Augusta National Golf Club, sometimes referred to as Augusta or the National, is one of the most famous and exclusive golf clubs in the world, located in Augusta, Georgia, United States. Unlike most private clubs which operate as non-profits, Augusta National is a for-profit corporation, and it does not disclose its income, holdings, membership list, or ticket sales.
Founded by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, the course was designed by Jones and Alister MacKenzie and opened for play in 1932. Since 1934, the club has played host to the annual Masters Tournament, one of the four major championships in professional golf, and the only major played each year at the same course. It was the top-ranked course in Go lf Digest‘s 2009 list of America’s 100 greatest courses and was the number ten-ranked course based on course architecture on Golfweek Magazine‘s 2011 list of best classic courses in the United States.
The club long held racist and sexist policies: Augusta National admitted no African Americans as members until 1990 and no women as members until 2012. The club long required all caddies to be black and barred black golfers from the Masters Tournament until Lee Elder participated in 1975. In 1997, Tiger Woods became the first person of color to win the tournament.
In 2019, the course began co-hosting the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.
