There’s nothing quite like the tradition at Augusta National each April.
It marks the beginning of spring and the first PGA Tour major championship of the season.
We all know Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, and Arnold Palmer combined to claim 15 green jackets.
But, there’s so many more interesting facts about Augusta National and the Masters.
Here’s a list of some more fun facts about the Masters and Augusta National.
1 – Jack Nicklaus and John Harris are the only living pro golfers that are members of Augusta National. The third was Arnold Palmer, before his passing in 2016.
2 – The magnolias on Magnolia Lane were planted in the late 1850s.
3 – Members wearing green jackets dated back to 1937 and were used to make it easy for patrons to identify members of the club.
4 – Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, and Gene Sarazen all have bridges dedicated to them at Augusta National. The Hogan Bridge is at the 12th green. The Nelson Bridge is at the 13th tee, and the Sarazen Bridge is at hole 15.
5 – Dwight Eisenhower is the only U.S. president to have ever been a member at Augusta National Golf Club. The pond near hole nine on the par three course is named after Ike.
6 – The blooming vegetation is breathtaking and every whole is named after a plant or shrub. It’s been estimated that nearly 80,000 plants have been added since the course was built.
7 – Because of WWII, the Masters was not held from 1943 through 1945. During this time, the members raised cattle and turkeys on the ground.
8 – There are 10 cabins used to lodge members and guests. One cabin is a little larger than the others because it was used to lodge president and Mrs. Eisenhower and his secret service agents.
9 – A room atop the clubhouse is used to house up to five amateurs participating in The Masters. Numerous players that once stayed there eventually won the tournament, including Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Phil Mickelson, and TIger Woods.
10 – The golf course sits on what used to be Fruitland Nurseries. The cost to acquire the land was $70,000.
11 – Rae’s Creek is named after John Rae.
12 – To commemorate the 25th anniversary of the Masters, the Record Fountain was built left of the 17th green. Course records and Master Tournament winners are displayed there.
13 – Cofounder Clifford Roberts was an excellent amateur golfer with a reported handicap in the single digits.
14 – Bobby Jones, won 13 majors and retired at age 28, kept a four-leaf-clover medallion attached to his pocket watch chain.
15 – Roberts and Jones unsuccessfully tried to host the U.S. Open at Augusta National.
16 – The first player to tee off at the Masters was Ralph Stonehouse on March 22, 1934 at 9:45 am.
17 – Horton Smith won the first Masters with a score of 284 using a Bobby Jones model driver. The course nines were reversed from what it is today.
18 – Bobby Jones tied for 13th in the inaugural event after coming out of retirement. He proceeded to play in the Masters another 11 times.
19 – In the second year of the event, Gene Sarazan recorded the famous double eagle on the par-5 15th. Jones, Byron Nelson, and Walter Hagen witnessed the historic event.
20 – If you miss the cut in most events, you fail to receive a check, but not at the Masters. Players that miss the cut still pocket $10,000.
21 – Two-time winners in the event include Horton Smith, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Tom Watson, Seve Ballesteros, Ben Crenshaw, Bernhard Langer, Jose Maria Olazabal, and Bubba Watson.
22- Every player in the 1955 field attempted to duplicate Sarazen’s double eagle, and all failed. Freddy Haas Jr came the closest with a shot of four feet from the hole.
23 – The first player to win the Masters three times was Jimmy Demaret, who won in 1940, 1947, and 1950.
24 – Another three-time winner, Sam Snead (1949, 1952, and 1954) was a track athlete as a teenager and ran the 100-yard dash in ten seconds.
25 – Snead was the first winner to don the green jacket, which debuted in 1949.
26 – The traditional Champions Dinner, held two nights before the first round, was started in 1952 by Ben Hogan.
27 – 1956 was the first year the Masters was televised.
28- 1956 champion Jackie Burke Jr, taught judo while in the Marines.
29 – 1968 and 1971 winner Charles Coody earned 11 letters in high school and a football scholarship at the University of Illinois.
30– Charles Coody also excelled in basketball and was offered golf and basketball scholarships from Texas Christian University.
31 – The Masters winner doesn’t keep his green jacket permanently. After 12 months it returns to August National and remains on its property.
32 – Gary Player and Sam Snead were the first players to compete in five different decades.
33 – Jack Nicklaus won his record six green jackets over a three-decade period (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975, 1986).
34 – Nicklaus became the oldest winner of the event at 46 in 1986 with his mother in attendance. It was her first appearance since 1959.
35 – Tiger Woods was the youngest to win the Masters at 21 years, 3 months and 14 days and is one of just three players (Nicklaus, Nick Faldo), to win in consecutive years.
36 – The dinner of choice for each of his back-to-back victories as porterhouse steaks.
37 – 2015 champion Jordan Spieth shot the lowest 36-hole score in history of the event with a 130.
