There were many interesting events, curious behaviors, beliefs and innovations, thoughtfully orchestrated and manipulated by Augusta National’s chief puppeteer Clifford Roberts:
- Shortly after August National was open, the club declared bankruptcy and reorganized.
- Alister MacKenzie (designer) completed the course in 1932 and died on January 6, 1934 of a massive heart attack, having never received his final payment from Roberts despite repeated attempts to collect.
- Roberts required the concession workers to cut holes in their pockets to discourage theft.
- It has been documented that Roberts was opposed to non-caucasian golfers; “As long as I am alive, golfers are to be white, caddies are to be black. To make an exception would be practicing racism in reverse.”
- Frank Stranahan (1947 Masters Runner-Up as an amateur) was unceremoniously escorted off the property during the 1948 Masters Tournament for playing more than one ball in a practice round.
- In 1960, Jack Whitaker (CBS announcer) was banned from the Masters telecast booth by Roberts for referring to an energetic Masters crowd as a “mob.” The moratorium was lifted in 1972.
- Bobby Jones was diagnosed with debilitating Lour Gehrig’s disease (ALS) in 1948. Jones traditionally conducted the post tournament interview with the winner however, when Jones was confined to a wheelchair, Roberts discouraged Jones from conducting the interview as well as attending the Masters tournament. He suggested he did not want the public to see Bob in such a state. Jones and Roberts did not converse in the later years and the Jones family did not invite Roberts to Bobby’s funeral.
- Roberts was recognized for the following innovations: gallery ropes, spectator viewing mounds, leaderboards throughout the course, pairing sheets with a “Code of Conduct”, course maps, and the -1/even/+1 scoring system.
- Roberts committed suicide on the grounds of August National in 1977.
Facts:
- 1961 – PGA dropped the “Caucasian Only” clause
- 1975 – The Masters invited its first black player (Lee Elder)
- 1983 – Masters players were permitted to hire a “non-black” caddie
- 1991 – Augusta National invited its first black member (Ron Townsend)
- 2013 – Augusta National invited its first female member (Condoleeza Rice)
Clifford Roberts:
- Roberts was a lifelong member of the PGA Advisory Committee and a 1978 inductee in the World Golf Hall of Fame.
- Roberts was an adviser to Dwight D. Eisenhower, both financially and politically. It was estimated that Roberts stayed in the White House during Eisenhower’s presidency over one-hundred and twenty times. Roberts built Eisenhower a cabin and fishing pond on the grounds of August National.
- Roberts left a significant portion of his fortune to Planned Parenthood.
Clifford Roberts was complicated, manipulative and brilliant. His oversight and dictatorial approach to the management of August National and the Masters Tournament created one, if not the, most coveted properties in the golf world and one, if not the, most coveted golf championships in the world.
*”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 stated in this article are from Curt Sampson’s book, The Masters…Golf, Money and Power in Augusta, Georgia.
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