Masters Tournament, invitational golf tournament held annually since 1934 from Thursday through Sunday during the first full week of April at the private Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The tournament was conceived by American golfer Bobby Jones. It is considered one of the four “majors”—the other major golf tournaments being the U.S. Open, the British Open (Open Championship), and the Professional Golfers’ Association of America (PGA) Championship. It is the only one of them played annually at the same site. Most of the entrants are professionals, although a few amateurs are invited each year.
In 1930, at age 28, Jones retired from competitive golf and formed a consortium with Wall Street financier Clifford Roberts. They bought a 365-acre (150-hectare) commercial nursery in Augusta for $70,000 with the goal of creating an exclusive golf club—with no swimming pool and no tennis courts. The 72-hole golf course was planned by the noted English designer Alister MacKenzie. The club opened in early 1933 with a members’ tournament commemorating the occasion. One year later, Jones expanded the tournament, and the Masters was born.
