The Hidden Details of Augusta National | Golf Digest

it was Jim Nance who coined the phrase a tradition unlike any other for the Masters and you might call the club where it's played Augusta National a mystery unlike any other at least in the golf world Augusta is exclusive it guards its secrets jealously and nobody gets in Uninvited but even Augusta can't control the skies and from up here little by little the Mysteries reveal themselves you've probably seen the stories written every year about the weird lack of birds at Augusta where do they all go does the club do something to them the answer is almost definitely not but even if they do the Google satellite flies far beyond the reach of man and bird and gives us an unfiltered view onto America's most famous course first things first let's zoom out and take in Augusta itself you always hear the club called an oasis and this few really makes it clear the idilic paradise of the chorus is stuck right in the middle of a pretty average small American city full of strip malls and fast food and drugstores and modest neighborhoods quite a contrast with the collection of natural beauty and vast human wealth just steps away it's impossible not to notice the gorgeous green color of Augusta National but as we go south and east from the course what's this right next door but not as bright not as brilliant is that some municipal course no it's a gusta Country Club and it happens to be one of the most exclusive celebrated courses in Georgia the difference is they stick to the native Bermuda grass and they actually play in the summer Augusta National overseed with Ry cultivars which works really well in the winter and because they mow the grass in straight lines no crisscrossing or striping for them it gives the grass that striking verdant Green speaking of brown grass let's move back to the Northwest see this big empty patch that's where the fans up I mean patrons Park their cars but I want you to notice this lonely house sitting right in the corner that's 1112 Stanley Drive and when Augusta National spent $200 million buying up every home every piece of land in the area they only met one refusal Elizabeth and Herman ther in their 80s who built the place themselves in 1959 and didn't want to leave even when taxes Rose and Augustus offers rose with it they stayed put Herman died in 2019 but Elizabeth lives on and here's the kicker their grandson is PGA Tour player Scott Brown who by the way has never played in the Masters so close but so far oh and don't feel too bad for the thers they had another property across the street that Augusta bought for $1.2 million all right you know this road Magnolia Lane where players and past champions enter and you can follow it all the way to player parking which is right next to the state-of-the-art range in 20 2009 that range was a parking lot but a year later the 18 acre practice facilities opened they're designed by Tom fio they cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $140 million and you can only use it if you're playing in the Masters the Women's Amateur or the Drive Chip and Putt contest if you're a rank and file member sorry you use the old facilities here but they're pretty nice too by the way check out this green on The Practice Facility now check out the green on the second hole they're oriented differently but otherwise of the same shape pretty cool there are three other practice scens worth mentioning first this one behind the first T intended for some last minute practice before things get really real second the so-called green 38 which is over here by the maintenance sheds and is used mostly for Agronomy experiments third is this one to the right of the 10th Fairway hidden from view by trees very little is known about this forget trying to Google it but we have a Source who tells us it's for the guests staying in these Cottages this Source actually putted on it and he called it exhilarating to putt on discreet to find here in the southeast part of the property we find burkman's place but even if you have the thousands of dollars it costs to get a weekly pass to get in you probably can't land an invite it was built in 2012 for $30 million named after a Belgian Doctor Who once lived there and it is the hospitality suite of all all Hospitality Suites we're talking five themed restaurants fresh oysters flown in Daily a pub and merchandise available there and literally nowhere else not even in the rest of the Augusta grounds this is so exclusive that even the website is password protected and it goes without saying that cameras and phones aren't allowed inside although one man smuggled a body cam inside to get footage one year outside they have three practice screens and these two are replicas of the 7th 14th and 16th greens check it out if these holes over here seems smaller to you that's because we are looking at the par 3 course built in 1958 which now hosts the Wednesday Par 3 contest you see the two ponds and the one up north here is the one nobody knows it's called The stto Springs Pond named after the Spanish explorer who Legend has it came through the property in the 1500s to the South is the Pond everyone knows IES Pond named after president Dwight Eisenhower who told the founder of the club his friend Cliff Roberts that he should Dam the spring to try to make a fishing hole Roberts obliged and here's a bit of very dark Augusta history the banks of IES Pond also happens to be the place where in 1977 suffering from a variety of serious physical ailments Roberts took his own life with a Smith and Wesson 38 revolver the truly Famous body of water though is Ray Creek and as you see here it barely touches Augusta National making a quick cameo in the southwest of the property by Amen Corner cutting off the 12th green and 13th tea from the rest of the course and necessitating the Hogan and Nelson foot bridges for something that barely intrudes though it's had an outsize influence and broken more than a few Hearts notice the spelling too R AE it's named after John Ray an Irishman who built a home on the creek way back in 1765 and operated a gri Mill up here not far from the north gate in the practice range is the New Media Center which no surprise is the best we journalist experience anywhere and it's not really close built in 2016 it's two stories it has a ridiculous food spread and it's practically opulent inside we're talking a grand staircase columns balls wooden everything artwork a lounge it's ridiculous and it almost makes up for the fact that this is the one and only tournament where no journalist gets inside the ropes during play and we have to mention the other famous buildings on the grounds the Crow's Nest where amateur stay resting at top The Clubhouse in the Champions locker room the players locker room Butler cabin the Eisenhower cabin built specifically for the president by Cliff Roberts the Terrace for all your fancy drink needs and then this joint down by the 7th T it's a new one built in 2020 it is a place for the members to hang out during Master's week let's leave the grounds now and hit a few final points of interest these apartments which are now low-income housing used to be the Bon Air Vanderbilt Hotel a popular hangout for people like William Howard Taft who picked his presidential cabinet here Bobby Jones made it The Unofficial headquarters for early Masters Tournaments and not just for members but for press and players too and last 7 Mi south of the course we have Augusta Regional Airport where every year fans and players fly in for the Masters and you can see a fleet of private jets that grows as the week goes on for the passengers whether it's the bigwig fans or the players themselves the airport is the first and last thing they see in Augusta the entry and exit point to the dream world and the place they hope to return

Channel: Golf Digest

Views: 450,940

Keywords: Golf, Golf Digest

Id: UnfLInFzNyI

Length: 8min 28sec (508 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 10 2024