What Was the Prestigious Masters Tournament Originally Called Before Getting Its Namesake?

Published 04/03/2022, 4:00 PM EDT

Masters is probably the most prestigious tournament in the professional golfing world. It is one of the four major championships of golf, and every player dreams of competing in this event. Even fans are desperate to visit the iconic venue, The Augusta National. However, not many people know that the tournament’s initial name wasn’t Masters.

They had named this prestigious event The Augusta National Invitational. But they renamed it to Masters in 1939. Moreover, Bobby Jones, who retired from golf in 1930, built the iconic Augusta National. And he, along with Clifford Roberts, started this prestigious tournament with the name Augusta National Invitational in 1934.

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Why did they change the name of the tournament to Masters?

Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts decided to start an annual event at the newly built Augusta National. Moreover, Roberts wanted to name this event Masters. However, Bobby Jones objected to it, saying it sounds too hard or presumptuous. Hence, initially, they started this annual event in 1934 with the name Augusta National Invitational.

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The name continued for around five years until 1939, after which they renamed the tournament as Masters. They officially changed the name, and this annual Augusta National event began as Masters in 1940. Furthermore, the Masters’ tournament is officially scheduled each year in the first or second week of April.

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Moreover, the founders, Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts deserve a lot of credit for making this such a huge and prestigious event in golf. Additionally, the co-founder of Masters, Bobby Jones, who was retired in 1930, came out of retirement just to compete in this event annually.

Hence, this shows the impact of this tournament, which soon turned into an iconic event. Furthermore, the design of the Augusta National is also unique, with strategic difficulties in each hole. However, the course has seen plenty of renovations and changes since 1932. However, the core of this iconic event remains the same.

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Moreover, Jack Nicklaus has dominated this event as he has won the Masters six times. However, Tiger Woods is not far behind him, with five green jackets in his career so far.

Watch This Story: WATCH: Bryson DeChambeau Plays With a Tennis Racquet at Augusta National

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Written by:

Amey Kulkarni is a Golf writer at EssentiallySports. He is currently pursuing his Bachelor’s degree in mass media from HR College, Mumbai. Before joining EssentiallySports he used to write articles on Golf and Cricket on his personal blog cricgolf.

Edited by:

Deepika Bhaduri

What Was the Prestigious Masters Tournament Originally Called Before Getting Its Namesake?

Why did they change the name of the tournament to Masters?

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