by Matthew Adams

Created on: February 24, 2012

The Augusta Masters golf championship is one of the most famous golf championships, played on probably the most famous golf course. This is the only Major that is played at the same golf course each year, at Augusta, and it always includes the top 50 ranked players in the sport. As such, it is one of the highlights of the PGA calendar.

The history of the Augusta Masters dates back to the 1930s. The first Augusta Masters was played in 1933, and was originally the Augusta National Invitational. The first golfer to win the Master’s trophy was that of Horton Smith.

Since then, the Augusta Masters has remained the most exciting golf championship. Great golfers such as Nicklaus and Woods have dominated the Masters. Nicklaus has won the coveted Green Jacket a record six times, while Woods has won it four times. Woods also holds a number of the overall course records.

The Augusta golf course includes some great holes. Among them include the Golden Bell, the 12th hole at the Augusta course which requires a tee-shot across the creek onto the green. The longest golf hole on the course is the second hold which is approximately 575 yards long. Although, the long par-4 11th hole is 505 yards, and so has a longer average yardage when the holes’ yardages are divided by their par.

In more recent times the Augusta golf course has also been extended. The course adjustments in 2002 expanded the course to 7,270 yards. In 2006, the course was further expanded to more like 7,445 yards.

The format for the Master’s golf championship is the usual stroke-format. After 36 holes the field is further reduced by a scoring cut-off. Those within the top 40 scores after 36 holes remain in the golf championship, and those within 10 strokes of the leader make the cut. As such, strictly speaking it is possible to make the cut even if you are not within the top 40 scores, but it’s unlikely.

So, what if the golf scoring is tied when all the holes have been played? If there is tie, then the golf championship goes to a sudden death play-off between the tied players. The first player to score lower on a hole during the play-off wins the championship.

Tickets to the Masters are hard to come by and somewhat limited. If you’re not on the patron’s list, you cannot get a ticket for the championship. However, the Augusta National Club have confirmed that a few tickets for the 2012 Augusta Masters will be publicly available, and ticket allocations are usually selected by ballot.

The next Masters will be in April 2012. As usual, the BBC and CBS are the channels to tune in to for coverage of the Masters.  For further details, the Masters website is worth noting.

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