The August National Golf Club was founded by famous golfers Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts in 1932. The 365-acre course was built after the two purchased a property which was previously a plant nursery (and an antebellum plantation) called Fruitland Nurseries. The course first opened to limited members in December of 1932 and formally opened a month later.
In 1934, Jones and Roberts decided they would host an annual golf invitational on the course, and the famous tournament was born. Initially, the two disagreed on a name for the tournament. Jones wanted to call it the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, while Roberts wanted to call it the Masters Tournament, a reference to the ‘masters of golf’ who would be invited to play in it. Jones won the initial naming debate, but after five years gave in to Roberts’ idea, and it was rebranded in 1940 to the Masters Tournament we know and love today.
The inaugural tournament was held in 1934 and received a small amount of press attention. It wasn’t completely forgotten among golf fans, as Bobby Jones was one of the best-known players, and thus his fans would follow where he went. However, in local Georgia papers like the Moultrie Observer, it received only a small paragraph about Jones on the front page, and very little other attention. The tournament was held from March 22nd to March 25th, which differs from the current ‘first week of April’ traditional dates. Horton Smith won the first tournament, where he beat golfer Craig Wood by one stroke. At this time, the prize fund was $5,000, and the winner’s share was $1500 (for reference, the 2025 prize fund was $20 million, and the winner’s share was $3.6 million). The next year, in 1935, the tournament received significantly more press attention, The Moultrie Observer writing that the nation’s top golfers were set for the tourney, including the “King of Links” Bobby Jones.
Along the way, the masters tournament has developed a few iconic symbols. The most significant is undoubtedly the Green Jackets that the winners of the tournament receive. The history of these iconic green jackets stems back to 1937, when the green jackets were originally only given to members of Augusta National. You may be wondering, “Why Green?”. This color was picked by Jones and Roberts for two reasons. First, Jones said he once attended a dinner in Liverpool where the club captains wore green jackets to designate their positions, and liked this idea. Second, Roberts saw the green jackets as a way for club members to be easily identified, either by guests or staff. The first green jacket was awarded to the Masters Tournament winner Sam Snead in 1949, and was retroactively awarded to all past winners. Since then, each tournament winner has been gifted the iconic green jacket and is allowed to take it off the grounds of the club only during their year of reign as the winner until the next tournament. After that, the jacket is to remain in their locker at the club, only to be worn when at or representing the Augusta National Club. According to the Moultrie Observer, it takes a month to produce each green jacket, and it costs $250 to produce (though they auction for much more). The jacket is so iconic that it even has its own Pantone color, Masters Green (Pantone 342).
Other popular symbols are found on the golf course itself, including the Amen Corner and the Hogan Bridge. The Amen Corner is made up of holes 11, 12, and 13, and is a pivotal part of the course. The term was coined in 1953 when a Sports Illustrated article gave it the nickname for its unique ability to make or break a golfer’s game. According to an article in the Moultrie Observer, the name for the Amen Corner was inspired by a jazz record called “Shouting at Amen Corner”. The Hogan Bridge is located in the same section of the course and is named after golfer Ben Hogan, who broke the scoring record in 1953 when he won his second masters with a score of 14 under par. The bridge features 3 cutouts in the bottom, and is one of the most iconic picture locations on the course. Another fun fact about the holes on the Augusta National course is that they are all named after plants and flowers that used to be a part of the Fruitland Nursery where the course was built, and each features these plants in its greenery.
Speaking of records, the Masters Tournament has brought the greatest golfers together, meaning that records are broken quite often. The scoring record was set by Ralph Gudhal in 1939 with nine under par. Then it was broken by Ben Hogan in 1953 with 14 under par, which resulted in the Hogan Bridge being named in his honor. The Moultrie Observer described him as ‘retired’ Ben Hogan, the little perfectionist from Texas, who stepped up and broke the record. He held this record for 12 years, until it was broken in 1965 by Jack Nicklaus with 17 under par. His victory was described in the papers as one of the greatest performances of 72 holes in the history of the game, and a ‘feat without equal’. Jack Nicklaus lost the scoring record in 1997 to Tiger Woods, who ended 18 under par, but he still holds the record for most masters tournaments won. When Tiger Woods broke the record, it wasn’t the only time that day he made history. As highlighted in the Moultrie Observer, Woods went on to win that masters tournament, where he earned his spot in the history books as the first black golfer to win a major national championship, as well as the youngest player to win the masters. Woods held the record until 5 years ago, when Dustin Johnson ended the 2020 Masters tournament 20 under par.
The Masters Tournament has forged its place as one of the golf majors, despite not being a championship. One article in the Moultrie Observer described the national as a ‘mecca for fans’, where many echoed the sentiment that the course is one of the most beautiful pieces of land. It even shares that Augusta National is full of the color green, from the food stands to the bathrooms to the iconic jackets. This year, the masters tournament will take place from April 10th to April 13th. Hopefully this has helped you learn something new about this iconic golf tournament and maybe even taught you some fun facts to share while watching this year! Join me again next week to discover more of history’s hidden gems and timeless tales!
Explore the “Read All About It” archives to read stories that spotlight our partners and their communities, announcements from our team, updates on current projects, and so much more. Discover articles about engagement, outreach, primary sources, community, digitization, education, and other topics of interest. Delve into the happenings in this week in history and take a deep dive into the events and people who helped shape our communities, our nation, and the world.
Hear Ye, Hear Ye, READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Advantage Archives works to build strong, community-based partnerships to provide free online access to local history, making it discoverable and easily accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time, on any device. This allows communities to understand and connect to their past in a meaningful way. Through the Community History Archive search platform, we provide the community with the means to explore, discover, learn from, connect with, and share the stories of the people, places, and events that shaped their community.
The Community History Archives are intended to serve as a “portal to the past”, allowing local primary source documents to give an accounting of history as told by the individuals that witnessed it. Advantage Archives guiding principals center around building strong community-based partnerships, which is why we enter into them with the intent of shouldering our fair share, and taking the burden off of the community for the ongoing costs associated with storage, hosting, development, and maintenance of the Community’s History Archive. We are an active participant in the community’s efforts to make their collective history more accessible. The Community History Archives are maintained for free by Advantage and do not require a subscription, seat license, annual support contract, or any other ongoing costs or expenses to the institution or members of the community.
If you would like to see more local history online, please contact your local library, newspaper publisher, genealogical society, historical society, or educational institution, and encourage them to learn more about creating a Community History Archive or have them contact Advantage Archives at (855) 303-2727