38 – Johnny Miller was the first to shoot 30 on the front nine in 1975 but lost to Jack Nicklaus.
39 – The back nine record is 29 set in 1992 by Mark Calcavecchia and David Toms in 1998.
40 – Nick Price and Greg Norman shot a course record 63, but neither walked away with a green jacket.
41 – The 63s by Price and Norman surpassed the 64s by Lloyd Mangrum in 1940 and Mike Donald in 1990.
42 – Ray Floyd shot a 69 in his first career round at the Masters in 1965. However, he struggled to an 83 in round two while playing with Arnold Palmer.
43 – The worst score ever number one is a 9 by Ernie Els in 2016. His six putt didn’t help.
44 – Louis Oosthuizen became the first player to ever record a double-eagle on the par-5 second, doing so in 2012.
45- Bruce Devlin has the only double eagle on the par 5 8th (1967).
46 – On the flip side, Frank Walsh has the worst score on the 8th with a 12 in 1935.
45 – Jeff Sluman recorded the only hole in one on the 4th in 1992. Also noteworthy from an aesthetics standpoint is the fourth hole is the only on the course with a palm tree.
46 – The beautiful and historic par-3 12th has been aced by only three players, Claude Harmon, Bill Hyndman, and Curtis Strange.
47 – But, Tom Weiskopf’s 13 on the 12th in 1980 was, at the time, the highest score on any hole in the history of the event.
48 – Clifford Roberts noted in his book The Story of Augusta National Golf Club that there is an Indian burial ground where the 12th green now lies.
49 – Amazingly, 22 players have aced the 16th during Masters play.
50 – Finishing strong is a key in most tournaments, but seven people have scored a quadruple bogey 8 on the par-4 18th.
51 – Of the 85 Masters tournaments, 53 different players have won the event with 37 from the United States.
52 – Sergio Garcia shot himself out of contention in 2018 after a 13 on the par-5 15th.
53 – Ben Hogan defied age by shooting at 66 at age 54 in the third round of the 1967 Masters.
54 – Tommy Aaron’s playing partner in the final round of the 1973 Masters was Johnny Miller, who mistakenly wrote the wrong score on Aaron’s card, which Aaron caught. Aaron took home the win.
55 – Norman Von Nida flew 50 hours from Australia to participate in the 1952 event. The trip cost him money, as his 27th place earnings failed to cover the cost of the flight.
56 – The par-3 course, which totals 1,060 yards and opened in 1958, was designed by George Cobb and Clifford Roberts.
57 – Sam Snead won the first par-3 contest in 1960.
58 – In the 2016 par three contest players made 9 hole in ones.
59 – Ben Crenshaw’s hairstyle didn’t sit well with Clifford Roberts at the 1971 Masters, so he advised Crenshaw to get it cut, and he obliged.
60 – Roberts committed suicide on Augusta National property late September 1977 and his ashes are buried on the grounds.
61 – Personal caddies were forbidden prior to 1983. That year, 18-year-old Liz Archer became the first female caddie at the Masters when she carried the bag for her father, George Archer.
62 – During his eight years as president of the United States, Dwight Eisenhower played Augusta National over 200 times.
63 – With Nick Faldo’s win in 1990, Fanny Sunesson became the first and to this day, only female caddy to win at the Masters.
64 – An ice storm damaged the famous Eisenhower Tree along the left side of the 17th fairway and now it’s gone.
65 – Augusta changed the greens from Bermuda to bent grass in 1981.
66 – Thirty-two of the forty-four bunkers on the course are greenside.
67 – Whie the galleries during the tournament are naturally large, over 80,000 patrons attended the 1994 practice rounds.
68 – The number of applications for practice-round tickets reached one-quarter of a million in 1995, which was the first year of the lottery for tickets.
69 – Member Phil Harison was the first-tee announcer for the Masters for over 50 years with his famous phrase “Fore please, now driving.”
70- In 2010 Augusta National turned the parking lot into the world’s best practice area.
71 – Former Masters winner can return to play that course at any time with a guest, so long as they are paired with a member.
72 – The estimated fee for members is $40,000.
73 – Rumor has it that bills for members are sent monthly, so if you don’t receiver your bill, that is an indicated that your membership has been revoked.
74 – The inaugural Augusta National Women’s Amateur was held in 2019 with Jennifer Kupcho coming out on top. The 2020 tournament was cancelled due to COVID-19 and the 2021 winner was Tsubasa Kajitani of Japan.
75 – Dustin Johnson set a new Masters scoring record with a 20-under par 268 in 2020.
There’s a special feel at Augusta National, whether it’s the majestic views of the trees and grounds, the affordable food, or the natural aesthetics of the facility. You can’t wait to tune in every April for the start of the major championship season, but there’s nothing like seeing it in person. Now with this list you will have an even better understanding and appreciation of what makes up Augusta National and the Masters tournament.
Photo courtesy of Matt Redbud https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/
