THE AUGUSTA NATIONAL INVITATIONAL...

In late 1933, Clifford Roberts and Booby Jones invited many of that era's masters of the game, professional and amateur, to the first "Augusta National Invitational" to be played in 1934 at their new club, Augusta National. Roberts, a rich banker, Jones' friend and partner at the new club, had bought a piece of land in Augusta, GA and had turned it into a masterpiece of a golf course with the help of Alister MacKenzie, whom Jones had sought after playing Cypress Point in California.

Roberts was the chairman of the club until 1976. He was a master organizer and promoter. He was said to be a "benevolent dictator". His friendship with President Dwight Eisenhower, made the 34th president to use Augusta National G.C. as his usual retreat. All this, together with Jones' name recognition, the club's famous members and the tournament, made the club and the tournament, grow to what it now is, "The Masters", probably the most recognized of all events in the world.

Since the beginning, Roberts wanted to rename the event as "The Masters", but Bobby Jones, thought it was too pretentious, and resisted. Roberts "won" the name battle by secretly "leaking" the name to the press, who caught on right away. The name was changed for the 4th tournament played in 1937. To promote the tournament, Roberts used to go to the nearby Air Force base and give free tickets to all military personnel. Now, there is a 3-4 years waiting list to the limited number of people allowed to attend the tournament.

The club has more famous places ("Crow's Nest", "Eisenhower Tree", "Amen Corner", "Ike's Pond", "Rae's Creek", "Magnolia Lane", "Hogan's Bridge", "Sarazen's Bridge", "Nelson's Bridge" and "Eisenhower Cabin", among others), and traditions within than any other championship; amateurs stay at the Crow's Nest, the first day pairings have the defending champion paired with the current U.S. Amateur Champion; an honorary membership is presented to the champion, an open Par-3 event is played on Wednesday (no champion ever has gone on to win the same year's Masters, so, many of the true contenders, have gone as far as throwing or chipping their ball into the water hazard in the last hole in purpose in order not to win the Par-3 contest), the Champions Dinner inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1961; and, among other traditions, this is the only major that has used an "Honorary Starter". Arnold Palmer, 4-Time champion, will do the honors.

If you are a hungry man, don't forget the inexpensive pimento cheese sandwiches, hot dogs and cokes, all of which are, by far, the least expensive food treats in all professional golf events. Oh, everything is wrapped in green!

And of course, the course itself, unmatchable beauty and design. You can't put in words the beauty, nor describe the changes in elevation unless you've been there. They have a par 4 that is 508 yards (#10) and a par-5 that is 478 yards, you'd say it is reversed, but it truly isn't, as the design and elevation make the difference. Most every serious golfer, even if he has never attended, knows the course by memory. Not one blade of grass is misplaced in this course where every hole is named after a flower (my favorite hole is "Firethorn"-#15, the par-5 where Jack Nicklaus made an eagle on his way to his record sixth and last Masters victory in 1986).

And to end the festivities, don't forget THE FAMOUS GREEN JACKET! No other garment is so sought after!

So, DON'T FORGET TO WATCH IT APRIL 9-12... TAPE IT, AND PLAY IN OUR OWN "MASTERS OF GALLUP & AUGUSTA" TOURNAMENT, ON AUGUST 12.... Don't worry, we will keep you updated!