Augusta National Unveiled: Secrets of The Masters You Won’t Believe! — A Golf Aficionado’s Guide —

(Updated through March, 20, 2025, © Robert S. Fagan – All Rights Reserved)

Introduction

Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters Tournament are more than just a golf course and a competition; they are steeped in tradition, innovation, and compelling narratives. They are unrivaled in sports, and most definitely in golf. Both golf competitions and golf clubs have been spawned trying to capture the essence of The Masters and the Augusta National Golf Club, but none have quite approached that level in either category.

From the club’s humble beginnings as a nursery to the electrifying moments that have defined the tournament’s history, every facet of Augusta National resonates with a unique blend of genteel Southern charm and mighty prestige. These facts offer a glimpse into the soul of a sporting institution that has captured the imagination of sports enthusiasts worldwide. Prepare to be amazed by the tales of triumph, the quirks of tradition, and the sheer magnitude of the Masters’ impact on the world of golf.

It was Pennsylvania’s favorite “Golfing Son,” Arnold Palmer, who first got my golfing attention back in 1960. He “charged” to the lead, birdieing the last two holes to win the second of his four Masters titles. With television capturing the feat and Augusta National member, President Dwight Eisenhower, popularizing the game, I along with countless others got their introduction to golf. Especially for those in the cooler climes, The Masters always signaled the beginning of spring and the start of the golf season.History of the Augusta National Golf Club

Augusta has a more interesting and challenging history than many would anticipate. One constant that lives on is the enduring legacy of founders, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts.

1. It was a crisp December morning in 1930 when Bobby Jones, Clifford Roberts, and Alfred Bourne (of Singer Sewing Machine Co.) first set foot on and viewed the property.
2. The property was once an indigo plantation, but was purchased by the Belgian Baron Berckman’s family in 1857. Their son, Prosper, who was an agronomist and horticulturalist, began importing many trees and plants from around the world, including the azalea that remained on the property. The Baron died in 1883. His son, Prosper, passed in 1910 and the nursery ceasing operations in 1918.
3. The core of the original clubhouse was built in 1854 and is recognized as the first cement house to be constructed in the South.
4. Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts exercised a $70,000 option on the 365-acre Fruitland Nursery for what is now the Augusta National Golf Club. Construction began in 1931 and limited play commenced the next year with the formal opening occurring in 1933.
5. The Augusta National Golf Club also planned to tear down the existing clubhouse and build a modern one.
6. The original late 1920s prospectus for Augusta National called for the handsome 1854 manor clubhouse to be razed. A new clubhouse was to have been outfitted in whitewashed brick and would have housed a gigantic locker room, but in 1931, an early member named Harry Atkinson wrote to club co-founder Clifford Roberts, stating that Atkinson’s wife was quite fond of the building and asked that it be renovated instead. With money tight at the time, the clubhouse survived — and prospered.
7. The original plan for Augusta National was to build two 18-hole courses, the second one for women as part of a real estate development.
8. USGA President and Senator Prescott Bush, father of George H.W. Bush and grandfather of George W. Bush played Augusta National in February 1933 and was so impressed with the course that he floated the idea of them hosting the US Open, but it never really materialized because of the June dates for the Open.
9. Annual dues for membership started at $60 per year. The membership initiation fee was $350 (which would be in the neighborhood of a paltry $6,507 in 2025 dollars). Those who underwrote the club signed a firm commitment for a minimum of $5,000 and a goal of $50,000, but in a mission to solicit Alfred Bourne of the Singer Sewing Machine family, the committee chairperson mistakenly stammered out a request of $50,000 instead of $5,000 to which Bourne provided the very next morning. Mission accomplished! Walton Marshall provided $25,000 and several more $5-10,000. Bobby Jones was not asked as it was known that he had no money until he later received the monumental sum of about half a million dollars for his golf instructional movie work with Warner Brothers.
10. The Club nearly went bankrupt and only paid course designer Alister Mackenzie only $2,000 of the $10,000 it owed him. He died in January 1934 just two months before the first tournament was held.
11. Esteemed golf course architect, Donald Ross, was considered a leading candidate to design the course, but when Dr. Alistair Mackenzie was chosen, Ross was very disappointed. Having redesigned the highly acclaimed adjacent Augusta Country Club, he hoped and expected to get the assignment.
12. Again, during World War II, the Club struggled financially. Dues were suspended, but members were asked to donate $100 a year so that the Club could retain ownership to the property.  Most did.
13. Between 1943 and 1945, 200 cattle, more than 1,400 turkeys, and 42 German prisoners of war occupied the fairways of the closed down Augusta National fairways. The cattle ate a large number of valuable azalea and camellia plants as well as some of the bark of the trees and ended up costing the Club money. Fortunately, the Club made up the loss through the sale of the turkeys. The POWs were hired from Camp Gordon and worked mostly on the golf course. In fact, those German POWs were members of a bridge-building engineering crew in Rommel’s Afrika Corps. They erected a bridge over Rae’s Creek near the 13th tee that lasted until the 1950s. Obviously the tournament was not held during that time.
14. Inspired by the building of the Baseball Hall of Fame, Bob Jones, and particularly Clifford Roberts, looked to build a golf hall of fame at Augusta. It would feature a full miniature version of Augusta, a movie wing, replicas of the books in the library, and a driving range. The plan was scrapped because of the start of World War II.
15. In 1937 Augusta played host to the first PGA Seniors Championship. It played a decisive role in creating what years later would evolve into the Champions Tour. The Seniors Division of the PGA was established at a meeting of the older professionals held at an Augusta hotel. The course held the tournament for two years — the winners being Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod respectively — before it found a sponsor and moved to Florida.
16. Magnolia Lane was not paved until 1947.
17. Augusta National’s bunkers are actually not filled with sand but a waste produced by the mining of aluminum.
18. The eleventh hole was originally a short, sharp dogleg right with the tee to the right of the current tenth green, and just in the area of the present fifteenth tee.
19. Clifford Roberts had the mounds to the left of the eighth green removed in 1956, but architect Joe Finger with consultation from Byron Nelson restored them to the Mackenzie specifications in 1979 after Roberts’ death.
20. It was Alister Mackenzie who first suggested a short (“approach and putt”) Par-3 course for Augusta National in 1932.
21. According to Bobby Jones’ biographer, O. B. Keeler, Jones said, “ I suppose no two people ever agreed better—on a golf course. Doctor MacKenzie and I tried each other out thoroughly. Our ideas seem to be synonymous.
22. While MacKenzie and Jones receive equal billing as the course’s designers, MacKenzie was responsible for the routing, and positioning the greens and bunkers. Once the land was cleared, Jones would assist hitting shots with MacKenzie watching and making adjustments.
23. The course was built remarkably quickly. MacKenzie arrived at the Augusta National site in March 1932 for a two-month stay in which time he shaped the greens and would watch Jones hit shots. MacKenzie left for England in May and it was the last time he would see Augusta National. Seeding was accomplished in late May and the course opened that December with the formal opening in January 1933. MacKenzie died at his home on the Pasatiempo Golf Club in Santa Cruz, California in January 1934 never receiving $8,000 of the $10,000 owed him. (MacKenzie had pressed Clifford Roberts for payment and the Club finally issued two $1,000 notes to appease him). This created such stress for MacKenzie that he wrote: “I have been reduced to playing golf with four clubs and a Woolworth ball.” Seeking money, MacKenzie started writing a second book, “The Spirit of St. Andrews.” It was finished in 1933, but lost until his heirs discovered it and published it in 1995. Jones wrote the forward to it. While MacKenzie and Clifford Roberts hassled over the course architect’s payment, apparently Jones and MacKenzie stayed friends.
24. George Cobb and Clifford Roberts collaborated to design and build the par-3 course in 1958.

History of The Masters

While Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts hoped to have an exemplary competition, it is likely that they never could have conceived the power, influence, and reach that the competition grew to have. The Masters not only crowns champions, but births legends.

