The History Of The Masters Golf Tournament: A Legacy
The first US Masters event or the first Augusta National Invitation tournament was held in a 365-acre golf course situated in Augusta, Georgia.
It originally used to be a farmland full of flowers and trees until it was taken over by the co-founder, Bobby Jones in the year 1931.
Bobby Jones added great value to the beauty of the course and since its founding, Augusta golf course remains the envy of golf courses all over the world. The event is normally held in the first week of April every year. The history of Masters Golf tournament has witnessed 72 such consecutive events taking place, except for the 3 years when America was mired in World war II.
In its entire history, the Masters event at the Augusta national golf course is known for its conservative nature in regard to spectators.
The founders of the tournament believed that the access to the golf course should be kept limited only to the playing golfers and their caddies.
Even though these rules were relaxed with the passage of time, there is still a code of conduct in place for the spectators, who are often known as patrons here. Owing to the strict etiquette norms both for the players and the audience, US Masters is known to be a quite privileged golf event.
Not only it is extremely difficult for a professional golfer to put up a good show and win the tournament here, it is an extremely challenging task even for the patrons to be in attendance.
Even the practice round tickets are booked in advance for years and years and one needs to keep waiting in the waiting list before getting a chance to witness the spectacle that the US Masters offers...
...The History of the Masters Golf Tournament has an interesting lineage of traditions that are observed till date.
It is these traditions that make competing at the Augusta even more special and memorable.
One such tradition that is observed is the presentation of "Green Jacket" to the winner of the tournament. The winners are adorned in a shamrock green jacket, a symbol of membership at the Augusta National Golf Club.
They are allowed to keep the jacket with themselves for around a year, after which it should be returned to the management. They can also wear this green jacket while on the golf course.
One such infamous incident associated with this green jacket is the Gary Player episode. He never returned his first green jacket after winning it in the year 1961. He subsequently won the tournament in the years 1974 and 1978 as well.
Other renowned winners of the coveted title at the US Masters are the six time victorious, Jack Nicklaus, the four time champion, Arnold Palmer and, of course, Tiger Woods who became the youngest winner of US Masters at the age of 21.
The End...
By Abhishek Agarwal
