12 Things You Might Not Have Known About Augusta National

augusta things

In 1986, Charles Price wrote a history of Bobby Jones, The Masters, and Augusta National Golf Club titled A Golf Story, which he noted in the afterword was not the “official” story of any of them, but rather an “authorized” version. The founding editor of Golf Magazine and later a contributing editor at Golf Digest, […]

Reversible Courses: A Returning Golf Fad?

reversible courses

It’s not like they were the only thing golfers could talk about, but from June 2016 when Michigan’s The Loop opened to July 2017 when Silvies Valley Ranch in Oregon welcomed its first guests, reversible courses certainly enjoyed their moment in the spotlight. Inspired by the reverse, or “left-hand,” routing on the Old Course at […]

Top 10 Places You Can’t Hit It at Augusta National

augusta places

Augusta National has always been get-able for any player who’s dialed in during Masters week. Ben Hogan scorched the course with an unprecedented winning score of 14-under-par way back in 1953. Jack Nicklaus established a new tournament record of 17-under in 1965 (equaled by Raymond Floyd in 1976). And Tiger Woods bettered that score by […]

My 5 Favorite Spots to Watch Golf at Augusta National

watch augusta

Every April, thousands of seasoned and first-time patrons descend on the country’s most heralded golf grounds, Augusta National, for the Masters Tournament. Seeing the look on people’s faces when they first step foot on the course is something that will never get old. I’d venture to say that for roughly 99 percent of the people […]

A Preview of Shorty’s: The New Par-3 Course at Bandon Dunes

shorty's

His parents knew him as Warren, but to everyone else he was “Shorty.” Shorty Dow, caretaker (or, as he put it, “governor, mayor, and sheriff”) of the wild, 1,250-acre property on the Oregon coast that Mike Keiser would eventually transform into what might be the greatest golf resort in the world, Bandon Dunes, earned the […]

How the Old Course Inspired Augusta National

old course

When Bobby Jones and Alister Mackenzie designed Augusta National, they took much of their inspiration from the Old Course. Can you see the connection? Bobby Jones and Alister MacKenzie, the original architects of Augusta National, had something else in common: The course they admired the most in the world was the Old Course at St. […]

George Peper: Rooting for the Story at the Masters

story

These days, it’s not so much who wins the Masters but how the victory unfolds The Masters is once again upon us, and along with it comes the perennial question we ask ourselves and others: Who are you rooting for? There was a time when that question was easy for me to answer. Back when […]

11 Architects Who Directly Influenced Augusta National

architects augusta

Even the most casual golf fan is aware that Augusta National Golf Club was designed by Alister MacKenzie, in tandem with amateur legend and Grand Slam winner Bobby Jones. However, not even serious Masters students realize that nearly 20 prominent figures in the game have effected changes to the course design over the past 90 […]

Geoff Shackelford: Imitation at Augusta National is the Highest Form of Flattery

flattery

Augusta National, which has been the inspiration for many courses built since, was itself largely inspired by the game’s classic layouts. At least, that’s what they said at the time. Augusta National started out as a concept course. A greatest hits package in spirit. Co-founder Clifford Roberts bought into Alister MacKenzie’s vision and then sold […]