With the annual Masters golf tournament coming up, I thought it could be interesting to share some unusual and odd things about the beloved tournament. Please share in the comments if you know of any others that could be of note!
Every hole yardage on the scorecard ends in 0 or 5
All of the hole yardages on the Augusta National scorecard either end in 0 or 5 — the par-3 12th measures 155 yards, the 13th is 545 yards, the 18th is 465 yards, and so on. Whether by design or extraordinary coincidence, not a single hole breaks the pattern across the entire course. It’s the kind of thing you can’t un-notice once you know it. Golf Monthly
Bobby Jones’ scoring record at The Masters is surprising
Bobby Jones, the founder of Augusta National Golf Course and the Masters golf tournament, played in 12 events. While some of those years were as a “ceremonial player”, he never broke par 72. (Shared by Vin Scully during a Masters telecast).
Bobby Jones hated the name “The Masters”
Speaking of Jones, when the tournament was first held in 1934, it was called the Augusta National Invitation Tournament. Bobby Jones felt the name “The Masters” was too self-congratulatory. It was co-founder Clifford Roberts who pushed for the Masters name, finally getting his way in 1939. So the first five champions technically won a different tournament. Lostgolfballs
The course architect never saw a single blade of grass
Alister MacKenzie never saw his famous course with grass on it — the greens were shaped in March 1932, but he left for England before the seeds came through, and passed away two months before the inaugural Masters in 1934. Today’s Golfer
The original nines were reversed
When MacKenzie laid out Augusta National, he had the nines in reverse order from what they are today. The routing was changed in 1935, a year after the club opened. So the iconic back nine — Amen Corner, 15, 16 — was originally the front. TSN
The green jacket winner pays for dinner — and it’s not cheap
The winner sets the menu for the Champions Dinner the following year, but he also foots the bill himself — and it has been known to dip well into five figures. The dinner tradition was actually started in 1952 by Ben Hogan. PGA TOUR
Winning the Masters doesn’t make you a member
Contrary to popular belief, winning a green jacket does not make you a member of Augusta National. It provides honorary member status, but Masters champions can’t show up at any time and play the course or dine in the clubhouse. The only winner of the green jacket who was a bona fide member was Jack Nicklaus — and Arnold Palmer, prior to his death in 2016. TSN
The Man Who Built Augusta in His Hotel Room
Of all the unusual Masters preparation stories, none comes close to Bert Yancey‘s. For as long as he could remember, Yancey had only one real ambition — to be invited to play in the Masters. It became an obsession. He vowed never to attend the Masters as a spectator or even play Augusta National until he received his invitation to compete.
When he finally earned his first invitation in 1967, the preparation he undertook was unlike anything golf had seen. He built clay models of every green at Augusta National, marking possible pin positions with tiny flagsticks. He attached the models to a large board, and through them tried to achieve a kind of mystical union with Augusta’s greens. When someone told him the only way to win at Augusta was to acquire a feel for the greens, Yancey built clay models of every green — he wanted to run his hands over the contours, to truly feel them. He knew everything about the Masters, including the name of the tailor who made the winner’s green jacket. The Washington Post
He kept those models under the bed in the guest room of his Augusta housing, taking them out each year when he returned. And the club is rumored to still have them in their archives. Yahoo Sports
The “sand” in the bunkers isn’t sand
This one surprises almost everyone. The bunkers at Augusta are filled with a crushed feldspar material — bright white and pure-looking, but not traditional sand. It’s part of what gives the course its almost otherworldly visual look.
A German POW crew helped build one of the bridges
Members of a bridge-building engineering crew from Erwin Rommel’s German Afrika Corps helped erect the Nelson Bridge over the 13th hole. One of golf’s most iconic spots, built by WWII prisoners of war. Bucket List Events
The Masters gets zero TV rights money
The Masters is the only major golf tournament that receives no money for television rights. Augusta National has always prioritized control over broadcast presentation above revenue. It forfeits about $100-200 million dollars per year in fees. Today’s Golfer
A man crashed a truck through the gates and took hostages — while a president was on the course
This one is almost too wild to believe. On October 22, 1983, Charles Harris — a recently fired millwright who had also lost his father and his wife — crashed his Dodge pickup through a locked gate at Augusta National while President Ronald Reagan was playing a round of golf. Armed with a .38 revolver, he took hostages in the pro shop and made a single demand: he wanted to speak with the president about his crumbling life. Reagan, who was on the 16th hole at the time, tried calling the pro shop from an early mobile phone. It was a poor line, Harris couldn’t make out the words, and in frustration he ripped the phone out of the wall. After a standoff lasting several hours, Harris was arrested. Reagan returned the next day and finished his round. Golf Monthly
Eisenhower kept hitting a tree and tried to have it cut down
President Dwight Eisenhower hit a loblolly pine on the 17th hole so many times that at a 1956 club meeting, he formally proposed that it be cut down. Not wanting to offend the president, club chairman Clifford Roberts immediately adjourned the meeting rather than reject the request outright. The tree became known as “the Eisenhower Pine” and stood for decades until a 2014 ice storm finally brought it down. Wikipedia
“Amen Corner” was named after a jazz record
Most golf fans know the term, but not where it came from. The famous nickname was the brainchild of Sports Illustrated writer Herbert Warren Wind during the 1958 tournament, and he borrowed the name from an old jazz recording called “Shouting at Amen Corner.” A jazz tune — not scripture — gave golf’s most dramatic stretch its name. Bucket List Events
The Par 3 Contest curse
No player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and the Masters in the same year — a fact well known by the players themselves. Raymond Floyd came the closest in 1990, but lost in a sudden-death playoff. The contest has been held since 1960, and some refer to winning it as “the Masters jinx.” Plenty of Par 3 Contest winners have won the Masters in other years — but never the same week. Players are so aware of it that some intentionally withdraw or take it easy on Wednesday. For a gutsy golf audience, this one might prompt the question: Is it superstition, or is there something real to it — like players peaking too early, or just the randomness of 65+ years of a small sample? Wikipedia
The CBS theme music has lyrics
That iconic piano melody heard every April on CBS is officially titled “Augusta,” and it was written by Nashville singer-songwriter Dave Loggins after he played the course and was struck by its beauty. “I stopped for a minute, looked up at the pine trees and the wind down there was just different in some regards,” Loggins said. “Spiritually, it was different. That course was just a piece of art. I looked over at some dogwoods and, man, I just started writing the song in my head. I had the first verse before I even got off the course.” He recorded it with a full band including a 12-piece string ensemble, and CBS producer Frank Chirkinian picked it up for the 1982 broadcast. What most people don’t know is that the song CBS uses during broadcasts actually has full lyrics — the TV version is purely instrumental, but Loggins wrote words that reference Magnolia Lane, Amen Corner, Sarazen’s double eagle, and Hogan’s swing. The song is reportedly the longest-running sports theme in television history. And for a fun bonus: Loggins is a second cousin of Kenny Loggins — the man behind the Caddyshack theme song. Golf’s two most famous musical moments, kept in the family. Golf Digest
Are there any fun ones that we’re missing?