From the coveted Green Jacket, to Amen Corner, to the Champion’s Dinner, to the whisperings of names like Nicklaus and Hogan and Palmer, the last thing that the Masters Tournament is, is simply another ordinary golf tournament.  It’s a tradition unlike any other.

In the late 1920’s and early ‘30’s, the combined efforts of famed amateur golfer Bobby Jones and New York investment banker Clifford Roberts led to the creation of a new golf course in the heart of Georgia—and they called it Augusta National.  Nearly eight decades later, Jones and Roberts have taken their rightful places in golf lore as the Godfathers of the Masters Tournament, and Augusta National is now home to the most prestigious, annual tournament in the entire golfing universe.

The inaugural Augusta National Invitational Tournament was held in 1934, one year after the course’s formal opening, and was called such until 1939, when the decision was made to rechristen the tournament, simply, The Masters.  Moreover, several of the innovations that were instituted by Jones and Roberts for The Masters Tournament are still in place at Augusta National today: for example, Jones and Roberts kept any commercialization of The Masters to a bare minimum (which is still the case), and the two men also decreed that the tournament at Augusta would consist of 18 holes, played on each of four straight days (instead of the standard of the day, which called for 36 holes played on the third and final day).  It is a true credit not only to the foresight of Jones and Roberts that their innovations have stood for 80 years, but it is also a credit to the tradition that exists at Augusta National that very little has changed over the years.  Put simply, walking the grounds at Augusta National is like taking a walk through golf’s storied history.

It wouldn’t take long for Augusta to become a landmark in the world of golf, either.

In 1935, in only the second-ever tournament at Augusta, Gene Sarazen lined up a four-wood, approach shot on the 15th hole, and swung; what would follow has been labelled by many as the greatest shot in Masters history, and other’s have called it golf’s “shot heard ‘round the world”.  From 235 yards out, Sarazen holed his four-wood shot for a double-eagle on the par-5 15th hole; the shot propelled Sarazen up the leaderboard, forcing a tie at the top with Craig Wood, and Sarazen would go on to win the Tournament the next day after the only 36-hole playoff in Masters history.  On the 20th anniversary of Sarazen’s epic double-eagle, the bridge on the 15th hole was named The Sarazen Bridge—forever commemorating Sarazen’s shot heard ‘round the world at Augusta.

Along with The Sarazen Bridge, The Hogan Bridge, the Big Oak Tree, and Magnolia Lane, one of the most widely-known landmarks at Augusta National is Amen Corner—a pivotal turn on the course which includes holes 11, 12, and 13.  The term “Amen Corner” was coined in a 1958 article for Sports Illustrated by Herbert Warren Wind; the Masters that year would be won by Arnold Palmer, but Wind was attempting to describe the area where all the critical action was taking place on the course, and borrowed the phrase from an old jazz recording: “Shoutin’ in that Amen Corner”.

From Ben Hogan to Greg Norman to Gary Player, the greatest men to ever swing a golf club have walked the course at Augusta National—but no player in history has asserted his dominance over The Masters like Jack Nicklaus.  The Golden Bear has won a record 6 Masters Championships (which is at least two more Green Jackets than any other player ever), most recently in 1986, at the age of 46 (oldest Masters Champion ever), shooting a 7-under 65 on the final day to claim the title.  Nicklaus also became the first Masters Champion to defend his title in consecutive years in 1965 and ’66—with Nick Faldo and Tiger Woods later becoming the only other two Champions to win back-to-back Masters tournaments in history.

Over the years, 23 Tournaments have been decided by only one stroke, 14 Tournaments have been decided by a playoff, and 8 have gone all the way to sudden death, but no matter how the tournament is decided every year, The Masters remains unrivalled in the golfing world as a tournament, and a tradition, unlike any other.

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