1. The first tournament was held March 22, 1934, and since 1940 it has been scheduled for the first full week in April. The lone exception was in 2020 when it was held in November due to the Covid Epidemic.
2. Ralph Stonehouse who won the 1934 Miami Open earlier in the year, struck the very first tee shot of what was then called the Augusta National Invitational. He would finish tied for 16th in the first of his two appearances.
3. Inaugural champion Horton Smith holed a three-and-a-half-foot downhill putt to win and called it “the longest putt” of his life.
4. Horton Smith won the inaugural Masters playing a “Bobby Jones Model Driver.”
5. Ross Somerville, the 1930 U.S. Amateur champion was the first to make a hole-in-one during the inaugural tournament in 1934. He aced what was then the 145-yard 7th hole and is now the 16th lengthened with a pond and the green moved to the right.
6. Gene Sarazen made the first “Double Eagle” at The Masters at the 15th hole in the final round that enabled him in 1935 to tie Craig Wood and later defeat him in an 18-hole play-off. This was the famous shot termed “The Shot Heard Round the World.”
7. $50–the amount that Craig Wood and Gene Sarazen each received for their 18-hole play-off in 1935.
8. Francis Ouimet became the first Honorary Starter beginning in 1941 at the request of Bobby Jones. This famed amateur who won the 1913 U.S. Open. Jones had tried to attract Ouimet since the inception of the event. Finally, Ouimet agreed, but said he would play only one round and then withdraw. Paired with Walter Hagen, he did just that. This led to the formalization of the position in 1963 when Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod took the role. Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Ken Venturi, Lee Elder, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson have followed.
9. A tournament of firsts:  The Masters was the first tournament to host a 72-hole competition over four days; the first to have room to park thousands of cars; the first to offer free daily pairing sheets instead of a program; the first tournament to be covered nationwide on radio, the first to be broadcast in color, the first to be broadcast on cable TV, and on high-definition TV in 2002; the first to use bleachers; the first to use rope galleries; and the first to use private detectives to handle ticket sales and security. In 2010, The Masters was the first major sporting event to be produced in #D on TV and the Internet. It developed the first on-course scoreboard and was the first to use the over/under par system we generally use today.
10. In 1959, CBS’s Frank Chirkinian produced his first of 38 Masters for CBS Sports. In 1965, a television studio was built in the then one-year old Butler Cabin. In 1967 the BBC carried the first overseas broadcast of the tournament while in 1970 the coverage was expanded from the final four holes to the 13^th. In 1973, the 12^th hole was added. In 1996, Master.com was introduced. In 2002 CBS televised coverage of all 18 holes of the final round for the first time. 2011 saw the debut of the official Masters.app.
11. No one actually won “The Masters” until 1939 because from 1934 through 1938 the event was known as the “Augusta National Invitation Tournament.”
12. The prize money for the tournament remained constant from the beginning until the tournament was suspended for the  beginning of World War II. The total purse was $5,000 and it was paid to the twelve leading professionals. Clifford Roberts would annually pass the hat among the membership to raise this amount, but the Club continued to lose money each year on the tournament and also suffer operating deficits as a Club. The Club had but 76 members at tournament time.
13. To date, no player has won the Wednesday par-3 contest and then won the tournament that same year. The first Par-3 Contest was held in 1960; it replaced the clinics, long-driving contests, and accuracy competitions that had often been held on Wednesdays before the tournament. Sam Snead won the first Contest, giving him his second significant Augusta National “first”: in 1949, he was the first Masters winner to be awarded a green jacket.
14. Long drive, two-man best ball, and other pre-tournament competitions were held prior to the introduction of the par-three contest.
15. The tournament changed its finish to “sudden-death” in 1976.
16. When did the Masters introduce a 36-hole cut? 1957.
17. The Masters originated the concept of red scoring number on scoreboards to represent under-par figures.
18. The Wednesday par-three contest was initiated in 1960 and won by Sam Snead.  It still remains the only occasion of its kind at any event on the PGA Tour.
19. Although not unprecedented, a two-tee start to begin the tournament was never instituted until the 2020 event.
20. Three amateurs have won the Par-3 Contest, Deane Beman (1961), Labron Harris Jr. (1964) and Jay Haas (1976) have all taken home the crystal for the Par-3 winner as amateurs.
21. Jones and Roberts initiated the practice of denying anyone except the players and caddies to be inside the playing area by employing ropes and they also eliminated playing 36 holes on the final day of competition as was customary at that time. They also provided a complimentary pairing sheet and spectator booklet to all patrons.
22. From 1987 though 1994, international players dominated with Fred Couples in 1992 being the only American to win.
23. 2016 was the year of the aces in the Par-3 Contest. Nine were made erasing the mark of 5 made in both 2002 and 2015. It also marked the first time that back-t0-back aces were recorded with Justin Thomas and Rickie Fowler holing their tee shots on the 130-yard 4th. (Playing companion defending champion Jordan Spieth then hit to 10 feet. Jimmy Walker who recorded one of those aces won the competition at 8-under while 80-year-old Gary Player also made one.
24. Eight players have won three or more Masters. They are:  Jack Nicklaus 6, Tiger Woods 5, Arnold Palmer 4, with Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson having three each. On eight occasions a participant has followed a second-place finish with a victory the next year. They have been Jack Nicklaus (twice), Ralph Guldahl, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Gay Brewer, Billy Casper, and Ben Crenshaw.
25. Jimmy Demaret was the first three-time winner gaining his titles in 1940, 1947, and 1950 among his 31 Tour victories. Until Phil Mickelson in 2023, Demaret was also the oldest to finish the event in the Top 5.
26. Lee Elder won the 1974 Monsanto Open and, in 1975, became the first African American to play in the Masters. The club admitted its first black member, Ron Townsend, in 1990.
27. In 1963, Augusta National limited tickets for The Masters for the first time. That’s a far cry from the estimated 1,000 patrons a day who watched the 1934 event. In 1968, requests for tickets exceeded the supply allotted and in 1975, the demand was five times the allotment with the Club closing the waiting list for badges in 1978. And no, badges cannot be willed when the owner passes.
28. When was the last competitive appearance of Bobby Jones at the Masters? The year was 1948 and Jones was 46, the same age as when Jack Nicklaus won his last Masters. Jones shot 315 with a final round 79. A year later Jones was diagnosed with syringomyelia, a painful and debilitating spinal disease.
29. The tournament changed its finish to “sudden-death” in 1976 with the first playoff occurring in 1979 featuring a Fuzzy Zoeller win over Ed Sneed and Tom Watson. Sneed unfortunately bogied the last three holes of regulation play. Besides Sneed, so far Dan Pohl, Greg Norman, Scott Hoch, Len Mattiace, Chris DiMarco, Chad Campbell, Kenny Perry, and Louis Oosthuizen all participated in the shortened affair, but have never worn the Green Jacket. To date it has not lasted more than two holes.

The Golf Course

Visitors to Augusta National typically come away with a few indelible impressions. The first observation is that the property is far hillier than expected. Television seems to flatten out the contours of the property that feature elevation changes of roughly 175’ (from the highest point being the 10^th tee to the lowest being Rae’s Creek) and some pronounced slopes. The second is that they have never experienced such amazing golf conditions or such a finely tuned golf competition. Thirdly, many of the putting surfaces, especially when at tournament (not practice round) speed have wild breaks and undulations testing the most creative short games.

It should be pointed out that the Augusta National Golf Club is not a 12-month course. It is closed from late May through mid-October for several reasons. Their membership typically would not favor the facility during the hot summer months. More important is the use of bentgrass. It is a cool-season grass that would be too stressed for optimum play in the hot Georgia summer. This period provides the Club the opportunity to conduct turf restoration, bunker maintenance, landscaping, and any other special projects by retaining its full staff.

The course you view during The Masters is prepped to be in its absolute best that week. Once the tournament begins, the speed of the putting surfaces are so quick that it would be too much for most amateur golfers. With its army of agronomy volunteers working literally about 19 hours each day, the conditions are such that what you see is not even quite duplicated there the remainder of their golfing season. As such, it is totally unrealistic to hold other golf courses anywhere close to Masters Week standards.

While the course was the collaboration of Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones who was, no doubt. Influenced by The Old Course at St. Andrews, many changes have been made to the course by a plethora of golf course architects. Each hole is named after a prominent tree or shrub.

1. The term “Amen Corner” of holes 11-13 was coined in 1958 by the late venerable golf journalist, Herbert Warren Wind because he felt that this was the section of the golf course where the crucial events took place.  He borrowed the phrase from the old jazz recording entitled “Shouting at Amen Corner,” a mid-1930s jazz recording by Mezz Mezzrow made by the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, with Mildred Bailey on vocals. Amen Corner referred to a particular area of New York City that, way back when, was known as a center of Bible publishing, printing, whatever you call it. Because so many Bibles were printed in that area, street preachers would go there daily and shout out there sermons on this particular street corner. Those who gathered to listen to the impromptu evangelists would repeatedly yell out “Amen,” as the preachers gave their sermons. So, locals began to call that street corner Amen Corner.

