The Augusta National Golf Club dates back to 1931, the height of the Great Depression, when two men joined resources to create the club. One of the club’s founders was the outstanding amateur and Atlanta native Bobby Jones, winner of thirteen major championships between 1923 and 1930. After winning the Grand Slam in 1930 (all four major titles: U.S. Open, U.S. Amateur, British Open, British Amateur), the twenty-eight year old announced his retirement from competitive golf. During the next several years he was involved in several carefully selected golf projects, one of which was the Augusta National.
Less prominent than Jones but no less important to the success of the club and tournament was New York financier Clifford Roberts, who had befriended Jones in the mid-1920s. Whereas Jones brought the venture credibility and publicity, Roberts brought it business acumen. In the midst of the depression, Roberts skillfully sold the concept of a national golf club to a handful of investors and raised the capital necessary to purchase land and begin construction of the course. The famous golf course architect Alister Mackenzie worked with Jones on designing the Augusta National course. Mackenzie, designer of such world-renowned layouts as Cypress Point in northern California, complemented Jones because they agreed on many fundamentals of golf course architecture.
