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Magnolias, Green Jackets & Memories
What Makes The Masters So Great?James Stammer, Contributing WriterApril 6, 2001, 11:46 a.m. EDT The Masters. The event that ushers in our golfing season is upon us. The azaleas are ready to bloom, the grass is green and lush, and the world is waiting to see if the young star of our game can become the first man to have each of the four major trophies in his case at the same moment. The Masters isn't simply just a major any more than Rolls Royce is simply another automobile. The youngest of golf's four greatest events has, over the years, become its most coveted prize.
One could ask a thousand people and get a thousand different answers as to what makes the Masters the most special of golf's majors. No matter what your answer, the Masters has a special place in every golfer's heart. The Beginning Two men met in the mid-1920s through mutual friends at Knollwood Country Club in Westchester County, New York. One man was one of the best-known and most beloved athletes in the United States. The other was a grim-faced survivor of the depression and member of a Wall Street investment firm. Robert Tyre Jones, Jr. and Clifford Roberts were the men who founded the club, built the course and created the Masters Tournament. Roberts suggested Augusta, Georgia, as a suitable location for the pair's vision to take material shape. They both played winter golf there, and Jones enjoyed the fact that the club would be just far enough away from Atlanta to provide him with some hard-to-find privacy. A friend of the pair helped them to find what they believed to be the ideal piece of real estate. It was a 365-acre tract that had been an indigo plantation and a commercial nursery. The Course With the help of a loan and many donations, construction on Augusta National began in 1931. Alister Mackenzie designed the course, with a considerable amount of input from Jones. The goal was to build a course that would appeal to average players and champions. With that in mind there would be generous fairways, minimal rough, and only a handful of bunkers -- 44 to be exact. What would set Augusta National apart would be its greens. The putting surfaces were designed to challenge the greatest players in the world. Louis Alphonse Berckmans, son of P.J.A. Berckmans, along with Jones and Roberts adorned each hole with the plant for which it was named. At age 74, Louis returned to Augusta to help rehabilitate the trees and shrubs on the golf course. He was made a member of the Club and decided where to locate the 18 varieties. Some were already in their proper location, but plants for the majority of the holes had to be planted. It is estimated that since the course was built more than 80,000 plants of over 350 varieties have been added to the Augusta National landscape. The Masters In early 1933, Jones spoke to the United States Golf Association about holding the 1934 U.S. Open at Augusta National. The USGA politely declined, and Jones and Roberts simply decided to host their own event. The tournament that became the Masters was conceived not only as a gathering of the world's great golfers, but also as an event that would bring national attention to the course and attract members. With that in mind, the inaugural Augusta National Invitational Tournament teed off in 1934 and crowned Horton Smith champion. Initially Jones thought the name "Masters," which Roberts preferred, to be too presumptuous, but the press and players adopted it anyway, and four years later Jones gave in. Jones, who had retired from competition in 1930, had to be prodded to play in the event. Roberts explained to him that without his participation, the tournament was doomed. In his 12 tournaments, Jones was always the sentimental favorite. His best finish was 13th. Gracious Hosts and Green Jackets Roberts and Jones repeatedly stressed the importance of accommodating, even pampering the people they believed to be the event's main constituencies; the players, the patrons and the press. The course has always been kept in immaculate condition to please the players. For the patron, parking and pairing sheets were free, admission and food were inexpensive. Even the non-members who volunteered at the tournament were paid a stipend. The club's members were expected to be more than spectators. The members donned green jackets beginning in 1937 as a way to make themselves readily identifiable to patrons in need of assistance or information. In 1949 the first Green Jacket was awarded to that year's Masters champion, Sam Snead. The single breasted, single vent jacket's color is "Masters Green" and is adorned with an Augusta National Golf Club logo on the left chest pocket. The logo also appears on the brass buttons. Traditionally, the champion takes his green jacket home with him for one year, returning it to the Club after the trophy presentation on Sunday. The jacket is stored at the club and is available whenever the champion visits. As the final round draws to a close, several jackets are selected that could fit the potential winner during the presentation ceremony. The winner later has his measurements taken and a custom jacket is tailored. A multiple winner will have only one green jacket unless his size changes. So Jack Nicklaus really doesn't own six green jackets. The Shot In 1935 Gene Sarazen hit "the shot heard 'round the world," scoring a double eagle on the par-5 15th hole. Sarazen's 220-yard, 