1. Did you know that the site of the par-three 12th green was originally a rock ledge? More than 5,000 cubic yards of earth was excavated on the opposite side of Rae’s Creek to cover the ledge to form what is now the green site.
2. Not only did Robert Trent Jones Sr. create the ponds on 11 and 16, but he reshaped and moved the green on the par-five 13th beyond Rae’s Creek, and added the attractive bunkering around it.
3. The remains of an Indian burial ground were discovered in the area of the 12th green when the course was built in the early 1930s. A grist mill stood from the 1770s to 1830s where the current dam is located behind the 11th green. At one time, a portion of an old grist wheel was visible in Rae’s creek in front of the 12th green.
4. As a former nursery, much of the plantings were imported. The massive distinctive live oaks behind the clubhouse aren’t indigenous to the region, but were likely imported from the Georgia coast in the mid-1850s. Also unusual is the tangled wisteria vine that clings to the clubhouse, thought to be among the first ever in the U.S., and a hard-to-spot palm tree short and right of the green at the par-3 4th, a hole that was called “Palm” in its early days.
5. Alistair Mackenzie and Bobby Jones originally designed the course to have thirty-six bunkers, but upon Mackenzie’s input had that number reduced to twenty-two with the 7^th, 15^th, and 17^th holes having no bunkers.  Now the 14^th hole is the only bunkerless hole on the course.
6. The nines were switched from the original design in 1934 because the trees on the first several holes blocked the sun and thus delayed play more when there was a frost.
7. Did you know it was golf course architect Perry Maxwell, who relocated the original 10th green some 50 yards up a hill and to the right and changed the par-four 7th to a shallow elevated surface guarded by bunkers in the front and rear. Both changes made the course much more difficult. The 10th green was originally located adjacent to the fingered fairway bunker while the 7th hole was also lengthened from a short par-four to a much longer one.
8. The present seventeenth hole was originally designed as a bunkerless hole. Today, its two greenside bunkers, particularly the front right one, strongly influence play.
9. The 465-yard par-four 18^th features the steepest uphill climb on the course rising nearly 40’ from fairway to green. The 570-yard par-five 8^th hole is a gradual, uphill climb the entire way, yet the green is still reachable in two shots by many professionals.
10. The 495-yard par-four 10^th hole has the big elevation change, downhill about 100’.
11. The big round Loblolly just up the left side of the 17^th hole that long intruded into the fairway area was called “Ike’s Tree” because he hit it so often. He twice lobbied hard within the club to have it removed, but his request was ignored by Clifford Roberts. Presidential privilege only goes so far. It was destroyed by a 2014 storm.
12. In 2015, sprigs of the fallen Eisenhower Tree were given to all former Champions in a box engraved with their name and the date(s) of their victory. Two cross-sections of the tree were also on display. One is at the Augusta National Golf Club and the other is destined for the Eisenhower Library in Abilene, Kansas. Meanwhile three seedlings are being nurtured from the tree for possible future use.
13. In recent years during The Masters, all fairways are mowed in one direction back toward the tee. This makes the course play longer and approaches and short game shots just a bit more exacting as one is hitting against the grain of the grass. Previously the course was groomed back to the tee in one direction and toward the green in the other. It was felt that players able to achieve a down-grain hit and achieved much greater distance and preferable lie, while the newer way makes the entire fairway play the same for everyone.
14. Augusta National doesn’t like to discuss the difficulty of its course. It is one of the few to have never been given an official course rating by the USGA. Its members actually use their own system developed by co-founder Cliff Roberts. However, Golf Digest had Dean Knuth, former USGA senior director and inventor of the rating system, evaluate the course on his own in 2009. He came up with a course rating of 78.1 and a slope of 137.
15. Not only did Robert Trent Jones Sr. create the ponds on 11 and 16, but he reshaped and moved the green on the par-five 13th beyond Rae’s Creek, and added the attractive bunkering around it.
16. Clifford Roberts had the mounds to the left of the eighth green removed in 1956.
17. The bunker to the right side of the 15^th green is courtesy of Ben Hogan who made the suggestion in 1957 to keep players from bailing out to the right side of the green.
18. In 1981, the Augusta National greens were switched from Bermuda grass to bentgrass.
19. In 1931, Clifford Roberts wrote a letter to the Olmstead Brothers who were the firm he and Bobby Jones hired to build Augusta National. In it he wrote: “I believe I have failed to tell you about our plan for building a pitch and put course. We want to do something along this line that will be exceptionally beautiful.” The plan was not completed until 1958 when he and George Cobb collaborated to design the par-3 course on the 22-acre plot. It was renovated in 2023 to better accommodate patrons and players. Holes 1 through 5 were rerouted so more holes could run by DeSoto Springs Pond. The putting surfaces on those new holes feature more undulation than the previous versions and drainage was improved. Trees were removed to make more paths for spectators and better views across the layout.
20. Clifford Roberts and Alister MacKenzie drew up original plans for a par-3 course. Initially it called for a 500-yard course but MacKenzie ultimately presented a blueprint for an 18-hole track sprawling over 2,400 yards. MacKenzie wanted to utilize each green and tee box twice, with the holes skirting a small pond. However, Bobby Jones felt the then-cash-strapped club had other projects on the priority list.
21. You won’t find ball washers at Augusta National. The caddies are there for that.
22. The original Par-3 Course did not extend over Ike’s Pond, the fishpond created at the suggestion of General Dwight Eisenhower in 1949. The current 8^th and 9^th holes, which cross Ike’s Pond in opposite directions, were added by Tom Fazio in 1987; the Par-3 Course now begins on what was originally its third hole.
23. Many players claim that the difference in speed between the fringes and the putting surfaces is as great as anywhere they have experienced terming the fringes “sticky” with the greens very, very fast. This is especially hazardous when you have to chip toward the water.
24. The scoreboard behind the seventh green is the only double-sided one on the golf course with the other side visible from the 17th hole. It is 15′ wide and 65′ long with a grated floor and is roofless. This means that its 13 volunteers must work there in all sorts of conditions and must ladders inside to post scores.
25. Did you know that the trees, flowers, greens and shrubs are even hand watered to prevent excessive run off? There are 55 acres to the left of the 11th hole to provide a wildlife habitat and home to 1000’s of migratory birds and the club has an ongoing reforestation project. The parking lot is left unpaved to prevent excessive run off and provide habitat for ground nesting birds.
26. Heading into 2012, the all-time toughest holes during the Masters were #1, the par-four tenth followed by the par-three twelfth, and the par-four eleventh. You can also assume that par is a very coveted score on the par-three fourth and the short par-four third is very under-rated. Recently, the par-four at five and seven have moved to the forefront.
27. Did you know that many of the championship tee boxes that were utilized for first seventy plus years were blended back into the landscape during course-lengthening revisions?  Their locations have, however, been recorded by the Club for posterity.
28. In 1941, Clifford Roberts buried cables around the clubhouse and course, which allowed for communicating immediate scoring updates – far ahead of others.
29. The par-three sixth hole is the only hole on the course that actually plays shorter now than when the golf course opened.  It also had a creek that was expanded into a pond and then completely covered over.

Facilities

It is almost unfair to compare any other golf course to Augusta National. It gets relatively very little use, is closed for almost half the year, is financially funded almost to embarrassment, and equipment and goods suppliers recognizing the value of the association with the Club offer favorable terms and must comply with the Club’s standards of excellence.

As you will see, Clifford Roberts was not only a tough taskmaster, but a very forward-looking leader.

31. The “Crow’s Nest” is the third-floor retreat reserved during the tournament for amateur contestants. It measures 1,200 square feet that houses five. Thirty by forty feet, it houses four cubicles and the top of the room features an eleven-by-eleven-foot cupola that can be accessed only by ladder. The green-carpeted room has air conditioning, a small TV the size of a computer monitor, a telephone — cellphones are not allowed on the course — and Wi-Fi. Nobody truly has his own room, as the Crow’s Nest is segmented into four cubicles by partitions and dividers. Three of those have one twin bed each and a fourth has two beds. The sitting area has a sofa, chairs and a game table for cards and dominoes. There’s a full bathroom with two sinks, but no kitchen. Today, amateur contestants are likely to spend a single night in the Crow’s Nest for the tradition and then move to larger quarters offsite usually with their team or family.
32. There are 10 cabins on the grounds available to members and their guests for lodging at very reasonable costs akin to local hotels.

