1. The two large trees on the lawn behind the clubhouse are live oaks, which are not native to this part of Georgia. Augusta National grounds chairman Roy Simkins estimates they are about 150 years old and were brought from the Coastal area when the old manor house was first built in the mid-1800's. Because of lightning strikes and disease, the cavity of one tree was filled with cement years ago and an assortment of cables up top keep the long, thick branches from striking the club house under windy conditions.
2. The body of water that runs in front of the 12th green and behind the 11th was named after John Rae, a well-known figure in Augusta in the mid-to-late 1700s. Rae was a head partner in Brown, Rae and Company, which had a lock on three-fourths of the Indian trade in the south. Rae's house was the farthest fortress up the Savannah River - at the time, the mouth of the creek- from Fort Augusta. It provided safety for area residents during Indian scares when protection from Fort Augusta was out of reach. The creek, named for Rae in the late 1750s or early 1760s, begins nine miles of downtown in Columbia County and flows to Lake Olmstead , which is just down Washington Road from Augusta National.
3. In December 1956, during a club governors' meeting, President Dwight David Eisenhower declared, according to Clifford Roberts' book, "the chief torment and concern of his life was the big pine tree in the left center of the seventeenth fairway. He stated that it acted as a magnet to his drive. No matter where he aimed, he always hit this tree. The president went on to demand that the offending tree be chopped down forthwith. At this point, I (Roberts) decided the only way to protect the club's property would be to declare the meeting adjourned, which I did." With that, the 45 foot tall loblolly Pine had its name: "Ike's Tree".
4. The remains of an Indian burial ground were discovered in the area of the 12th green when the course was built in the early 1930s.
5. A grist mill stood from the 1770s to 1830s where the current dam is located behind the 11th green. At one time, a portion of an old grist wheel was visible in Rae's creek in front of the 12th green.
6. The par-4 11th, par-3 12th and par-5 13th were named by writer Herbert Warren Wind. Wind was working for Sports Illustrated in 1958, and he had a week to write his story. He thought about these three holes and decided they needed a name. He remembered an old jazz record he'd heard in college and a song called "Shouting in the Amen Corner", "It fit" said Wind. "if you hit a good shot, you're fine. But if you hit in the water say, "Amen".
7. Imagine beginning the golf tournament with Amen Corner. That's the way Bobby Jones and course designer Alister MacKenzie originally had the course laid out, and that's the way it was played for the first tournament in 1934, won
by Horton Smith. One year later, when Gene Sarazen made his infamous double eagle on No. 15, the nines were reversed. The reason: frost was slower to thaw out on the lower portion of the golf course near Amen Corner for morning tee times.
8. Under the No. 13 green is a system of pipes hooked up to a pump that can draw air in and pump it out. This subsurface air system is used to dry the greens faster, promote root growth and prevent turf disease.
9. Alister MacKenzie never saw the final version of Augusta National. He died at age 63 on January 6, 1934, at his home in Santa Cruz, California, two months before the first tournament, which was then called the Augusta National Invitational. The Scotsman visited the course at least a half dozen times, with his final visit around the summer of 1932 when course construction work was complete, but it was not fully covered with grass. The course formally opened in January 1933.
10. There is a palm tree on the golf course, even though it is hard to find. Golf Digest's Tom Callahan and Dave Kindred found it on the par-3 fourth hole while doing research for a golf book three years ago. It's covered up by the bamboo, Callahan said. "when you're standing in the bunker to the right of the green, If you look up straight ahead, you can see it there".
11. Under the No. 12 green in a series of pipes that are used to heat the green in winter and cool it in the sweltering Augusta summer. Heated or cooled water is sent through the pipes, which in turn heats or cools the green. The reason for this system is to promote root growth and prevent diseases of the grass on the green. Sunlight imitating lamps are also used at night in the winter to help the grass stay healthy.
12. "Years ago, when I was leading here, I hit my tee shot at No. 11 and as I was walking down the fairway I felt the call of nature", Arnold Palmer said. "So I walked off to the left in the trees to relieve myself. Much to my surprise when I walked out of the trees, I got a standing ovation from the gallery. The next year, Clifford Roberts had built an outhouse down there. And, no, thankfully he didn't name it after me". The restroom is reserved for players' use only.
13. The par-3 16th hole may not be the most dramatic short hole on the course, but it underwent the most dramatic change. The original design had the tee far to the right of its current position (approximately behind the 15th green) and it was only a 120 yard short iron shot over a creek. The members loved the hole, but it was considered too weak for tournament play. So, in 1947, Bobby Jones invited architect Robert Trent Jones to town to talk about redesigning the hole. Trent Jones turned the creek into a fairway length pond, moved the green to the left and rebuilt the tee back about 60 yards and to the left. Trent Jones, now 90, recalls that during construction, a big rainstorm came and flooded what would become the pond area, submerging a tractor. It stayed there for a while , but eventually we were able to get it out, Trent Jones recalled.
14. If you're lucky enough to be asked, the initiation fee for the club membership is $25,000, monthly dues are $100 and a night's lodging on the grounds costs $100, according to Golf Digest, whose correspondent Dan Jenkins wrote a story on a club visit in 1991. The minimum caddy fee is $55. The guest green fee is $60.
15. MacKenzie designed a 19th hole - not a watering hold, but a real hole which was supposed to be a short par 3 from left of the 18th green where the members' practice area is now located up the hill to where the putting green currently sits. The point of the hole was to allow for extra wagering. The hole was never built, probably because Jones didn't believe it fit the course.
16. This year (2000), the creek fronting the par-5 13th green is back to its old, low level. Now, golfers can play out of the creek again, like they could before the creek was dammed in 1989. To lower the creek level, a rock formation left of the green was dismantled, allowing the water to flow freely.
17. Augusta National does not have a course rating, simply because the membership doesn't want one. In March 1991, when the United States Golf Association was trying to standardize handicaps and implement its Slope system, Golf Digest formed a team during the first round of the Masters to walk the course and develop an evaluation. The team came up with a course rating of 76.2, which was in the top 10 nationally at the time.
18. Possibly the biggest mystery of all. The Augusta National co-founder ruled the club and tournament with an iron fist - even in death. At age 80, Roberts was diagnosed with cancer and his health failed. On the morning of September 29, 1977 the 84 year old chairman went down to the edge of Ike's Pond at the Par-3 Course and killed himself with a gunshot wound to the head. Platt's Funeral Home in Augusta would not release the date or arrangements for the private funeral. Roberts was cremated, and his ashes in an urn are buried somewhere on the Augusta National grounds. The whereabouts are a well-kept secret.
It would be cool to be laid to rest on those hallowed grounds.
