Clifford Roberts was the money man, responsible for securing the funding for the land and improvements. This is somewhat ironic as Roberts had little of his own at the time however, he knew those that did. Augusta National was completed in late May of 1932 (Great Depression 1929-1939) with little to no membership. In January of 1933, in an attempt to rectify the situation, Roberts organized an adult “show and tell” train trip for one-hundred New York City businessmen to visit the site, play the course and experience southern hospitality at the hands of none other than Bobby Jones himself! By opening day in 1933, there were eighty new members, sixty from New York City; an impressive sixty-percent close ratio when you consider a $350 initiation fee and $60 annual dues.
During the same January 1933 visit to Augusta, Grantland Rice (noted sportswriter) encouraged the “new” membership to suspend with the traditional “management by committee” in lieu of the immediate installation of Roberts and Jones as The management of the club. The motion carried the day.
Note:
It has been suggested the speech by Grantland Rice was a bit contrived as Rice spent weeks with Roberts prior to the train trip to Augusta as well as the actual eighteen-hour journey. It has also been suggested that Jones was not aware of the strategy as he was in Atlanta prior to the arrival of their one-hundred guests.
The club, as well as the Masters Tournament (founded in 1934 as the Augusta National Invitational), were independent entities and two individuals (mostly one) made and enforced the rules for forty years. The best run club in the world invited its members and invited its tournament players.
Part Four next Wednesday: Strange Goings-On/Clifford Roberts’ Resume
*”Designated Bastard” is a description of Clifford Roberts by an unnamed Augusta National Golf Club member in curt Sampson’s book, The Masters…Golf, Money and Power in Augusta, Georgia.
Many of the facts state in this article are from Curt Sampson’s book, The Masters…Golf, Money and Power in Augusta Georgia.
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