1. Just past the 11th tee there’s a private restroom, for players only during The Masters.
2. The press building was first built in 1953. Keeping Augusta National in the forefront, Clifford Roberts had introduced small towers and platforms for photographers before World War II. It has since been updated many times and is considered the finest in the game.
3. Sixty-one large magnolia trees line both sides of the entrance of the 330-yard storied Magnolia Lane between Washington Avenue and the Clubhouse. Make that sixty, one fell right before the 2011 tournament.
4. Augusta National is reputed to have one of the World’s finest wine collections with bottles retailing more than $15,000. After Phil Mickelson’s initial win in 2004, he whispered to Chairman Hootie Johnson to fetch some of his best. Hootie was reported to say to another club official, “Do be sure that Mr. Mickelson is presented the bill for the wine.”
5. Beneath the course lies an extensive Sub-Air underground ventilation system that allows the grounds crew to control the soil moisture and maintain desired playing conditions largely independent of the weather.
6. There is an extensive system of tunnels at the Club. As part of the overall experience to keep the operational distractions unseen, tunnels allow staff, delivery trucks, TV crews/media (and VIPs) to access the course, media center, clubhouse, and operations center. They are wide enough to accommodate golf carts, and constructed with concrete and sound proofed. The carts used are silent and referred to as the “ghost carts.” They can also serve as emergency escape routes. This tunnel system was reportedly inspired by Clifford Roberts’ desire to keep the operations as seamless and unobtrusive as possible.
7. The Eisenhower Cabin was built in the early 1950s after Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s election as President of the United States. It cost $75,000 to build and was built to specs provided by the Secret Service, since it was built specifically for the President and Mrs. Eisenhower. Bigger than it looks, it’s three floors and six bedrooms. It is one of the ten residential cabins for use of its national membership.
8. The Butler Cabin is probably the best-known of the cabins as it is used by CBS to headquarter their telecast and also for the previous year’s champion to present the Green Jacket to the new champion in a brief ceremony. It was built in 1964 and named after Thomas Butler, an Augusta National member of the time. and was first used by CBS in 1965.
9. Augusta National has several pretty good fishing spots. The Par 3 course is loaded with water filled with bass and bream. The best place to fish on the Par 3 course is Ike’s Pond, a body of water that was the idea of the former president. Rae’s Creek, which fronts the par-three 12th is brimming with bream and is a favorite fishing spot for caddies while the par-three 16th hole is filled with bass.
10. In 2013 Berckmans Place (BP for short) debuted for $6,000 per ticket. Located just off the 5th fairway with their own Gate 9 and parking lot, this is the ultimate hospitality area  for corporate guests (limit 10 entrants per client) with three restaurants, Calamity Jane’s, Ike’s place and Mackenzie’s. Each has a menu of 25-30 items along with a variety of alcohol – and all is free. Greeters in 2013 included Condoleeza Rice and ex-football player Lynn Swann. There are also three greens, downsized replicas of the 7th, 14th and 16th holes. The cups are moved to match each day’s location. So, you watch a guy hit a putt on a certain hole on one of the 50 or 60 giant TVs, then you can go try it yourself with a caddie no less. The BP facility is so exquisitely landscaped, you don’t even know there’s a golf course nearby. A short path, graced with blooming azaleas, leads patrons to the fifth fairway.
11. Augusta National controls virtually all aspects of media coverage. This applies to the placement of broadcast towers, camera angles, word choice, graphics, and visual presentation.
12. The big live oak tree on the course side of the clubhouse is a place where the “Who’s Who” in golf annually mix. It is estimated to be more than 150 years old having been planted around 1855.
13. Founders Circle is located at the base of the flagpole in front of the Clubhouse. It has two plaques there honoring the Masters’ founders, Bob Jones and Clifford Roberts.
14. It is believed that microphones are hidden throughout the course to capture natural sounds and player conversations. The audio can then be selectively mixed to enhance the broadcast.

Masters & Club Customs

41.Ben Hogan began the Tuesday night “Champion’s Dinner” tradition in 1952, but never attended another after he finished 10^th in 1967 except in 1978 as relayed by defending champion Tom Watson. The previous year’s winner chooses the menu and pays the bill.

42.The Champion’s Dinner begins at about 6 p.m. with drinks and hors d’oeuvres in the Masters Club Room, a second-floor locker room and lounge reserved for past champions. Many champions bring memorabilia to be passed around for autographs, then taken home to auction off at charity tournaments and dinners. At 7:30, the party adjourns to the adjacent library. A group photo is taken, and then everyone takes a place at the huge rectangular dinner table set up in front of the double doors that lead out onto the veranda. Green carpet, white tablecloth and champion golfers.

1. One of the Champion’s Dinner highlights is the golf-ball-size Graber olives introduced by late club co-founder Cliff Roberts. Zoeller and Palmer once engaged in a cheek-bulging contest to see who could eat the most. Zoeller claims to have won, “although he (Palmer) was pretty good at it.”
2. A garment bag to transport the Green Jacket wasn’t given to the winner until Trevor Immelman won in 2008 and was provided an embroidered one with his name on it. 2007 Winner Zach Johnson simply used a trash bag to transport his.
3. After winner are presented with the traditional Green Jacket in the Butler Cabin, there is the presentation outside on the putting green area, interviews, and then a family and friends gathering back in the Butler Cabin. After that the winner and their family are led to a dinner with the entire Augusta National membership. For many years it was held in the formal dining room within the clubhouse, but in more recent years the venue has been an expansive temporary pavilion adjacent to Butler Cabin set up for the occasion. Unlike the Tuesday evening Champion’s Dinner, the Club foots the bill.
4. Tipping is not permitted at Augusta National dating back to Clifford Roberts. Roberts did not want members to be treated differently based on how much they tipped.
5. Augusta National members buy their own green jackets. There are different fabrics and tailors along with prices. They typically own more than one for the changes in the Augusta, Georgia weather.
6. Sandwiches still cost less than $3 and the children of badge holders between the ages of 8 and 16 are admitted free of charge.
7. Curiously during Masters Week, you will be hard-pressed to find a pine cone under the trees or birds flying around. Supposedly, people are hired to pick up pine cones while CBS has provided bird audio on their telecast.
8. You do not have to play in the Masters—or even have been invited to play—to take part in the Par-3 Contest. All past champions of the US Open, British Open, PGA Championship, US Amateur, and British Amateur are honorary invitees to Augusta every spring, welcome to attend and play in the Contest, but not in the Masters itself. Jerry Pate is the only such invitee to win the Par-3 Contest (2005).
9. Families often join the players in the Par-3 Contest and wear the white caddie outfits—a moment of light-hearted fun. Some may even hit a shot.
10. On the Sunday  before the tournament, past Champions may bring a guest to play the course with them.
11. The idea for the Green Jackets was for Members to wear them so that patrons during the tournament could readily identify them as a source for information. New York’s Brooks Uniform Company provided them. Taking the jackets off property is prohibited unless you are the reigning Masters champion.
12. The Pimento Cheese and Egg Salad Sandwiches are ridiculously affordable while the Peach Ice Cream can often sell out before noon. Napkins are colored green so that if one finds its way to the grounds, it will not be noticeable on camera.
13. There is no application for membership. Prospective members must be invited. To openly campaign for membership would not work.

Personalities

1. When referring to Augusta National personalities, who would The Colonel be? The colonel was Bobby Jones’s father, Robert Purmedus Jones. He was a lawyer from Atlanta and could play to a handicap of about eight.
2. Horton Smith was a magician around the greens and known as one of the best putters of the time when he won the first and third Augusta National Invitations. In 1934, he made a 20-foot birdie on the 17th and a downhill 4-footer on 18 to win. Two years later, Smith holed a 40-foot chip on 14, made an  8-footer on 15, and a 16-footer on 17 in  closing out his victory. His Ryder Cup record was also impeccable as he played on five teams and never lost a match. Smith served as President of the PGA and owned 32 Tour titles while finishing second 37 times.
3. Bob Jones was a renowned sportsman, but he was not colorless. In a match against Walter Hagen, he smoked 75 cigarettes. Before tournaments suffered from nervousness and was prone to regular vomiting. A heavy drinker, he favored moonshine, bourbon, and martinis. He was also known to curse up a storm, but only in “appropriate company.”
4. In 2023, 76-year-old caddy Carl Jackson retired having caddied in a record 54 Masters. He started his caddy career at Augusta National as a 14-year-old.
5. What do Clifford Roberts, William Lane, Hord Hardin, Jack Stephens, William (Hootie) Johnson, Billy Payne, and Fred Ridley have in common? All have served as Chairman of the Club. Ridley, however, is a former U.S. Amateur champion.
6. Walter Hagen would compete in only one “Masters” in 1934.
7. Augusta National Member Jeff Knox holds the Augusta National course record of 61 from the Member’s Tees in 2003. As a marker, he played when the field has an odd number of players has reportedly beat playing partners Rory McIlroy and Sergio Garcia. A former University of Georgia player, he has also played with Bubba Watson and Ernie Els in the tournament.
8. President Dwight Eisenhower spent many days at the Club and according to the late Ralph Hutchison’s stories and documents, actually personally consulted with Bobby Jones to review important state and defense policy drafts regarding the Korean War.
9. In 1948, Claude Harmon who was largely known as the club professional at both Winged Foot (NY) and Seminole (FL)  had a career week. Not only did he capture his only significant professional victory, but the father of four famous teaching sons (including Butch Harmon) tied the tournament record of 279 and his five-stroke victory over Cary Middlecoff was the largest winning margin at the time.
10. Soldiers from nearby Fort Gordon were once invited to attend the tournament as patrons. During the 1958 Masters, many who had never watched golf before, quickly became captivated by Arnold Palmer’s bold playing. Their visible and vocal presence caught the attention of Patronella Burke, a writer for the Augusta Chronicle, who dubbed them “Arnie’s Army.” Palmer went on to win his first Masters that year, and the term quickly became synonymous with his devoted fans, symbolizing the widespread admiration he inspired throughout his career.
11. Gary Player is the only person to improperly take the Green Jacket off the property past his 1961 winning year.
12. Clifford Roberts was a respectable golfer possessing a single-digit handicap most of his life.
13. Bobby Jones’ death was indirectly the result of a lightning strike in 1929. He was struck in the neck. The resulting injury eventually led to fluid building in his spinal cord—syringomyelia—a crippling disease that left him wheelchair-bound. He died in Atlanta in 1971.
14. Art Wall, the 1959 winner, has the shortest name of all of winners.
15. Gary Player was the first foreign winner in 1961.
16. Jack Nicklaus’ mother, Helen, attended his first Masters, in 1959, and didn’t return again until 1986.
17. Sam Snead and Gary Player were the first to compete in the Masters in five different decades.
18. Ben Hogan, Jack Nicklaus, and Tom Weiskopf each finished runner-up tour times. Raymond Floyd, and Tom Kite finished second three times. Of those, only Weiskopf, Norman, and Kite never won.
19. In 2009, Angel Cabrera won but was not yet a grandfather. He nearly became the first “Grandfather” to win the Masters, but lost in 2013 to the first Australian winner Adam Scott on the second hole of a sudden-death play-off. The native of Argentina had become a grandchild and one of his sons also caddied for him during that tournament. As things stand, a “Grandfather” has yet to win the tournament.
20. Angel Cabrera was also the first Masters Champion to be incarcerated. He was jailed for over 30 months in his native Argentina for domestic assault and returned to compete in 2025.
21. Clifford Roberts was a respectable golfer possessing a single-digit handicap most of his life.
22. Gary Player is the only person to improperly take the Green Jacket off the property past his 1961 winning year.  (Winners have full custody of their jacket for the year after their victory.) It appears that Player wasn’t aware of the rule and took it home in 1962. Chairman Clifford Roberts called him and informed him that what he had done was not permitted. Player apologized and responded with a gutsy “Well, if you want the Jacket, why don’t you come and get it?” Fortunately, in this case, Roberts laughed and simply told him never to do that again and to never wear it in public off-site.
23. Chairman Fred Ridley has been a member since 2000 and has been the last winner of the U.S. Amateur (1975) not to turn professional. He is the first Chairman who has played in the Masters. He also competed in the 1976 U.S. and British Opens, 10 U.S. Amateur competitions and was a member of the 1976 U.S. World Amateur team and the 1977 Walker Cup team. He served as U.S.G.A. President from 2004-2005 and has scored a double-eagle two on the par-five 15th and a hole-in-one on the 16th. He beat future Masters champion Sandy Lyle twice in the 1977 Walker Cup and Captained the 1987 and 1989 teams.

