in 2011.[7]
The Augusta National Women's Amateur was co-hosted by the course in 2019.[8]
Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts founded Augusta National on the site of a former nursery called Fruitland.Jones wanted to build a world-class winter golf course in his native state of Georgia.During the first decade of the club's existence, membership was low and finances were short due to the Great Depression and the relatively remote location of Augusta, forcing the duo to scrap future plans for a "ladies' course," squash and tennis courts, and various estates.[5]
Ed Dudley was the first club professional, and he was one of the top tournament professionals of his era, with 15 wins on the PGA Tour.
The Masters were first held in 1934 to draw in crowds.Roberts persuaded Jones to play in the tournament after he retired.Initially, Jones was against the name Masters.)
Eisenhower and his wife were invited to Augusta by Roberts.Eisenhower became a member of the club and hired Roberts, his financial advisor, to build a house for him on the grounds.Eisenhower visited Augusta National 29 times.[5]
pine needles are imported, bird sounds are played on speakers, and the ponds used to be blue.The club has azaleas and dogwoods.[2]
Rules and policies imposed on employees, club members, and visitors are notoriously strict.Spectators are not allowed to cheer when a player makes a mistake, and no running or loud talking is allowed, except in the press building.Security guards are usually provided by Pinkerton.If not prosecuted, rule-breakers are permanently banned.[2]
There is a well-stocked wine cellar and a practice range at the club, which dates back to the 1850s.Three large cabins on the property are reserved for tournament sponsors.
The club's on-site press building has television studios, a complimentary restaurant and snack options, staffed bathrooms and leather chairs.The press building's studios are connected to the cameras placed throughout the course.[2]
The non-public shopping and dining complex is called Berckmans Place.During the Masters, it operates for one week.Entry passes for the week cost $10,000 and require Augusta National's approval; there is a 10- ticket limit.Cell phones and photography are not allowed in the club.The price includes free dining at Berckmans' five full-service restaurants, each of which can seat hundreds of guests.After each use, the bathroom stalls are cleaned.There is a pro shop, four putting greens, and three replicas of holes 7, 14, and 16.There is an exclusive parking lot and entryway for BP customers.The complex is near a hole.[13]
The land the club is built on was owned by the Berckmans family from 1858 to 1910.It was [13].
Each hole on the course is named after a tree or shrub that has become associated with it.Several of the holes on the first nine have been renamed.[15]
Augusta National has never been rated.During the 1990 Masters Tournament, a team of USGA raters, organized by Golf Digest, evaluated the course and gave it an unofficial rating of 76.2.In 2009, it was given an unofficial rating of 78.1.[5]
The greens are maintained to provide a fast and hard golfing surface.The Sub Air System was developed and installed in 1994 and is assisted by this firmness.In Graniteville, South Carolina, Sub Air developed and installed similar automatic water suction systems in venues such as East Lake, Citi Field, and Citizens Bank Park.[17]
The "Spruce Pine sand" and "SP55" which are produced as a byproduct during work at feldspar mines in the Spruce Pine Mining District in and around North Carolina, are used to fill the bunkers.The Linville Golf Club in North Carolina used the sand when it was used by Augusta in the early 1970s.Roberts gifted the company owner six Masters passes after the mining company refused to pay for the sand.[18]
Augusta National has gone through more changes than any of the world's twenty or so greatest courses, according to the golf course architecture website GolfClubAtlas.com.The course is called a MacKenzie course because his features are long gone and his route is all that is left.The ground game was intended to be central to the course and was influenced by the Old Course at St Andrew's.Roberts sought to make changes to minimize the ground game almost from Augusta's opening, but got free rein to do so because MacKenzie died shortly after the course opened, and Jones went into inactive status due to World War II.The course was vulnerable to changes in technology, and this brought on a slew of changes from at least 15 different 'architects'.There is an aerial comparison of the architectural changes for Augusta National Golf Club.[20]
The architect of the course in 1937 made several changes, including an important alterations to the 10th hole.The opening hole at Augusta National was a par 4 that played in excess of 400 yards when it opened in 1933.The hole requires a short iron or wedge for the approach from the elevated tee.The toughest hole in Masters Tournament history was created when the green was moved from the old site to the top of the hill.Ben said that the work on the 10th hole was one of the great strokes in golf architecture.[21]
