Augusta National Golf Club: Everything You Need to Know
Augusta National Golf Club is the most important golf course in America and, for millions of fans worldwide, the most important sporting venue in the world. The Masters Tournament — played there every April since 1934 with one interruption during World War II — is the one major championship that returns to the same course every year, making Augusta National the most watched golf course on television by a significant margin. The course has been modified, lengthened, and adjusted in the decades since Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones designed it, but its essential character — the azaleas, the pines, Amen Corner, the green jacket — has remained constant. Here is everything you need to know about it.
The Origin: Bobby Jones and Fruitlands Nurseries
Bobby Jones retired from competitive golf after winning the Grand Slam in 1930 — the US Amateur, US Open, British Amateur, and Open Championship in a single calendar year, an achievement that has never been repeated. His retirement project was designing and building a golf course that would embody his philosophy about what the game could be at its highest level.
He found the property — 365 acres of former plant nursery in Augusta, Georgia — in 1930. The terrain, which included the ancient magnolia-lined driveway of the original Fruitland Nurseries, the flowering plants that became the hole names, and the natural drainage channels that became the water hazards, was exactly what Jones had been looking for. He commissioned Alister MacKenzie, the Scottish-born designer whose Cypress Point and Royal Melbourne he admired most, to create the routing and design.
MacKenzie's Design
MacKenzie completed the design work in 1932; the course opened in 1933. His primary innovation at Augusta National was the use of the property's natural slope — the course descends from the upper portion of the property (holes 1-9 and the beginning of the back nine) to the creek-filled low ground (Amen Corner) and back up. The result is a course where the player's position relative to the terrain changes constantly, requiring different shot types on every hole.
MacKenzie died in January 1934, shortly before the first Masters Tournament was played. He never saw a Masters.
Amen Corner
The term "Amen Corner" — applied to holes 11, 12, and 13 — was coined by writer Herbert Warren Wind in a 1958 Sports Illustrated article. The three holes play in sequence through the lowest part of the property, with Rae's Creek running through the complex and coming into play on all three holes. The 12th hole, Golden Bell — the shortest hole at Augusta at 155 yards — has ended more Masters hopes than any other hole on the course. The green is narrow, elevated slightly above Rae's Creek, and the wind swirls unpredictably in the protected bowl of trees that surrounds it, making club selection one of the most uncertain decisions in major championship golf.
The 16th: Redbud
The par 3 16th — Redbud — is the hole most associated with dramatic Masters moments. It was here that Tiger Woods made his extraordinary chip-in birdie in the third round of the 2005 Masters — the ball tracking toward the hole, stopping momentarily on the edge with the Nike swoosh visible, then dropping — and here that Jack Nicklaus made the birdie in 1986 that CBS's Vern Lundquist called with "Yes sir!" The green's contours funnel balls toward the hole from specific positions, creating the potential for unlikely bounces that the course's larger slopes don't provide.
The Green Jacket
The green jacket — awarded to Masters champions and worn by Augusta National members — has been part of the Masters since 1949, when Sam Snead became the first champion to receive one. Champions keep their jackets for one year and then must return them to the club, where they are stored for the champion's use when visiting. Only members and champions may wear the jacket on club property.
The jacket has spawned more Masters mythology than any other element of the tournament: Gary Player's jacket that he took back to South Africa (not realizing the rules), the size discrepancy problems for unusually large or small champions, the presentation ceremony on the 18th green where the previous champion helps the new one put it on.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Augusta National open to the public?
Augusta National Golf Club is private. No public access is available under any circumstances; the club does not offer guest play or public tee times. The only public access to the property is during Masters Tournament week, when spectator badges are required and are among the most sought-after in sports.
Who designed Augusta National Golf Club?
Augusta National was designed by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones, opening in January 1933. MacKenzie, the Scottish-born golf architect, did the primary design work; Jones provided the strategic vision and the property selection. MacKenzie died in January 1934, weeks before the first Masters Tournament was played.