24. Seve Ballesteros became the first European to win The Masters. He was 23 in 1980 and it was his second major championship title. He beat Jack Newton and Gibby Gilbert by four strokes and would win his second title in 1983, again by a four-stroke margin over Texans Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite. Jon Rahm was the most recent Spaniard to win in 2023.
25. In 2017 in his 74^th major championship and his 19^th Masters, Sergio Garcia finally won The Masters. When fellow Spaniard Jose Maria Olazabal won his second Masters in 1999, Garcia was Low Amateur. His 19^th was the longest wait for an eventual winner.
26. Sandy Lyle has the distinction of being the only player to win and never have another top 10 finish in The Masters either before or after. His victory was the only top 10 finish in 41 appearances.
27. Who is the only golfer to compete in The Masters and also baseball’s World Series? That would be Sam Byrd who played the golf tour in the 1930s and was a prominent player through the 1940s. None other than Bobby Jones once proclaimed: “Byrd is the best man with a driver I ever saw.” Byrd won six times on tour, finished third and fourth at the Masters, and was Byron Nelson’s victim in the finals of the 1945 PGA (it was match play) when Nelson won his fifth and final major.
28. Dwight Eisenhower is the only U.S. President who has been extended membership. There were no woman members until Darla Moore and Condoleezza Rice were admitted in 2012.
29. During his eight-year term as President, Ike Eisenhower visited the Club 29 times and played 210 rounds.
30. According to Clifford Roberts, Mamie Eisenhower was the only wife of a member who had been permitted to stay overnight on the grounds during the Club’s five annual stag parties. And Roberts happily stated that there was never a single complaint about it.

Masters Scoring Records

1. While the Masters did more to make Arnold Palmer famous and start Tiger Woods on his great span of victories, it was Jack Nicklaus who has truly dominated. Nicklaus holds the record for most wins (6), most top five finishes (15), most top ten finishes (22), most career birdies (506) and most career eagles (24). Additionally, he is the oldest ever winner (46 and 2 months in 1986), has finished in second place four times (a record he shares with Ben Hogan and Tom Weiskopf) and recorded the second-lowest score for 72 holes (271 – 1965).
2. Through 2024, The Masters is the only “Major” in which a winner has never scored all four rounds in the 60s. Cameron Smith of Australia was the first to record all four rounds in the 60s in the November Masters of 2020 (67-68-69-69), but he finished second to Dustin Johnson.

1. The 2020 field scoring average of 71.41 was the lowest ever in an opening round at Augusta National.
2. Until 1982, contestants were required to employ an Augusta National caddy. After that, they were allowed to bring their own if they desired. Most today bring their own.
3. Bruce Crampton holds the honor for posting the most eagles within a single competition with 4 made in 1974.
4. Cameron Smith of Australia was the first to record all four rounds in the 60s in the November Masters of 2020 (67-68-69-69), but he finished second to Dustin Johnson.
5. Lloyd Mangrum, in 1940, and Mike Donald, in 1990, both shot 64 in their first-ever rounds at the Masters.
6. In 2003, Scott Verplank birdied the par-3 12th all four days.
7. Course founder Bobby Jones and David Toms are the only players to birdie the par-3 fourth hole three times in one event.
8. The first non-Augusta National caddie to win was Nick DePaul carrying for Seve Ballesteros in the second of Seve’s two wins in 1983. Until then all were required to use the club’s caddies. DePaul would again win with Ballesteros at St. Andrews the following year.
9. The worst start by an eventual champions was a 75 by Craig Stadler in 1982. In 1985, Curtis Strange began with an 80, and was leading into the last nine holes of the final round before finishing two strokes back.