The 1999 tournament had a rough around the greens.The second cut is substantially shorter than the comparable primary rough at other courses, with an average length of 1.625 inches (4.13 cm).It is meant to reduce a player's ability to control the ball coming out of this lie, and encourage better accuracy for driving onto the fairway.[22][23]
The first two shots at the 13th hole at Augusta are referred to as "Amen Corner".The first time this term was used in print was in an article about the Masters written by Herbert Warren Wind.26 years later, Wind told about its origin in a Golf Digest article.He wanted a phrase like "hot-corner" or "American football's "coffin- corner" to explain where some of the most exciting golf had taken place, over an embedded ball ruling and how it was."Amen Corner" was born.The title of the jazz record he heard was Shouting in that Amen Corner.In a Golf Digest article in April 2008, writer Bill Fields offered new information about the origin of the name.He wrote that Richard Moore, a golf and jazz historian from South Carolina, tried to purchase a copy of the old Mezzrow 78rpm disc for an "Amen Corner" exhibit he was putting together for his Golf Museum at Ahmic Lake, Ontario.Moore found that the record never existed.Wind must have bogeyed his mind 26 years later, as Moore put it.He was familiar with the song "Shoutin' in that Amen Corner" which was written by Andy Razaf and was recorded by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra.In 1935.Moore told Fields that he was a great admirer of Wind's work, but was reluctant to come forward with his discovery because he didn't want to upset Wind.Moore's discovery was first reported in Golf World magazine in 2007.
The tournament was won by Arnold Palmer at Amen Corner.Sam Snead's water save at 12 in 1949 that sparked him to victory was one of the Masters moments Amen Corner hosted.On the flip side of fate, Jordan Spieth's quadruple bogey on 12 in the final round of 2016 cost him his 2-stroke lead and ultimately the championship.
The "Eisenhower Pine" is located on the 17th hole and is close to the Masters tee.At a club meeting in 1956, President Eisenhower proposed that the tree be cut down because he hit it so many times.The club's chairman didn't want to offend the president so he adjourned the meeting.The Eisenhower Tree was removed after it was damaged during an ice storm.[29]
During a visit to Augusta National, then-General Eisenhower returned from a walk through the woods on the eastern part of the grounds and told Clifford Roberts that he had found a perfect place to build a dam if the club wanted a fish pond.The dam is located where Eisenhower said it should be and was named after him.30
Across the southeastern corner of the Augusta National property lies Rae's Creek.It runs along the back of the 11th green and in front of both the 12th and 13th greens.This is the lowest point on the course.After the 12th and 13th tee boxes, the Hogan and Nelson Bridges cross the creek.John Rae died in 1789 and the creek was named after him.[32]
Rae's Creek is in front of a building.There is a tributary at No. 12 green.There is a 13 tee at the back of the No.11 green.Rae's house was the farthest fortress from Fort Augusta.When the fort was out of reach, the house kept residents safe.
Augusta National has redeveloped nearby land over the years.The club spent $200 million to buy 100 properties that were more than a mile away from the club.Most purchases are arranged via limited liability companies that are connected to Augusta National.More than a dozen of these limited liability companies are known to exist, and up to five may be involved in a single purchase.Augusta National eventually purchases each limited liability company and keeps the real estate price away from public records.Non-disclosure agreements are also used.[13]
Entire strip centers and residential blocks have been redeveloped by Augusta National.The organization helped finance the project.The club plans to build a tunnel underneath Washington Road.[13]
Because Augusta National has spent so much to acquire land, homeowners in the area have had to apply for special property tax assessments.Property and condominiums are being purchased by investors next to Augusta National.[33]
The Augusta National Golf Club has about 300 members.There is no application process for membership.A list of the current members was published by USA Today in 2004.The annual dues were estimated to be less than $30,000 per year in 2020.Club members are sometimes referred to as green jackets.[5]
The club did not allow membership to African Americans for a long time."As long as I'm alive," said co-founder Roberts, who subsequently served as the club's chairman, "all the golfers will be white and all the caddies are black."[37]
Augusta invited and accepted its first African-American member in 1990 after an all-white golf club in Alabama refused membership to blacks.The club faced demands that the PGA Championship not be held there because of racist comments by the club's founder.40
Billy Payne refused to discuss the club's refusal to admit women.He pointed out that more than 15% of the non-tournament rounds were played by women who were guests or spouses of active members.Augusta National admitted its first two female members, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore.There are 43 and 44 words.
