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The Masters Tournament, contested annually during the first full week of April, is golf's most revered major championship and the opening men's major of the global season. Hosted exclusively at the historic Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia, the Masters combines immaculate horticultural landscapes, timeless Southern traditions, and heart-stopping competition across 72 holes of stroke play for the coveted Green Jacket and the permanent Masters Trophy.
The genesis of Augusta National traces to 1931 when legendary amateur champion Bobby Jones—fresh off winning his unprecedented 1930 Grand Slam (U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, The Open Championship, and British Amateur)—partnered with Wall Street financier Clifford Roberts to construct a premier national golf club. They acquired Fruitland Nurseries, a 365-acre former commercial botanical estate established in 1857 by Belgian horticulturist Prosper Jules Alphonse Berckmans.
Jones collaborated with pioneering Scottish-English golf course architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie to mold a course that celebrated natural topography, wide rolling fairways, and intricate, undulating bentgrass greens that demanded supreme strategic angle play rather than brute force. The inaugural tournament was held in March 1934 under the title 'Augusta National Invitation Tournament' before officially adopting the name 'The Masters' in 1939. To honor the botanical heritage of the site, every hole on the course is named after a flowering tree or shrub planted along its corridor, from No. 1 (Tea Olive) to No. 18 (Holly).
The tactical Crucible of Augusta National is the stretch of holes known universally as Amen Corner, comprising the approach into the 11th green, the entirety of the 155-yard par-3 12th hole (Golden Bell), and the tee shot on the par-5 13th (Azalea). Positioned at the lowest topographical point on the property where Rae's Creek cuts across the fairways, swirling winds bounce off towering Georgia pines, baffling players' club selection and producing dramatic swings in momentum.
No hole in championship golf commands greater respect than the 12th: a razor-thin green angled diagonally across Rae's Creek with a treacherous stone retaining wall and three white sand bunkers. History was forged here, from Fred Couples' miraculous ball staying dry on the bank in 1992 to Jordan Spieth's quadruple-bogey 7 in 2016 and Tiger Woods' masterclass in strategic center-green positioning to claim his fifth Green Jacket in 2019.
The Masters is defined by inviolable institutional customs that separate it from all other sporting events on Earth. The champion is awarded the iconic single-breasted, three-button Green Jacket made from tropical-weight wool sourced from Forstmann Co. and tailored by Hamilton Tailoring Co. in Cincinnati. The victor retains the jacket for twelve months before returning it to remain permanently stored in the clubhouse wardrobe, to be worn only during visits to Augusta.
On Tuesday night, past winners assemble for the exclusive Masters Club Dinner, where the reigning champion curates the meal. On Wednesday, the 9-hole Par 3 Contest welcomes players' families as caddies, and on Thursday at daybreak, the ceremonial Honorary Starters hit the tournament's first drives. For patrons lining the fairways along Magnolia Lane and the Founders Circle, the experience is underscored by legendary pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches served in discreet green wrappers, maintaining unyielding affordability and decorum.
Attendance at Augusta is managed through a fiercely competitive annual ticket lottery and lifetime patron badges. Electronic devices and cellular phones are strictly banned across the grounds, preserving a serene, unplugged sporting atmosphere where news travels via hand-operated white leaderboards on scoreboard towers. Global television audiences tune in via CBS Sports and ESPN in North America, Sky Sports in Europe, and digital 4K streaming streams on Masters.com that deliver every single shot from every competitor in real time.
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The Masters is held exclusively at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. Unlike the other three major championships that rotate venues annually, the Masters is permanently hosted on this former fruit and indigo nursery designed by legendary amateur champion Bobby Jones and British architect Dr. Alister MacKenzie, opening in 1932.
The iconic Green Jacket (Pantone 342 green with custom brass buttons) was introduced in 1937 for club members to be easily identified by gallery patrons. In 1949, Sam Snead became the first tournament winner awarded a Green Jacket. By tradition, the defending champion assists the newly crowned winner into the jacket inside the Butler Cabin broadcast studio, followed by a public ceremony on the 18th green.
Coined by sportswriter Herbert Warren Wind in Sports Illustrated in 1958, 'Amen Corner' refers to the approach into the 11th green (White Dogwood), the treacherous par-3 12th hole (Golden Bell) over Rae's Creek with its capricious swirling winds, and the tee shot on the par-5 13th hole (Azalea). This iconic stretch has produced historic tournament collapses and legendary eagles that decide the tournament on Sunday afternoon.
Inaugurated by Ben Hogan in 1952, the Masters Club Dinner (Champions Dinner) takes place on Tuesday evening of Masters week. The defending champion selects and pays for the entire private menu served to past Masters winners and the Augusta National chairman in the clubhouse library. Past champions have served authentic regional specialties, such as Tiger Woods' cheeseburgers (1998), Hideki Matsuyama's Miyazaki Wagyu beef (2022), and Jon Rahm's Basque tapas (2024).
First played in 1960 on Augusta's 9-hole short course designed by Clifford Roberts and George Cobb, the Par 3 Contest is a family-friendly Wednesday tradition where players' children, spouses, and parents act as caddies in white jumpsuits. Notably, no player has ever won the Par 3 Contest and gone on to win the Masters Green Jacket in the same year—a superstitious streak known as the 'Par 3 Curse'.
Augusta National co-founder Clifford Roberts insisted on calling ticket holders 'Patrons' to cultivate a dignified atmosphere. Patrons are strictly prohibited from carrying mobile phones, electronic recording devices, running anywhere on the grounds, lying on the grass, or bringing outside commercial branding onto the course. Violations result in permanent badge revocation.
Augusta National maintains world-famous, ultra-affordable concession prices as a gesture of hospitality. Patrons can purchase the legendary Pimento Cheese sandwich on soft white bread , Egg Salad sandwiches, Georgia Peach Ice Cream Sandwiches, and domestic beer at famously low patron-friendly prices set by Augusta National each year, wrapped in green wax paper to prevent litter contrast on television broadcasts.
On Thursday morning at sunrise, legendary golfing icons serve as Honorary Starters on the 1st tee (Tea Olive). Following an introduction by the Augusta National chairman, they hit ceremonial tee shots into the fairway to officially open competitive play, continuing a tradition that has featured legends such as Jock Hutchison, Fred McLeod, Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player, and Tom Watson.
The Masters features the smallest field of any major championship, typically inviting 85 to 100 players. Qualification criteria include past Masters champions (lifetime exemption), winners of the other three majors across the prior five years, top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, PGA Tour tournament winners, and leading international amateurs. After 36 holes on Friday, the top 50 players plus ties make the weekend cut to compete for the purse and the trophy.
In the United States, television coverage is broadcast across ESPN (first and second rounds on Thursday and Friday) and CBS Sports (third and final rounds on Saturday and Sunday), complemented by 4K feeds on the official Masters website and mobile app featuring 'Amen Corner Live', 'Featured Groups', and 'Holes 15 & 16 Live'. In the UK, Sky Sports Golf provides exclusive 24/7 live tournament coverage.