12. Greg Norman owns the best first round score of 33-30, 63 in 1996. He never won The Masters.

1. Anthony Kim holds the record for making 11 birdies in a round in the 2nd round of 2009, while Steve Pate (1999 3^rd round) and Tiger Woods (2005 3^rd round) hold the record for consecutive birdies with 7.
2. Who was the first player to win with a walk-off birdie on the 72nd hole? That would be Arnold Palmer in 1960.
3. There have only ever been four untied wire-to-wire winners. They were Craig Wood (1941), Arnold Palmer (1960), Jack Nicklaus (1972), and Raymond Floyd (1976).
4. The lowest amateur score remains the 7-under par shot by Charlie Coe in 1961 when he finished tied with Arnold Palmer for second, one shot behind winner, Gary Player.
5. In 2014 20-year-old Jordan Spieth became the youngest player to finish second as he also led field in greens hit in regulation and was the best in the field putting from outside 20′. The next year in 2015, he replaced Rory McIlroy as the youngest first-round leader with an 8-under 64, his first tournament round under 70 at Augusta National. He followed that up with a second-round of 66 to break Raymond Floyd’s 39-year 36-hole record by a shot, the 54-hole mark, and tied Tiger Woods’ tournament total of 270.
6. Fifty-three players finished the first round of the 2020 Masters Tournament under-par. Played in November, the conditions were softened by a morning storm and aided by little or no wind and warm conditions. The field scoring average of 71.41 is the lowest ever in an opening round at Augusta National.
7. Fifty-three players finished the first round of the 2020 Masters Tournament under-par.
8. Mark Calcavecchia (1992) and David Toms (1998) hold the records for the best back nines of 29.
9. In 2014, a record six players aged fifty or over made the 36-hole cut.
10. Raymond Floyd’s 271 winning 1976 total might be considered the most dominating performance as he was 22.22 strokes better than the rest of those making the cut. While Tiger Wood’s 12 stroke victory in 1997 might look better, he was “only” 21.47 better than the field’s average. Nicklaus in 1965 that set a scoring record was the third best with a 19.03 differential. The average 72-hole winning differential is 12.73 as of 2021 signifying how dominant Floyd, Woods, and Nicklaus were.
11. The most under-par tournament by the field in The Masters was 2020. Due to its November date and softer greens was 71.753. Only two other times, was the average cumulative score under par, 2019 (71.866) and 1992 (71.907).
12. 2015 winner Jordan Spieth bypassed Phil Mickelson record for the most birdies in the tournament of 25 in 2001 with 28 of his own.
13. Gene “The Machine” Littler lived up to his reputation becoming the first player to score 18 pars in 1959. He would do that again in 1973.
14. The first player to score eagles on consecutive holes was Dan Pohl in 1982 during the third round on the 13th and 14th holes. He would eventually lose in a playoff to Craig Stadler. Others doing it since include Dustin Johnson (2009) and Phil Mickelson (2010) also on the 13th and 14th holes, and Webb Simpson (2018) on holes seven and eight.
15. Of all players who have played the full 72 holes of The Masters, amateur Charlie Kunkle’s four-day total of 340 in 1956 will likely never be broken for the highest score as there was no cut when he played (78, 82, 85, 95). Kunkle was a former Duke basketball player from Western Pennsylvania who started the Sunnehanna Amateur and played in five consecutive U.S. Amateurs. His quarterfinal appearance in 1955 gained him his spot in The Masters.
16. Charles Coe in 1961 was the first amateur to shoot all four rounds at par or better. Coe finished in a tie for second that year, one stroke behind Gary Player. It was not until 2019 that an amateur again played par or better for all four rounds. Viktor Hovland, the 2018 U.S. Amateur champion finished at three under par (72-71-71-71—285) to win by a stroke over 2019 Latin America Amateur champion Alvaro Ortiz (73-71-73-69—286) to tie for 36th. Hovland also finished tied for 4th in greens in regulation hit.
17. The lowest tournament score ever posted by a first-year player was not recorded by a winner, but rather by Toshi Izawa, 2001 with a 10-under par 278 until Jason Day recorded a 12-under total in 2011.
18. Phil Mickelson as an amateur was the first left-hander to ever shoot a sub-par round during the tournament.
19. Tiger Woods’ historic 2019 win marked the longest period between wins – 14 years eclipsing Gary Player by a year.
20. What do Sam Snead (1954), Jack Burke, Jr. (1956) and Zach Johnson have in common? They share the highest winning scores of 289 (+1). Burke came from eight shots back (largest come-from-behind margin) to win his victory by one-stroke over Ken Venturi.
21. In 2024, Tiger Woods broke out of a tie with Gary Player and Fred Couples for the making the most consecutive 36-hole cuts with 24. Unfortunately, the next day Woods would record his worst round of the 99 rounds he played to that point at August with a 10-over par 82.
22. The oldest man to make the 36-hole cut was not Gary Player, Sam Snead, Tom Watson, or Jack Nicklaus, but former titleholder Tommy Aaron who did so in 2000 at the age of 63 only to be replaced by Bernhard Langer in 2020. (Gene Sarazen was 62 when he last made it.) As of 2019, only seven golfers forty or older have won.
23. After Gene Sarazen scored the first double-eagle during The Masters. It wasn’t until 1967 when Bruce Devlin made a two on the par-5 8th hole, and Jeff Maggert was the only other until 2012 when Louis Oosthuizen’s deuce at the second took him all the way to a play-off with winner Bubba Watson. By the way, Bobby Jones was among the small gallery that witnessed the Sarazen shot “heard round the world.”
24. Eaglefest: 47 eagles were made during the 2015 event eclipsing the previous mark of 37 made in 1991 thanks to great weather and receptive putting surfaces. Also, several hole locations on Sunday are situated in lower spots where shots would likely funnel making for more birdies/eagles and exciting television. The 17 eagles Friday tied the tournament record for most in a round, a number that was matched Sunday.
25. The fewest rounds under par in a Masters was 32 in 1956.
26. Ben Hogan (age 54 in 1967, third round), Fred Couples (age 50 in 2010, first round), and Miguel Angel Jimenez (age 50 in 2014, third round) share the 2nd best 18-hole score by someone fifty or over – a 66. All were that day’s best rounds. The best, however, by anyone was 52-year-old Phil Mickelson’s 65 in the final round in 2023 which catapulted him into a tie for runner-up..
27. In 1969, no former Champions managed to finish in the Top 20.
28. Jack Nicklaus was the first defending champion to miss the cut in 1967. That said, he made the most cuts at 37. Nicklaus also missed his first cut in 1959 as an amateur by a single shot. 1957 marked the first year the Masters deployed cut after the second round with 40 making it at six-over par.
29. Jack Nicklaus remains the only player to register two eagles on a par-4, let alone the same hole when he holed out his approach shots in the first and third rounds in 1995 on the fifth hole, the most difficult hole on the outgoing nine.
30. At the age of 65, Tom Watson became the oldest golfer to break par during The Masters with a 71 in 2015 that tied him “Best Champion’s Dinner Pep Talk” goes to Gary Player helping Jose Maria Olazabal. It was 1999 and Player questioned Olazabal about his confidence. Sidetracked by a debilitating foot injury, the Spaniard admitted it was low. Player squatted down and broke into a lengthy pep talk. “Look at me,” he said. “Believe in yourself.” Player repeated the words several times with growing conviction. Inspired, Olazábal won his second Masters that week when most considered his career finished. “He went from a man who said he couldn’t make a cut to winning, which made me feel good,” Player recalled.
31. In 1998, Jack Nicklaus as the age of 58 tied for 6th place.
32. The 3rd round of play marked the best scoring with 80 strokes under par by the field including three rounds of 8-under par 64’s.
33. In 2023 Phil Mickelson shot the lowest score ever by anyone over fifty – a 65 in the final round enabling him to finish in a tie for second four shots behind winner Jon Rahm. Mickelson was paired with past Champion Jordan Spieth who, himself, recorded a 66. Their better ball was an amazing 14-under par 58.
34. Two non-winners Nick Price and Greg Norman share the course record with 9-under par 63s. In Price’s round he started with a bogey and finished with a “horseshoe lip-out.”
35. Masters Champion then 73-year-old Billy Casper owned the highest 18-hole score of 106 in the first round of 2005. Although it is unofficial, his round included a 14 (also an unofficial worst score) on the par 3 16th, with five balls in the water. Casper did not hand in his card and as a result was disqualified, so the round does not stand in the official tournament statistics. Following his round, Casper said: “I was only going to play 18 holes – I just had to get it out of my system. I wanted to do it again. A lot of my grandchildren were here.”
36. The “official” highest score is a 95 by Charles Kunkle in the final round of the 1956 Championship.

Fascinating Stories

49. Amateurs Ben Crenshaw and Rick Bendall, Jr. watched the 1972 ceremonial drives of Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod from the clubhouse roof in only their underwear. Apparently everyone’s attention was directed elsewhere and no one saw the two who had climbed out of their quarters in “The Crow’s Nest.”
50. In 1956, Jackie Burke Jr. went to church and showed up 15 minutes before his Sunday tee time. He still won from eight shots back as amateur Ken Venturi had a disaster of a round and finished second.
51. During the Par-3 Contest Jim Gallagher, Jr. was so nervous that on the 8th hole he hit his shot on the bank by the water and took off his wrong shoe before stepping into the water to play the shot. The putting surfaces for the Wednesday event are groomed to approximate the same speeds as the course for tournament play so it helps tune the players up.
52. The first speedsters were Gene Sarazen and George Fazio. They played the final round in 1947 in a quick one hour and 57 minutes with Sarazen recording a strong 70 and Fazio a 76.

1. Three weeks after the 1968 Masters that Bob Goalby rightly won because Roberto De Vincenzo did not sign a correct scorecard, Roberto won the Houston Champions International tournament. Jack Tuthill was tournament director for the PGA Tour and was on-site. He said that De Vicenzo left the scoring tent at The Masters without signing his card; the penalty was disqualification. Tuthill struggled with himself at that moment, because on one hand there was the letter of the law, while on the other was the unholy mess that would arise if Roberto was DQ’d by, of all things, another scorecard incident. What do he do? Jack Tuthill searched for Roberto, found him and brought him back to sign his card.

