Bobby Jones was tired. By 1930, he had won the Grand Slam—all four major championships in a single calendar year—and then he just walked away. He was only 28. Most guys that age are just starting to figure out their swing, but Jones was done with the limelight. He wanted a private place to play golf with his friends without the gallery breathing down his neck. That desire is basically the reason the green grass of Augusta National exists today.
So, when did the Masters start?
If you want the hard date, the first tee shot was struck on March 22, 1934. But back then, nobody called it "The Masters." Bobby Jones actually hated that name. He thought it was way too pretentious. He called it the "Augusta National Invitation Tournament." It took five years of his business partner, Clifford Roberts, pestering him before Jones finally gave in and let them change the name in 1939.
The 1934 Beginning and the Birth of a Legend
Augusta National wasn’t always a golf course. It was a plant nursery called Fruitland Nurseries. When Jones and Alister MacKenzie designed the course, they kept the names of the plants for the holes. That’s why you hear about "Azalea" and "Flowering Crab Apple" today.
The first tournament in 1934 wasn't the massive cultural event it is now. In fact, it was kind of a struggle just to get people to show up to middle-of-nowhere Georgia during the Great Depression. Horton Smith won that first year. He shot a 284 and took home $1,500. To put that in perspective, Jon Rahm won $3.24 million in 2023. Times change.
Interestingly, the course was played differently in '34. The nines were reversed. What we now know as the iconic back nine—with Amen Corner and all that water—was actually the front nine. Imagine starting your round by crossing Rae’s Creek. It didn't feel right to the members, so they flipped it in 1935. Good call.
Why 1935 Put the Tournament on the Map
If 1934 was the start, 1935 was the explosion. Gene Sarazen hit "the shot heard ‘round the world." He was trailing Craig Wood by three strokes on the 15th hole. He pulled out a 4-wood from 235 yards away.
It went in.
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An albatross. A double eagle. Whatever you want to call it, it tied the lead in one swing and he went on to win the playoff the next day. That single moment gave the tournament the "magic" it needed to compete with the U.S. Open and the British Open. Without Sarazen's fluke/genius shot, we might not even be talking about Augusta today.
The Weird History of the Green Jacket
You can't talk about when the Masters started without talking about the fashion. But the Green Jacket didn't start in 1934. It didn't even start as a prize.
In 1937, the club bought jackets from a company in New York. The idea was that members would wear them during the tournament so fans could find them if they had questions. Basically, they were ushers in expensive wool. The members actually hated them because the fabric was way too thick for the Georgia heat.
It wasn’t until 1949 that they started giving one to the winner. Sam Snead was the first "champion" to get the coat. Now, it’s the most coveted piece of clothing in sports, but honestly, it’s still just a boxy, bright green blazer that would look ridiculous anywhere else but a golf course.
The rules are still strict, too. You win it, you get to take it home for one year. After that? It stays at the club. You can only wear it when you're on the grounds. If you see a guy wearing a real Green Jacket at a local Sizzler, he’s either a reigning champ or he stole it.
The World War II Hiatus
Everything stopped in 1943. From 1943 to 1945, there was no Masters. The grounds of Augusta National were actually used to raise cattle and turkeys to help with the war effort.
It’s wild to picture.
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One of the most manicured landscapes on Earth was covered in cow manure and livestock. They even tried to sell the turkeys to make ends meet, but the venture actually lost money. When the tournament returned in 1946, the course was a mess, and they had to use German prisoners of war from a nearby camp to help clear the brush and get the grass back into "Masters" shape.
Why the Date Matters for the Grand Slam
The timing of the Masters is everything. It’s always the first full week of April. This wasn't just a random choice. Bobby Jones wanted the tournament to be a celebration of spring.
Because it's the first major of the year, it carries a weight the others don't. By the time the PGA Championship or the Open Championship rolls around, the season is in full swing. But in April? We’re all starving for golf.
The Evolution of the Field
Early on, the field was basically "Bobby Jones's Rolodex." If he liked you, you got an invite. Over the decades, that evolved into a strictly merit-based system, though they still keep that "Invitation" spirit alive.
They have the smallest field of any major. Usually under 100 players. This is why the cut is so brutal. You aren't just playing against the course; you're playing against a history of exclusivity that started in a nursery office in the 30s.
Misconceptions About the Founding
A lot of people think the Masters was always a "Major." It wasn't. For a long time, the "Big Four" included the U.S. Amateur and the British Amateur.
It took decades for the Masters to leapfrog the amateur championships in prestige. The term "Grand Slam" actually changed because of this tournament. When Arnold Palmer won the Masters and the U.S. Open in 1960, he and a journalist friend, Bob Drum, came up with the idea of the modern Grand Slam: The Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship, and PGA.
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Before that, the Masters was just a very fancy, very well-run invitational in the South.
The Architectural Ghost of Alister MacKenzie
When did the Masters start becoming the "surgical" test it is today? That's largely thanks to Alister MacKenzie, who died before the first tournament even took place.
He never saw his masterpiece finished.
MacKenzie’s design philosophy was all about "mental" golf. He wanted holes that looked easy but punished you for being greedy. That’s the soul of the Masters. You see guys like Tiger Woods or Jack Nicklaus—who have 11 wins between them—succeed because they understand the geometry of the greens.
The greens were originally Bermuda grass. They didn't switch to Bentgrass until 1980. That’s a huge distinction. The old-school Masters played much slower and grainier. The lightning-fast, "putting on a marble floor" vibe we see now is a relatively modern invention.
Actionable Insights for the Modern Fan
If you're looking to appreciate the history of when the Masters started, don't just watch the Sunday broadcast. The depth of this tournament is in the details.
- Walk the course (even virtually): Look at the elevation changes. TV makes it look flat, but the drop from the 10th tee to the 11th green is about 100 feet. It’s like walking down a ten-story building.
- Study the 1930s origins: Read about Clifford Roberts. He was the "bad cop" to Bobby Jones's "good cop." He’s the reason the tournament is run with military precision.
- Check the Amateur invites: The Masters still honors Jones’s amateur status by inviting the winners of the U.S. Amateur, British Amateur, and other top amateur events. These guys usually miss the cut, but they carry the original DNA of the 1934 tournament.
- The Par 3 Contest: This started in 1960. It’s the "lucky" precursor to the main event. No one has ever won the Par 3 and the Green Jacket in the same year. It’s a curse. Believe in it or don't, but the players sure do.
The Masters didn't just "start." It evolved from a quiet retirement project into a global juggernaut. It survived a depression, a world war, and the death of its designers to become the one week a year where even non-golfers care about a 4-foot putt.
Whether it's the 1934 start date or the 1939 name change, the tournament is defined by its ability to stay the same while the rest of the world changes. The pimento cheese sandwiches are still cheap. The grass is still too green. And Bobby Jones is still the ghost haunting every leaderboard.
Next Steps for the History Buff:
To truly understand the 1934 atmosphere, look up the original layout of the Augusta National "Fruitland" nursery. Comparing the 1934 map to the modern 2026 layout reveals how much length has been added to combat modern technology, yet the "shot values" Jones and MacKenzie envisioned remain almost identical.