The History of the Masters Golf Tournament: From it's Beginings To 2006

The history of the great Masters Golf Tournament is filled with heritage and legends. Many legends were born on this grand stage, and every year golfers from all over the world flock to this meticulously kept course hoping to fulfill their dreams of winning one of golf's most cherished prizes: a Green Maters Jacket. The history of this tournament makes it such a cherished event, one that we will look into further.

The Masters was originally formed by the great golfing legend, Bobby Jones, and his partner Clifford Roberts. It was these two among a few others who decided that a great tournament would be a great event for golf and for the future growth of the sport. The tournament was originally named the Augusta National Invitation Tournament, which was the name that Mr. Jones wanted to name it. It was and still to this day is held at Augusta National, which is arguably one of the most prestigious golf clubs in America. Only men are allowed to join the club, which has caused great controversy over the years. This was to be a great event that would invite the greatest golfers around the world to compete for the title. Bobby Jones was reluctant to play in this event, but the other organizers thought it would be good for the event, so he did play in the event twelve times, but never finishing better than 13^th place.

The first Masters tournament officially started on March 22, 1934, and was to be played as a four round stroke play championship, unlike most other big tournaments who used match play as their format. The first tournament was not a huge success, but it started out on a good track. The tournament's first winner was a man named Horton Smith, who won with a score of 284, which was 4 under par. His birdie on the 17^th hole, which is now the 8^th hole, helped lift him over Craig Wood. After the first tournament, the club committee decided in the fall to reverse the nines because of the difficulty of the holes on the back nine and the excitement it could bring.