From Closing Half The Year To Its Underground Tunnels – 30 Things You Might Not Know About Augusta National

For many golf fans, Augusta National doesn’t need any introduction, with the Georgia course holding iconic status worldwide.

The venue is best known as the home of The Masters, with the course having held every edition since its inception in 1934. However, there is far more to the property than you might think.

Here are 30 things you might not know about Augusta National.

Augusta National Facts

1. The 365-acre property purchased to build Augusta National was called Fruitland Nurseries and was once an indigo plantation.

2. The property was acquired for $70,000.

3. The canopy of magnolia trees on Magnolia Lane was planted in the 1850s.

4. Some of the trees were lost, along with others on the course, when Hurricane Helene hit Augusta National in 2024.

5. Co-founder Bobby Jones suggested the name Augusta National.

6. Dr. Alister MacKenzie, who designed Cypress Point, was the course architect, with it opening in December 1932.

7. The Masters wasn’t held between 1943 and 1945 because of the Second World War, but during the conflict, cattle and turkeys were raised on the Augusta National grounds to help the war effort.

8. In 1941, an underground network of telephone cables was installed for the course’s scoring system.

9. Magnolia Lane used to be a dirt path until it was paved in 1947.

10. The first of three historic bridges, the Sarazen Bridge, was opened in 1955. Three years later, the Nelson Bridge and the Hogan Bridge opened.

11. The Par 3 Course opened 26 years after Augusta National, in 1958.

12. Each hole is named after flowers or trees found on that hole.

13. As revealed by Kevin Kisner on the Fore Play Podcast, there are underground tunnels at Augusta National. One goes under the driving range to the clubhouse. According to Kisner: “You take an elevator to your locker room from your car without ever seeing a human.”

14. There is no rough at Augusta National. Instead, there is a second cut, which is kept at 1 3/8in.

15. Rae’s Creek is named after John Rae, who died in 1789. Rae’s house on the Savannah River protected residents from attacks when Fort Augusta was out of reach.

16. The famous three-hole stretch between the 11th and 13 known as Amen Corner was named by Sports Illustrated journalist Herbert Warren Wind in 1958. He gave it the name in a report on Arnold Palmer’s Masters victory. Wind said the name came from the title of a jazz record he had heard in the mid-1930s called, Shouting in that Amen Corner.

17. If it's raining at Augusta National but you can't spot muddy patches while watching The Masters on TV, there's a good reason - green gravel on the patron walkways, which almost perfectly matches the color of the grass.

18. Augusta National’s 17th fairway once had a famous loblolly pine tree.. It was named the Eisenhower Tree after the US President Dwight Eisenhower lobbied to have it pulled down because it interfered with his game. He didn’t succeed, and it stood there until 2014, when it was removed because of damage from an ice storm.

19. One famous tree still at the course is the Big Oak Tree, on the golf course side of the clubhouse. It was planted in the 1850s and is known as a long-standing meeting place for members and officials during Masters week.

20. Famous cabins at Augusta National are Butler Cabin and Eisenhower Cabin, but there are other cabins, too, including Dogwood Cabin, Golden Bell Cabin, Payne Cabin and Jones Cabin.

21. The clubhouse is the home of the Crow’s Nest, a dorm-style accommodation on the third floor, where amateurs in the Masters field stay.

22. In front of the clubhouse is the Founders Circle, which features two plaques dedicated to founding members Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts.

23. The flowerbed at Founders Circle is of The Masters logo. It is filled with yellow chrysanthemums in the fall before giving way to pansies by Thanksgiving.

24. There is a bronze plaque dedicated to Arnold Palmer at a drinking fountain behind the 16th tee. Another, dedicated to Jack Nicklaus, is affixed to a drinking fountain between the 16th and 17th holes.

25. Other landmarks at Augusta National include Ike’s Pond, Record Fountain and the Par 3 Fountain.

26. Augusta National may value tradition, but there is modernity, too, including a SubAir system, which is used to regulate moisture levels and provide aeration and heat control.

27. The famous white sand bunkers of Augusta National are the color they are because they don't really contain sand, but granulated quartz.

28. There are no visible corporate logos anywhere on the course.

29. The club is only open for part of the year. It shuts after The Masters and reopens in the fall.

30. The course record is 63, set by Nick Price in 1986 and matched by Greg Norman a decade later.