10 Things You Never Knew About The Masters
I’ve been doing my homework and came up with these. Warning! Only to be unleashed in pub when drunk.
Ten Things You Never Knew About The Masters….
1. The tournament only became known as "The Masters" in 1939 after Clifford Roberts coined the phrase the previous year. His business partner Bobby Jones hated the name as to him it suggested superiority.
2. The course originally was planned with 19 holes, on the insistence of Bobby Jones. The 19th hole was to be a short uphill par three, designed to give a losing player a chance of double or quits. The hole was scrapped because it would have blocked the view of the 18th green for members.
3. Since 1934 The Masters has been played every year except for 1943-1945. During that period, the course was used to raise 200 cattle and 1400 turkeys to help the US World War II effort.
4. The first Masters, held in 1934, was won by Horton Smith. Seventeen of the club’s 76 members chipped in to collect the prize money.
5. The course was designed by the famous British designer Alister MacKenzie. The former wartime surgeon also designed Royal Melbourne, Cypress Point and Lahinch. He died however before a single blade of grass was planted on what has become known as his greatest creation.
6. It was always the intention of Jones and Roberts to knock the existing Manor House in favour of a custom built clubhouse. Indeed the original plan also allowed for two courses (championship and ladies), tennis and squash courts, houses and an on-site hotel. All these had to be shelved to a lack of funding. Today the Manor House still serves as the clubhouse and only the one course was built. The par-3 course was built in 1958 from plans MacKenzie had left for an “Approach and Putt†course.
7. Augusta National has only two lady members. Politician Condaleeza Rice and Darla Moore were inducted last year.
8. The Masters as we know it would never have been, if the USGA hadn’t turned down Bobby Jones’ request to host the 1934 US Open. Angry at the rebuff, Jones and Clifford Roberts decided to stage their own event.
9. The Green Jacket was the Hi-viz vest of its day. The attire was first used by members in1937, so that fans could easily find them if they needed directions.
10. The Masters invented the template for what we know as tournament golf. It was the first 72-hole four day event and the first to use the over/under par system. The Masters also saw the first grandstands for viewers.
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