The Augusta National Invitation Tournament in Georgia teed off for the first time on this day in history, March 22, 1934.
“A tradition unlike any other,” in the now-famous words of CBS broadcaster Jim Nantz, the golf competition was renamed the Masters Tournament in 1939 and moved to the first full week of April in 1948.
Ralph Stonehouse, fueled by a January victory in the 1934 Miami Open, did the honors of driving the very first ball in the new tournament at 9:45 a.m.
The first hole at Augusta National in 1934 is the 10th hole today, several golf sources point out.
ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY, MARCH 21, 1952, FIRST ROCK CONCERT HELD IN CLEVELAND, ENDS IN CHAOS, CONFLICT
Golf legend Horton Smith won the inaugural Masters; he earned his second title in 1936.
The Missouri native was inducted into the World Golf Hall of Fame in 1990.
His 1934 victory at Augusta marked the start of a what’s become a cherished annual springtime ritual in the United States — an event in which the world’s best golfers vie for glory amid one of the most spectacular settings in all of sports.
The course is as much a part of the allure of the Masters as the competition itself.
The lush greenery dappled with spring flowers sparkles on television to the envy of viewers each April watching from still gray, chilly northern cities.
“Augusta National Golf Club’s fairways and tees are the greenest. The blooms on the dogwoods and azaleas are the brightest and prettiest,” local newspaper Augusta Chronicle boasted before the 2022 tournament.
“Augusta National Golf Club’s fairways and tees are the greenest. The blooms on the dogwoods and azaleas are the brightest and prettiest.” — Augusta Chronicle
“And the ponds that guard some of the most famous holes in golf are picture-book shades of blue.”
The course’s bodies of water, Rae’s Creek most notably, are crisscrossed by a trio of fieldstone footbridges, each among the most iconic landmarks in global golf.
Augusta National was the…
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