Augusta National Golf Club is home to The Masters Tournament, held the second weekend in April each year since 1934 with exception to 1944, 1945, and 1946 due to World War II. The 365-acre course is renown for its natural beauty, which is at it’s best during the prestigious Masters event.
Everywhere you look the course is ablaze with color from the Azalea’s to the Dogwood trees it is a spectacular scene. Augusta National’s tees and fairways are made up of Bermuda grass, a warm weather grass, but over-seeded in the fall with rye grass to give that rich green color. The greens are made up of bentgrass a cool season grass. One reason that the course remains in such great shape is Augusta National is a seasonal course. They close the course from May to October thus eliminating the additional wear and tear on the greens during the hot summer months.
Augusta National has a state-of-the-art irrigation system, a soil lab, and an on-site weather station to help tackle any problems the maintenance crew might face. They are also committed to the environment. Radar and airflow technology is used to predict rain and reduce the need for fertilizer, pesticides and water. Trees are mulched to prevent erosion, conserve water, improve the soil quality and serves as a way to recycle tree waste. Trees, flowers, greens and shrubs are even hand watered to prevent excessive run off. There are 55 acres to the left of the 11th hole to provide a wildlife habitat and home to 1000’s of migratory birds and the club has an ongoing reforestation project. The parking lot is left unpaved to prevent excessive run off and provide habitat for ground nesting birds.
The property was originally an Indigo Plantation then became a nursery during the 19th century. Many trees and plants were imported from all over the world and remained on the property after the nursery closed in 1918. In 1930 co-founder and retired golfer Bobby Jones was in awe with the natural beauty of the property and decided to build a golf course on the discovered the property that was purchased for $70,000. He found an investor, Clifford Roberts and set out to hire Dr. Alister Mackenzie, a British surgeon and golf course architect to design the course. A course that is now the envy of golf courses worldwide with less than 300 prestigious members including Warren Buffett and Bill Gates.