54. On October 23, 1983, while President Ronald Reagan was visiting and playing the Club with his Secretary of State (and member) George Shultz, a local disgruntle gunman named Charles Harris crashed the gates and took five persons hostage demanding to see the Reagan who was on the 16th green at the time. He held the hostages in the pro shop for two hours before Secret Service agents subdued him.
55. For many a  Masters’ Tuesday, Phil Mickelson has delighted in torturing jacket-less colleagues by asking, “Hey, do you have any dinner plans tonight?” Dustin Johnson was one of his favorite targets and he fell for it more than once. After Johnson finally won his first Masters, Johnson took time on Sunday evening to dash off a text to Mickelson: “I know what I’m doing for dinner next year on Tuesday, motherfucker.”
56. In 1999, TV golf personality Brandel Chamblee played in his first and last Masters. He shot an opening round 69 to share the first-round lead playing with that year’s eventual champion Jose Maria Olazabal. Coming to the 72nd hole, Chamblee hit a downwind drive, and a sand wedge to just two feet from the hole for a birdie. Knowing he needed the putt to make the Low-16 and be invited back, he missed, and sadly never returned as a player.
57. In 2022 Scottie Scheffler 4-putted the 72nd hole and still won by three shots over Rory McElroy. Interestingly, the very next year, Jon Rahm would begin his tournament 4-putting the very first hole and eventually win by four shots. In 1952, Sam Snead was the only other person to double-bogey his first hole and win!
58. The iconic Hogan Bridge, which crosses Rae’s Creek on the 12^th was named in honor of Ben Hogan’s record-setting victory in 1953. What is less known is that in 1953, Hogan once spent an entire morning practicing a delicate pitch shot over the creek and meticulously studied every green slope and wind pattern in that area.
59. Craig Wood finished runner-up in the first two tournaments and then opened the third event with a horrible 88 only to bounce back by twenty-one shots the next day with a 67. He eventually finished fifteen shots back, but would win five years later in 1941.
60. No amateur has ever won though Ken Venturi was one of three who came close. Despite a final round 80, he finished second to Jack Burke, Jr. by a single shot in 1956. Burke came from a whopping eight shots back to win with a one-over par 289 total. Venturi’s 66 still ranks as the lowest round shot by an amateur.
61. During the 1973 Master, J.C. Snead was battling Tommy Aaron with his Uncle Sam Snead watching the telecast in the clubhouse. While J.C. was playing the par-three 12th, Uncle Sam correctly predicted his nephew didn’t have the right club and would knock the tee shot into Rae’s Creek. J.C. did just that and lost to Aaron by a single shot.
62. Fabulous Finishes include Gary Player’s 1978 victory. Starting 7 shots back in 19^th place at the beginning of the final round, he birdied 7 of the last 10 holes to win. Hubert Green faced a 3-foot putt on the final hole to tie Player, but missed.
63. One of the most disappointing “Waterloo” moments had to be Jordan Spieth in 2016. Seemingly on his way to a repeat, 2^nd win, he arrived at the 12^th (66^th hole) with a comfortable five-shot lead. He hit not one, but two balls into Rae’s Creek carding a quadruple bogey opening the door for Danny Willet to claim the Green Jacket.
64. When club professional Claude Harmon won by a record-setting margin in 1948, it would be his only PGA TOUR victory. His focus would return to coaching.
65. In 1980, Tom Weiskopf was struggling through his first round only to make a record 13 on the 12th. The next day he improved. Only dunking two into Rae’s Creek, he scored a 7. Prior to this, in twelve years, Weiskopf had never hit into the water there. In contrast, in 1951, Lew Worsham’s tee shot splashed into the water, but skipped onto the green where he holed his putt for an unlikely two.
66. On the 12th hole (formerly the third), Gary Player once putted off the green on consecutive days. Toney Penna hit the flag stick and made a double-bogey five. In 1991, Jack Nicklaus made a quadruple bogey here; his first playing in the tournament. In 1964, Nicklaus shanked one here and finished second to Arnold Palmer though he would then win the next two years. In 1995, Nicklaus again shanked here.
67. In 1983, 18-year-old college student Liz Archer, on the bag for her father, 1969 Masters champion George Archer, became the first female caddie at the Masters Tournament.
68. In 1990, working Nick Faldo’s bag, Fanny Sunesson became the first and only female caddie to win at the Masters.
69. Tiger Woods’ much discussed penalty (and not a disqualification) in the 2013 Masters is not the first time that the Masters Committee has given an elite player the benefit of the doubt. In 1960 Dow Finsterwald during the second round admitted to taking practice putting strokes (a two-stroke penalty) during the first round and he signed his card. After the fact, the Masters Committee assigned him the two-stroke penalty and allowed him to continue playing as he finished third. Arnold Palmer in both 1958 with an embedded ball and in 1967 swiping the bunker sand with his ball still in the same hazard got what many have considered favorable rulings. Palmer took his first Green Jacket in 1958 to the strong chagrin of both Ken Venturi and Doug Ford who were in contention with Palmer.
70. Besides, Ken Venturi and Charlie Coe, North Carolinian Billy Joe Patton first came closest to winning The Masters as an amateur in 1954.  He birdied the ninth hole all four days and had a hole-in-one on the sixth, but hit into the water at both the 13th and 15th holes during the final round to finish a mere shot behind Ben Hogan and eventual champion Sam Snead.
71. On the final round of his first Masters, Arnold Palmer shot the best round of the day though he was told he wouldn’t do well there because he didn’t hit the ball high enough. He would later win four times.
72. In Zach Johnson’s 2007 victory, he did not go for a single par-five in two shots and yet played them in 11-under par.
73. During the 1969 Masters Miller Barber hit no less than eleven balls into the water.  Think he missed the cut?  Think again. He only finished three shots behind winner George Archer. On the 13th, his approaches hit the green every day only to bound off into the water and the same thing happened on the 15th. The first three days his shots hit the green and came back into the pond. The final round Barber was not going to be short. He hit extra club, but the shot hit a sprinkler head just over the green and rolled into the pond beyond. The only shot that actually splashed was his hook on the 16th of the final round, all the others only trickled in. Had they stayed dry, Barber would have won by ten shots!
74. Fast finishers:  Charl Schwartzel birdied the last four holes in 2011 to win by two, but in 1959 Art Wall birdied five of the last six holes to win. In 1992, Mark Calcavecchia birdied the last 6 holes in the final round to finish a back nine tally of 7-under par 29 and tie for 32nd!
75. The first left-hander to play in the tournament was Gene Ferrell in 1956. Unfortunately, he was disqualified during his opening round.
76. The last time that a winner was not in the Top 10 after 36 holes was Jack Nicklaus in 1986. Previously, it had been Art Wall in 1959.
77. In 2014 Craig and Kevin Stadler became the first Father & Son combination to play in the same Masters.
78. On the day in 1956 that then amateur Ken Venturi shot a final round 80 in testy weather to lose to Jackie Burke by a shot, he hit every green in regulation while recording a two-over par 38. He suffered six 3-putts during the round and had no birdies. Venturi later relayed Bobby Jones shared with him that if he had won, he wanted Venturi to take his place at the Masters. Jones had always fancied an amateur winning and felt Venturi as potential successor. Had he won, Venturi has shared that he would have stayed an amateur, but may never have won the 1964 U.S. Open or become the distinguished television commentator.
79. Jack Nicklaus won six times but in an oversight never received his Green Jacket until 1998 when he informed Chairman Jack Stephens of such. The Club immediately remedied that. Champions receive only one jacket regardless of multiple wins and they can only be worn on Club property.
80. Amateurs have long played an important component, but few could have predicted that in 2013, a 14-year-old from China, Guan Tianlang, would qualify via a win in the Asian Amateur Championship (one of six ways that year to qualify as an amateur), let alone be the sole amateur to make the 36-hole cut and become low amateur as well as the youngest ever to make the cut. He did that despite incurring a 1-stroke penalty for slow play on his 35th hole. Amazingly he did not have a single double-bogey or three-putt green the entire 72 holes!
81. On the Sunday before the 1986 Masters, Nicklaus was in Atlanta visiting the Country Club of the South in Atlanta, a course he was building.
82. Bob Goalby was the first champion to have missed the cut the prior year. In 1967, he shot 78-78 to leave early only to come back the next year and win.
83. This player 3-putted from twelve feet on the last green to finish second by a stroke to Herman Keiser. That was Ben Hogan in 1946 who also twice lost in play-offs, first to Byron Nelson and later to Sam Snead.
84. Who was the two-time champion that bogied the last hole each time and yet won without a play-off? That would be Bernhard Langer in 1985 and 1993.
85. This player shot 17 strokes worse than he did the year before and still won. Jack Nicklaus won with an even-par 288 defeating Gay Brewer and Tommy Jacobs in an 18-hole play-off in 1966. Nicklaus won with a 271 the year previously and Gay Brewer would go on to win the next year.
86. In 2017, a high-profile CEO was quickly escorted off the property for sneaking to make on his cell phone. Cell phones are not permitted at The Masters. Former playing professional and “Golf Channel” personality was caught looking at his cell phone outside the Media Center. He was escorted off, but allowed to return the next day—without his cell phone.
87. In 1942, Sam Snead played barefoot during a practice round. He believed it improved his rhythm and balance and enhanced his feel for the course. That would never happen again as contestants and patrons must wear shoes.
88. In 1961, heavy rains finished play after ten players had completed their rounds. Despite that all the scores were erased and play resumed on Monday where Arnold Palmer needed a par on the last hole to win, but double-bogied making Gary Player the first international champion.
89. 1987 Masters Champion Larry Mize was a hometown boy who used to work the leaderboards at the tournament in the morning so he could go out and watch his idol Jack Nicklaus in the afternoon.  The final round in 1986, Mize matched Nicklaus’ final round of 65 which got him into the Top 24 and the next year Nicklaus placed the Green Jacket on him. In 2020, Mize would open his tourney with a fine score of 70.
90. Augusta National members are only to wear their green jackets on the club property. One member was said to have consumed too much alcohol and headed home in his jacket. He woke up the next morning realizing his mistake and immediately flew his private jet to New York to apologize to then Chairman Clifford Roberts in New York City. When he introduced himself to the doorman at Robert’s office, he was denied. “Mister Roberts is only receiving members of Augusta today!”
91. Dwight Eisenhower so loved Augusta National. In 1956, President Dwight Eisenhower had to choose between a scheduled trip to Augusta or throwing out the first pitch at the Washington Senators’ home opener. When the team realized that the President was going to choose Augusta National over the national pastime, the Senators changed their schedule.
92. Ralph Hutchison began his career as a golf professional in 1932 working for Ed Dudley at Augusta National. He would become the long-serving professional at the esteemed Saucon Valley Country Club outside of Bethlehem, PA. One day he was scheduled to play with Bobby Jones and Eugene Grace, the CEO of the Bethlehem Steel Company. Jones told Hutchison, “Mr. Grace is going to ask you a question and you are to say ‘Yes.’” The question was would young Ralph move to Pennsylvania to become the head professional at the new golf club he was envisioning. Hutchison did. A fine club pro player, instructor, and rules official with a golden voice, Jones would seek his advice. Hutchison recommended PGA announcers with a familiarity with the rule and the players to be positioned at the 9^th and 18^th Jones embraced the idea and appointed Hutchison as the announcer for the 18^th green, a role he held from 1947 – 1971 when he experienced throat problems. (By the way, Hutchison’s home had keepsakes from all the great players including Jones, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Hogan, etc. and he claimed to have introduced Arnold Palmer to his wife, Winnie, who lived near Ralph. (Ralph Hutchison competed in the 1940 Masters.

