From the 345-yard par four 1st hole, to the 365 yard 18th hole, one thing is indisputable about the fabled and beloved Augusta National; it’s beauty and prestige is unsurpassed.
In 1934, the course was built by hall of fame legendary golfer Bobby Jones and finally, the U.S. had a major tournament that stayed at one course. Augusta consists of 10 par 4s, four par 3s, and four par 5s. Only five holes have water hazards which are the 11th,12th,13th,15th, and 16th holes. Unlike many other courses, every hole at the Masters has a nickname named after a flower! Hole 1 is Tea Olive, 2 Pink Dogwood, 3 Flowering Peach, 4 Flowering Crab Apple, 5 Magnolia, 6 Juniper, 7 Pampas, 8 Yellow Jasmine, 9 Carolina Cherry, 10 Camila, 11 White Dogwood, 12 Golden Bell, 13 Azalea, 14 Chinese Fir, 15 Firethorn, 16 Redbud, 17 Nandina, 18 Holly. Some fun facts about certain holes: the only bunker less hole on the course, “Amen Corner” consists of holes 11-13 and the nickname was dubbed from Herbert Warren Winn who was a jazz singer in the 50s who quoted after Arnold Palmer went birdie, birdie, eagle on the water holes, “Shouting at Amen Corner.”, the hardest hole statistically is the par four 10th Camila and the easiest the 3rd par 4 Flowering Peach.
The legends that have walked the green fairways during the spring of Georgia is mind boggling. Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player, Tiger Woods, Nick Faldo, Jordan Spieth, Bobby Jones, Tom Watson, etc. The moments have been unforgettable as well. Here are just a few great and significant ones. 2005 Masters Tiger Woods’ famous shot on the 16th where Woods used the slope for a miracle and went in to win the tournament, Larry Mize’s 1987 chip in for the playoff win, Gene Sarazen’s 1935 shot heard round the world in the 15th par 5 where he double eagled, 46 year old Jack Nicklaus’ 21 foot birdie putt sealing his record 6 Masters title.
Perhaps there is no better post-tournament ceremony for a major than that of the green jacket presentation. It is put on the winner by the previous winner, and if someone wins two years in a row, they have to put it on themselves. Some interesting facts about the course: There are 61 Magnolia trees lining 330 yard Magnolia Lane which leads into the Masters Clubhouse, 3 bridges are named after 3 great players that have played the tourney, The Hogan Bridge for Ben Hogan, The Nelson Bridge for Byron Nelson, and The Sarazen Bridge for Gene Sarazen, the most common flower seen throughout the course is the Georgian Azalea, there are over 2,000 of them, lastly the green Jack ceremony began in 1949 and was first awarded to the great singing San Snead. The Masters and Augusta National are symbolic and historic and further help to prove why the Masters is the best golf tournament in the world!