4 wood shot tied Craig Wood and forced a playoff. Sarazen went on to win the 36-hole playoff the following day by five strokes. The media frenzy that followed Sarazen's shot propelled the Masters into the world spotlight and helped give the event the stature it needed to become what it is today. Aiding the War Effort Byron Nelson's playoff win over Ben Hogan in 1942 would be the last until after World War II was won. From late 1942 through 1945, to assist the war effort, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds. Prayers and Par-Threes The 1950's included two victories by Ben Hogan, and the first of four for Arnold Palmer. Palmer's 1958 win began the tradition of Amen Corner. Writer Herbert Warren Wind was searching for an appropriate name for the location where the critical action had taken place in 1958. Wind coined the phrase and wrote that Amen Corner was composed of the second half of No. 11, No. 12 and the first half of No. 13. He borrowed the name from an old jazz recording "Shouting at Amen Corner" by Milton "Mezz" Mezzrow. The phrase has become as well known as the man who went on to become golf's King. In 1958 Roberts teamed with architect George Cobb to build the 1,060-yard Par-3 Course over DeSoto Springs Pond and Ike's Pond. The longest hole is the 140-yard sixth, the shortest being the second at a mere 70 yards. In 1960 the Par-3 Contest was begun and golfing great Sam Snead appropriately took the prize. No player has ever won Wednesday's Par-3 Contest and gone on to win the Masters in the same year. The Rest is History In 1966 Jack Nicklaus became the first Masters champion to defend his title successfully. During the decade of the 1970's the two founders of the Masters Tournament passed away. Both Jones and Roberts left indelible impressions on the Masters and on the world of golf. The following decade the Tournament's youngest winner to date was crowned when Seve Ballesteros won in 1980, just four days after his 23rd birthday. At age 46 in 1986, Nicklaus donned his sixth green jacket and became the event's oldest winner. And in 1997, Tiger Woods broke the Tournament's four-day scoring record that had stood for 32 years and became the youngest winner and the first African-American to win the coveted title. The Proper Way to Treat a Champion The "Champions Dinner" began during the 1952 Tournament when defending champion Ben Hogan gave a dinner for all previous winners. At that time he proposed the formation of the Masters Club with its membership limited to Masters champions. Honorary memberships were also extended to Jones and Roberts. Subsequently, Bill Lane, Hord Hardin, Jack Stephens, and Hootie Johnson have been added as honorary members. Each year the defending champion selects the menu and acts as host for the Tuesday night dinner. As his certificate of membership, he receives an inscribed gold locket in the form of the Club emblem. Once you have won the green jacket of a Masters champion, you may come back to play in the Masters until you die. There is no tournament in the world that so honors its past and its champions. Kicking off the first round every year are the Honorary Starters. Since 1963, the Masters has used Honorary Starters to officially begin the tournament. Starting this year's Masters are Byron Nelson and Sam Snead. Gene Sarazen was an Honorary Starter until his death two years ago and Nelson has indicated that this will be his final year. Whether the Masters will continue to have Honorary Starters should Snead also decide to retire is anyone's guess. Improper Way to Treat a President Located at hole No. 17, the Eisenhower Tree is approximately 195 yards from the championship tee and left-center of the fairway. The 125-year-old loblolly pine is about 65 feet high and became the nemesis of one American president. The former President and club member hit into the tree so often that he campaigned to have it removed. At a club's governors meeting in 1956, Eisenhower proposed cutting the tree down. Roberts promptly ruled him out of order and adjourned the meeting. The pine has been linked to Eisenhower ever since. Memories My reasons for the Masters being my favorite major are many. Foremost however, is that my father would let me skip school for the day and my family would drive to Augusta to watch the practice round. I'd spend the day running around the course, getting autographs and meeting my sports heroes. I also discovered how beautiful a true golf course can be. I'm not sure which I enjoyed more, the golf or spending the day with my parents learning about a sport that I would grow to love. But I know that every April, when I sit down to watch the Masters, the memories come flowing back, along with a smile and a tear. Here's to memories and the greatest major.
Stammer's Golf Archive Editor's note: James Stammer is a freelance writer living in Florida. He has played golf for better than a quarter-century. To reach James, e-mail him at jstammer@yahoo.com.
Copyright 2000 by ClickOnDetroit.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. 
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What makes the Masters so great? What gives it the aura that it so firmly grasps? It could be its history. It could be that the event is so hard to get invited to play in, even for the sport's premier players. Maybe it's the 61 150-year-old Magnolias that line Magnolia Lane. Perhaps it could be the golf course itself, a beautiful and fitting monument to Bobby Jones.