Miscellaneous

Suffice it to say, The Masters is one of the most difficult tickets to get in major sports. It is not nearly the most expensive, but is extremely cherished. Patrons (not fans or crowds) often return to the same spots year after year to greet their once-a-year Masters friends.) The annual event features a unique atmosphere of tradition, decorum, and respect. Rules for members, players and patrons, alike, are uniformly respected, followed, and enforced. It is a competition unlike no other in one of the most well-attended, beautiful spots on the planet. Finally, patrons of The Masters are most appreciative of the fine hospitality and values of the food available. No outside food or drink is permitted. Ball caps and visor are allowed, but must be worn forward. Members and contestants must wear socks at all times and shorts are not allowed. No denim, no tank tops, and no offensive clothing may be worn by patrons. Of course, no backpacks, coolers, picnic baskets, or ladders are permitted. No caddies, friends, or spectators are permitted to sit on the ground at the practice range during The Masters. Players are asked not to post any social media from the course.

While some might take offense to some of this, The Masters remains a dignified experience allowing the player to focus and the patron to immerse themselves in the beauty and competition that surrounds them. These strict controls reflect the Club’s commitment to excellence that makes The Masters stand above.

1. There is no running or shouting permitted. “Walking briskly” is okay. No periscopes are allow. All cell phones must be deposited at phone banks before entering the property. Daily pairing sheets are provided at no charge. Cameras are allowed only on practice days. Players may only sign autographs in designated areas. Large signs, banners, flags, and tall chairs are not permitted as to assure better viewing. Patrons must wear shoes—no walking barefoot.
2. Bobby Jones won the 1930 Southeast Open at the adjoining Augusta Country Club where he was also a member. Formerly known as the Bon Air Golf Club, this was Jones’ first victory of his Grand Slam year. This club predated Augusta National by thirty-three years and originally had 36-holes. Donald Ross came in in 1924 to redesign its Hill Course that has subsequently survived and is an outstanding layout in its own right. Its ninth hole is located behind Augusta National’s twelfth green and thirteen tee area. The Club sold a portion of this parcel to Augusta National so they could lengthen the 13th hole.
3. $4,403 is the amount of money Jack Nicklaus earned in the seven tournaments on the PGA TOUR in 1986 prior to the 1986 Masters when he ranked 158^thin putting. The $144,000 he earned for his sixth championship was 7 times the prize for his first.
4. Rae’s Creek is named after John Rae. Rae kept residents safe during early Indian attacks and his home was the furthest fortress up the Savannah River from Fort Augusta.
5. Members may serve as gallery guards or perform volunteer duties during The Masters.
6. The broadcasters are not to use the word “rough,” but rather “second cut.” Many courses would be happy to have fairways as nice as Augusta National’s second cut. And you will also note that broadcasters do not refer to stimpmeter green speed reading, just that the putting surfaces are at “tournament speed.”
7. In the broadcast, the word “backside” is banned entirely as it was deemed too undignified.
8. Tommy Aaron, the ’73 winner, was the first Masters champion to wear eye-glasses. Vijay Singh wore specs and won in 2000.
9. Sandwiches are ridiculously inexpensive and children of badge holders between the ages of 8 and 16 are admitted free of charge.
10. 2014 marked the most first-year players to compete – 24.
11. More than 350 journalist are typically on site covering the tournament. Unlike other venues, they along with photographers are not allowed inside the gallery ropes.
12. Patrons never are to ask a player for a ball or glove.
13. In 1952, Aussie pro Norman Von Nida flew 50 hours from Australia to compete in the Masters. His 27th-place finish didn’t cover the cost of his airfare.
14. One of the most popular items fans buy at the Masters? Simple canvas folding chairs. Patrons arrive early to take positions for when the gates open at 8 a.m. They can make a beeline walking no faster than “briskly” to their desired spot on the course. There’s no running allowed and only one chair is allowed per patron. Once positioned, the chair stays there for the day and people respect that. The official, green Masters chairs are not mandatory, as long as the chairs are armless so they don’t consume a lot of space. Banned are chairs with armrests, pointed ends, or ones that don’t fold. There’s no standing in the seating areas. Spectator telescopes are also prohibited as to not block other’s views.
15. Did you know that theme song you hear over and over during the broadcast is the creation of Dave Loggins? Dave is the second cousin of Kenny Loggins, who did the theme song for another golfing classic, the movie Caddyshack.
16. Cell phones and electronic devices are strictly prohibited at The Masters and on the property. If found with one, you will be asked to leave. (Fitness trackers and electronic watches are permitted.) And cameras are allowed only during the practice rounds. There is no sitting on the grass. If you want to sit, you must sit in a bleacher or use a low-profile chair without armrests, preferably a Masters-branded one. Overtly branded items are not permitted. (This has even extended to players where in 2024 Jason Day asked to remove a vest with bold lettering on it.) Laying down is prohibited as is running. Coolers and telescopic viewers are not permitted and all patrons must keep their non-spiked shoes on. Don’t even consider bringing radios, signs, banners, strollers, or large bags though standard backpacks are okay. Denim is not allowed, and you are asked to dress as if you were playing. Patron who bring lunch may check them at the entrance gates without charge. While some of this may seem overbearing, it assures a friendly environment in which golf is always appreciated.
17. Augusta is the home of the world’s two largest golf cart manufacturers, E-Z-GO and Club Car, and is the second oldest and second largest city in Georgia, the home of the oldest newspaper in the South, The Augusta Chronicle, home of the Godfather of Soul, James Brown, and the birthplace of Amy Grant, Laurence Fishburne, Danny Glover, Ray Mercer, Hulk Hogan, and Larry Mize, and for many years was the home of baseball legend Ty Cobb.

1. The first international live sports broadcast when the BBC sent the signals abroad in 1967.

19. So, if you win the Masters, you receive a silver trophy, which depicts the Augusta National clubhouse, a gold medal and, should you make an eagle, a bit of crystal – and that’s before you get your prize money. The medal is 3.4 inches in diameter and features a view of the clubhouse from behind the Founders Circle.
20. Reportedly, Golf Digest employee, Mike Stachura, took water samples of the pond on the 16th hole in 1996. Tests revealed that the water contained food dye intended to produce a blue color.
21. Augusta National member Phil Harrison was the tournament’s first-tee announcer for more than 50 years and coined the phrase “Fore please, now driving.”
22. A lottery is held for interested media members to play the golf course on the day following the tournament with the same positions, but from the Member Tees at approximately 6.365 yards. Typically, 20 to 30 are chosen each year and notified in advance of the day. Lottery winners are also instructed to wait for a period, commonly seven years, before becoming eligible to play again.
23. More than between 35o-380 volunteers (for which there is a waiting list) work helping with scoreboards, logistics, and gallery guards, etc. The Club thanks them by treating them to a round of golf sometime in May before the course closes for the season. The bleachers scoreboards, and galleries are absent providing a pristine experience.
24. In addition to the permanent staff, more than 110 golf course superintendents and agronomy experts converge on Augusta National for the tournament each year to volunteer their services with divot repairs, bunker maintenance, and whatever fine detail work is required. Applicants undergo a vigorous selection process that includes recommendations from industry peers and again there is a waiting list. Shifts can begin as early as 3:30 a.m. and conclude around 10 p.m.
25. Masters winners are welcome to return to Augusta National to play the course with a guest, but they still have to be joined by a member.
26. Augusta National limits television advertising to four minutes per hour which in 2019 was reported to be more than $7 million per sponsor/partner. CBS’s international broadcast rights in 2019 cost $25 million.
27. While competitors get a pass for using their cell phones at Augusta, they are not permitted for patrons. Fortunately, the club is one of the few places in the world that still provides access to pay phones.
28. Augusta National refers to those attending the Masters as patrons, but it doesn’t release the particulars on how many patrons go to the tournament each year. The Masters remains one of the toughest tickets in all of sports.
29. The Club does not release patron attendance figures, but you may rest assured that it is one of the most difficult tickets in get in all of sports.
30. The final event at the club before it closes for the summer is the caddie tournament, in which the club’s caddies are allowed to golf for free and play as many holes as possible for the entire day.

And so, dear readers, we’ve journeyed through the verdant tapestry of Augusta National, uncovering the threads of history, the strokes of legend, and the whispers of the past that permeate every azalea-lined fairway. From the improbable tales of wartime cattle grazing to the hushed reverence of Amen Corner, the Masters remains a singular phenomenon, a testament to the enduring allure of golf’s grandest stage. It’s more than just a tournament; it’s a living, breathing chronicle, a yearly pilgrimage where the past and present intertwine and where the echoes of Hogan, Nicklaus, and Woods still reverberate through the pines. As we close this chapter, I trust you’ve gained a deeper appreciation for the hallowed grounds and the tournament that continues to captivate the world, reminding us why, year after year, we are drawn back to the magic of Augusta.