User:Grovermj/Anatomy of a Golf Course

History

Masters logo on the club grounds

Augusta National Golf Club

Main article: Augusta National Golf Club

The idea for Augusta National originated with Bobby Jones, who wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game. He sought advice from Clifford Roberts, who later became the Chairman of the club. They came across a piece of land in Augusta, Georgia, of which Jones said: "Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course upon it." Jones hired Alister MacKenzie to design the course, and work began in 1931. The course formally opened in 1933, but MacKenzie died before the first Masters Tournament was played.

Early tournament years

The first "Augusta National Invitation" Tournament, as the Masters was originally known, began on March 22, 1934, and was won by Horton Smith. The present name was adopted in 1939. The first tournament was played with current holes 10 through 18 played as the first nine, and 1 through 9 as the second nine, then reversed permanently to its present layout for the 1935 tournament.

Gene Sarazen hit the "shot heard 'round the world" in 1935, holing a shot from the fairway on the par 5 15th for a double eagle. This tied Sarazen with Craig Wood, and in the ensuing 36 hole playoff Sarazen was the victor by five strokes. The tournament was not played from 1943-45, due to World War II. To assist the war effort, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds.

1960s-1970s

The Big Three of Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus dominated the Masters from 1960 through 1978, winning the event eleven times between them during that span. After winning by one stroke in 1958, Palmer won by one stroke again in 1960 in memorable circumstances. Trailing Ken Venturi by one shot in the 1960 event, Palmer made birdies on the last two holes to prevail. He would go on to win another two Masters in 1962 and 1964.

Jack Nicklaus playing in the 2006 Masters Tournament.

Jack Nicklaus emerged in the early 1960's, and served as a rival to the popular Palmer. Nicklaus won his first Green Jacket in 1963, defeating Tony Lema by one stroke. Two years later, he shot a then-course record of 271 (17 under par) for his second Masters win, leading Bobby Jones to say that Nicklaus played "a game with which I am not familiar." The next year, Nicklaus won his third green jacket in a grueling 18-hole playoff against Tommy Jacobs and Gay Brewer. This made Nicklaus the first player to win consecutive Masters. He won again in 1972, again by three strokes. In 1975, Nicklaus was locked in a duel with Tom Weiskopf and Johnny Miller. In one of the most exciting Masters to date, he claimed the victory by one stroke over his two challengers.

Gary Player became the first non-American to win the Masters in 1961 beating Arnold Palmer, the defending champion. In 1974 he won again by two strokes. After not winning a tournament for four years, and at the age of 42, Player won his third and final Masters in 1978 by one stroke over three players. Player currently shares (with Fred Couples) the record of making 23 consecutive cuts, and has played in a record 51 Masters.

A controversial ending to the Masters occurred in 1968. Roberto DeVicenzo signed a scorecard (scored by playing partner Tommy Aaron) which incorrectly listed a 4 instead of a 3 on the 17th hole. This extra stroke cost him a chance to be in an 18-hole playoff with Bob Goalby, who won the green jacket. DeVicenzo's mistake led to the famous quote, "What a stupid I am."

In 1975, Lee Elder became the first African-American to qualify for the Masters, doing so fifteen years before Augusta National admitted its first black member.

1980s-2000s

Non-Americans collected eleven victories in twenty years in the 1980s and 1990s, by far the strongest streak they have had in any of the three majors played in the United States since the early days of the U.S Open. Jack Nicklaus became the oldest player to win the Masters in 1986 when he won for the sixth time at age 46.

During this period, no golfer suffered from the pressure of competing at Augusta more than Greg Norman. In 1987, Norman lost a sudden-death playoff to Larry Mize. Mize holed out a remarkable 45-yard pitch shot to birdie the second playoff hole and win the Masters. In 1996, Norman tied the course record with an opening round 63, and had a six stroke lead over Nick Faldo entering the final round. Norman shot a 78 while Faldo scored a 67 to win by five shots. Norman also suffered in 1986 when after birdieing five straight holes, and needing only a par to tie the leader, he badly pushed his approach to 18 and made bogey.

In 1997, Tiger Woods won the Masters by twelve shots at age 21, in the process breaking the tournament four-day scoring record that had stood for 32 years. Woods completed his "Tiger Slam", winning his fourth straight major championship at the Masters in 2001. The Masters was his again the next year, making him only the third player in history to win the tournament in consecutive years, as well as in 2005 when he defeated Chris DiMarco in a playoff for his first major championship win in almost three years.

More recently, the club was targeted by Martha Burk, who organized a failed protest at the 2003 Masters to pressure the club into accepting female members. Burk planned to protest at the front gates of Augusta National during the third day of the tournament, but was knocked back. A further appeal was also knocked back. In 2004 Burk stated that she had no further plans to protest against the club.

The 2003 tournament was won by Mike Weir, who became the first Canadian to win a major championship, and the first left-hander to win the Masters. The following year, another left-hander, Phil Mickelson, won his first major championship by making a birdie on the final hole to beat Ernie Els by a stroke.

Course adjustments

As with many other courses, Augusta National's championship setup has been lengthened in recent years. In 1998, the course measured approximately 6925 yards (6332 m) from the Masters tees. It was lengthened to 7270 yards (6648 m) for 2002, and again in 2006 to 7445 yards; 520 yards (475 m) longer than the 1998 course. The changes attracted many critics, including the most successful players in Masters history, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Gary Player and Tiger Woods. Woods claimed that the "shorter hitters are going to struggle." Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was unperturbed, stating, "We are comfortable with what we are doing with the golf course". After a practice round Gary Player defended the changes saying, "There have been a lot of criticisms, but I think unjustly so, now I've played it.... The guys are basically having to hit the same second shots that Jack Nicklaus had to hit [in his prime]".

Originally, the grass on the putting greens was the wide-bladed Bermuda. The greens lost speed, especially during the late 1970s, after the introduction of a healthier strain of narrow-bladed Bermuda, which thrived and grew thicker, slowing the speed of the greens. In 1978, the greens on the Par-3 course were reconstructed with bentgrass, a narrow-bladed species that could be mowed shorter, eliminating grain. After this test run, the greens on the main course were replaced with bentgrass in time for the 1981 Masters. The bentgrass resulted in significantly faster putting surfaces, which has required a reduction in some of the contours of the greens over time.

Just before the 1975 tournament, the common beige sand in the bunkers was replaced with the now-signature white feldspar. It is a quartz derivative of the mining of feldspar and is shipped in from North Carolina.