Men serve for a long time.The only person authorized to talk about the Masters is the chairman.[5]
Bobby Jones was honored by the governing board of Augusta National with the position of President in Perpetuity.
The dispute between Augusta National and Hootie Johnson began in 2002 and involved the National Council of Women's Organizations.Christine Brennan wrote about the club's policies in a USA Today column.She wrote a private letter to Johnson, saying that hosting the Masters Tournament at a male-only club constituted sexism.Johnson characterized the approach as offensive and coercive.Augusta National's membership policies were not the top concern of women in a survey conducted by WomanTrend, which was called unethical.Johnson maintained that the issue had to do with the rights of any private club.
Just as many other organizations and clubs in America have single gender memberships.Junior Leagues, sororities, fraternities, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts and countless others would be included.We all have the right to organize our clubs the way we please.[59]
He claimed to have been called a man hater, anti-family, lesbian, and all the usual things.Johnson was portrayed as a Senator Claghorn type.61
When John Snow was nominated to serve as Secretary of the Treasury, he and Thomas H. Wyman resigned from the club.The club broadcast the tournaments without commercials because of pressure from corporate sponsors.The controversy was discussed by the International Olympic Committee when they re-examining whether golf meets Olympic criteria of a "sport practiced without discrimination with a spirit of friendship, solidarity and fair play".On August 20, 2012 Augusta National extended membership to Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore.[42]
The club will establish the Augusta National Women's Amateur Championship in 2019.[63]
Every member of Augusta National is given a green sport coat with the club's logo on the left breast.The jackets are not allowed to be removed from the grounds, and members are required to wear them during the tournament.The idea of a green jacket came from the club's co- founder.He wanted patrons to be able to easily identify members during the tournament.The winner of each year's Masters Tournament has received a green jacket since 1949, although he does not receive membership.The winner of the previous tournament presents the jacket to the new winner.The current chairman presents if the previous champion is unavailable or has won consecutive tournaments.Since 1967, the jackets have been made by Hamilton of Cincinnati, Ohio, with imported wool from the Victor Forstmann plant in Dublin, Georgia.[64]
Only the current Masters champion can remove his green jacket from the grounds of Augusta National for a year.The jacket of a few Masters winners had been sold before the time limit was in place.The members of Augusta National went to great lengths to get the remaining examples.Two jackets are outside the grounds of Augusta National with the club's permission.Gary Player brought his jacket back to South Africa after he won the Masters for the first time.Player kept coming up with excuses why he didn't return the jacket, even though the board insisted.After becoming something of a joke, Augusta National's members allowed him to keep it, where it is on display in his personal museum.Henry Picard is the 1938 champion.Picard removed the jacket from Augusta National before the traditions were established.The "Picard Lounge" is located at the Canterbury Golf Club in Beachwood, Ohio.In 1949, the nine previous winners were also awarded green jackets, which became known as the "original ten" jackets.[65]
The highest price ever paid for a piece of golf memorabilia was for Horton Smith's jacket, which sold for $682,000 at an auction in September.Smith died at 55 years old in 1963, and his brother Ren's stepsons had been in possession of it for decades.[65]
Augusta National has a staff of caddies.Augusta's caddie staff wears white jumpsuits all the time.
Before 1983, staff caddies were assigned to players at the Masters.All four majors and some tour events required the use of the host club's caddies well into the 1970s.Augusta only employed black men as caddies.Roberts once said, "As long as I'm alive, everyone will be white and all the caddies are black."Roberts killed himself at Augusta in 1977 and five years later, chairman Hord Hardin announced that players were allowed to use their regular caddies at the Masters.The announcement arrived seven months after the 1982 tournament, when many caddies were confused by a Thursday rain delay and failed to show up on Friday morning.Twelve players employed club caddies in 1983, including five-time champion Jack Nicklaus.It was 80 and 81.