The Augusta National Invitational Tournament in Georgia began for the first time on this day in history, March 22, 1934.
“A tradition like no other,” in the now-famous words of CBS announcer Jim Nantz, the golf competition was renamed the Masters Tournament in 1939 and moved to the first full week of April in 1948.
Ralph Stonehouse, buoyed by a January victory at the 1934 Miami Open, had the honor of driving the first ball in the new tournament at 9:45 am.
The first hole at Augusta National in 1934 is today the tenth hole, several golf sources point out.
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Golf legend Horton Smith won the inaugural Masters; He obtained his second title in 1936.
The Missouri native was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.
His 1934 victory at Augusta marked the beginning of what has become a cherished annual spring ritual in the United States: an event in which the world's best golfers compete for glory in one of the most spectacular settings in all of America. sports.
Preparing for the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia: Horton Smith drives the ball a good distance during a practice round on the course at Augusta National Golf Club, where he would participate in the Masters Tournament starting April 2. Bobby Jones appears in the left center. . Smith won the first Masters in 1934. (Getty Images)
The course is as much a part of the appeal of the Masters as the competition itself.
The lush vegetation dotted with spring flowers shines on television to the envy of viewers every April who watch it from northern cities, still gray and cold.
“The fairways and tees at Augusta National Golf Club are the greenest. The dogwood and azalea blossoms are the brightest and prettiest,” local newspaper Augusta Chronicle boasted ahead of the 2022 tournament.
“The fairways and tees at Augusta National Golf Club are the greenest. The dogwood and azalea flowers are the brightest and prettiest.” — Chronicle of Augusta
“And the ponds that protect some of golf's most famous holes are picture-book shades of blue.”
The course's bodies of water, particularly Rae's Creek, are spanned by a trio of stone footbridges, each of which is among the most iconic landmarks in world golf.
Will Zalatoris walks over the Hogan Bridge on No. 12 during the final round of the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club, Sunday, April 11, 2021. (Augusta National via Getty Images)
Augusta National was the brainchild of amateur golf legend Bobby Jones, an icon of the sport who made his living as Atlanta attorney and business partner Clifford Roberts.
They purchased Fruitlands Nurseries, a 365-acre farm in Augusta, in 1931 for $70,000. They recruited famed British course designer Dr. Alister MacKenzie to bring it to life as a competition course.
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“Construction of the new course began in the first half of 1931 and the course opened in December 1932 with a limited number of players,” reports Masters.com, Augusta National's website.
“The formal inauguration took place in January 1933.”
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice led a contingent of high-profile golf enthusiasts by train from New York City to Augusta in January for the inaugural celebration.
A 1930s painting of Bobby Jones, founder of Augusta National Golf Club. (Augusta National/Getty Images)
The spectacular green square has witnessed some of the great moments in sports history.
The young, Whippet-thin Tiger Woods, just 21 years old at the time, burst onto the international sporting scene in 1997, destroying the Masters field with a tournament-record 12 strokes, and then a record-breaking -18 under par. .
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He marched triumphantly down the 18th fairway in Sunday's final round as a crowd followed him, a public coronation of the game's next great player.
“Never in the history of the Masters has the ground shaken, cheers reverberated and emotions exploded like they did for Jack Nicklaus in 1986.” — Links Magazine
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Several sources cite Nicklaus' victory at the 1986 Masters, his record sixth Masters title, as the greatest moment in the tournament's history.
Tiger Woods, 21, makes his triumphant march to the 18th green to cap his 12-stroke victory in the 1997 Masters Tournament. It was Woods' first major title and made him a global sensation. (Augusta National/Getty Images)
The Golden Bear sank a spectacular 18-foot putt on the 17th hole of the final round and held on to win by one stroke.
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“Never in the history of the Masters has the ground shaken, cheers reverberated and emotions exploded like they did for Jack Nicklaus in 1986,” British golf outlet Links Magazine enthused.
Horton Smith, winner of the first and third Masters Tournament, never wore a green jacket. The tradition of presenting the newly crowned Augusta National champion with the emerald jacket began after Sam Sneed's victory in 1949.
Tiger Woods celebrates on the 18th green after winning the Masters at Augusta National Golf Club on April 14, 2019 in Augusta, Georgia. (Andrew Redington/Getty Images)
Despite its glorious history, rich layers of tradition, and beauty unmatched among sporting spectacles, Augusta has suffered a haunting tragedy.
Course designer MacKenzie suffered a heart attack and fell dead in early January 1934.
The 63-year-old British war veteran was distraught, broke and asking for money, which he claimed Jones and Roberts owed him, according to British media Todays-Golfer.com.
Arnold Palmer, left, helping victorious Jack Nicklaus with his green jacket at Augusta National Golf Course, Augusta, Georgia, April 7, 1963. (James Drake/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
The course's co-founder, Roberts, committed suicide at Augusta National on September 29, 1977.
“A very sick old man put a gun to his head and ended his life on the edge of Ike's Pond on Augusta National Golf Club's Par-3 course,” Golf Digest writes.
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“The deceased was Clifford Roberts…whose twin legacies were the Masters Tournament and the estate where he chose to die.”
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