Auguѕtа Nаtіоnаl Gоlf Club - Gоlf'ѕ Fіеld of Drеаmѕ

by Elizabeth DeLuca Tickets and Hospitality

The sleepy and relatively small town of Augusta, Georgia doesn’t seem like the kind of place that would draw word class athletes of any sport, but for eighty years now, the Augusta National Golf Club has been one of the best and most exclusive places in the world for the legends of golf to come and play. Since 1934, this club has been the proud host of the Master Tournament, one of the most famous champions in all of men’s professional golf.

Before becoming the iconic golf course it is today, the land that houses the Augusta National Golf club was home to a plant nursery. Because of this, each of the courses eighteen holes is named after a different shrub or tree, such as the “Magnolia” fifth hole or the “Azalea” thirteenth. The longest hole is the “Pink Dogwood” the second hole, coming in at 575 yards, while the shortest the “Golden Bell” twelfth is a mere 155 yards.

The course an Augusta National is unique in that, unlike the majority of golf courses in America, it has never been officially rated. However, at multiple times in its history, USGA raters have given it an unofficial score of 76.2 in 1990, which as then adjusted to 88.1 in 2009.

Despite it being an unusual practice for a world premiere golf course, Augusta National has undergone many different renovations and changes over its eighty year lifespan. Over fifteen golf course architects have tweaked it over the years. And when comparing to early photographs of Augusta’s layout with photos of its current incarnation, there are some places where the course is scarcely recognizable.

Through the years, lots of big named celebrities and politicians have become members of the August National Golf Club. These include Millionaires such as Warren Buffet and Bill Gates, as well as sports superstars like college football coach Lou Holtz and former NFL player Lynn Swann.

However, Augusta’s most iconic member has to be former U.S. president Dwight D. Eisenhower. In holes eight “Yellow Jasmine” and nine “Carolina Cherry”, players must successfully maneuver around “Ike’s Pond”, named after President Eisenhower after he suggested building a dam and creating a fish pond for the course. 200 yards into the seventeenth hole “Nandina”, there is an old pine tree, affectionately referred to as the “Eisenhower Tree” due to the president’s bad luck of striking it with his ball on several occasions.

Since 1934, Augusta National Golf Course has been home to on the golf’s most memorable competitions, the Masters Tournament; however, from 1934 to 1939, the tournament was referred to as the Augusta National Invitational. The Masters Tournament is unique among professional golf tournaments because it’s held on the same course every year and because participants is markedly smaller than that of other equally reputable competitions.

While most people know that the winner of the Masters Tournament is awarded the iconic green jacket given to all August National members, may people don’t realize that the title of champion also comes with a rather hefty cash prize. The official winner, Horton Smith, received a $1500 prize. However, more recently, winners have received upwards of one million dollars.

So with the 2015 Masters Tournament around the corner, Augusta National golf club will sure to bring this prestigious course to every golf fans home and if you’re lucky a 2015 Masters Ticket.