Home of The Masters — where Augusta National transforms a Georgia city into golf's most sacred week
Augusta, Georgia, is home to the Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters Tournament, held each April. For one week, the city transforms — private jets fill Bush Field airport, azaleas bloom on schedule (the groundskeeping ensures it), and the green jacket ceremony on the 18th green is golf's most watched moment. The rest of the year, Augusta National's gates are closed to all but members, and the city returns to its identity as a mid-size industrial and medical hub on the Savannah River. James Brown grew up in Augusta; the Godfather of Soul's legacy is honored throughout the city. Fort Gor…
Augusta was established as a trading post in 1736 and was the capital of Georgia during the American Revolution. It became a major textile manufacturing city in the 19th century, powered by the Savannah River's canal system (the Augusta Canal, 1845, is now a National Heritage Area). Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones co-founded Augusta National Golf Club in 1932, hosting the first Masters in 1934. The tournament's exclusivity — patrons, not 'fans'; 'course,' not 'fairway' — is famously enforced. Augusta National admitted its first Black member in 1990, its first female members in 2012.