If you’re a golf enthusiast you’ll know that the Masters Tournament is one of the four major championships in professional golf and this year it is taking place from 11 – 14 April at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, U.S. The Masters, as it is simply known, is the first major of the year and unlike the other tournaments always takes place at the same location – the Augusta National Golf Club in the city of Augusta Georgia.
Patrick Reed is defending his Masters title
The 2018 Masters Tournament winner Patrick Reed is excited to get back to the Augusta National Golf Club to defend his title and his green jacket. He says that he is not worried at all about being distracted by the pressure of being a defending champion, “The biggest thing is just going in with the same mindset I had last year and really taking it all in stride” he said.
Since 1949, a green jacket has always been awarded to the champion of the Masters – who must then return it to the club a year after his victory. It still remains his personal property and is stored with the other championship jackets in a specially designated cloakroom. Reed says the thought of leaving his green jacket behind if he doesn’t defend his title is motivation enough to try and win the Masters again.
Going for the Masters trophy
The Masters’ trophy was introduced in 1961 and depicts the Clubhouse. It consists of 900 separate pieces of silver and this year’s winner will be awarded the honours of all the other winners in the past including:
- Having their name engraved on the permanent Masters Trophy, which remains at the Club
- Receiving a sterling replica of the Masters Trophy
- Receiving a gold medal
- Receiving the famous green jacket
How to experience the best of Georgia, USA
Visitors to the Masters Tournament must make the most of Georgia, an energetic and lively state with a beautiful coastline and magnificent mountain scenery.
Georgia is not only visually beautiful, it has plenty of things for you to do in between enjoying the finest golfing in the world:
- See the largest collection of Coke memorabilia in the world. Coke was invented in Georgia and a tour of its head quarters in Atlanta is a popular visitor experience where you can tour a museum to see the history of Coke and sample a few beverages while you are doing so.
- Visit the Georgia Aquarium – one of the most impressive in the USA. The Georgia Aquarium has more than a hundred thousand animals including a whale shark and is the only place outside Asia to house this incredible creature
- Climb the mountain at Stone Mountain Park to see the world’s largest bas-relief sculpture of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee – then stay and enjoy the magnificent laser show.
- Experience the beauty of the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge which is a swamp spanning 163 000 hectares and is home to migrating birds and wildlife. Here you can fish, canoe, camp and stroll along the boardwalks for some amazing views.
- Soak up the history at the Savannah Historic District, where you can stroll along cobblestone streets and enjoy 18th– and 19th-century architecture together with local cultural events commemorating the past.
- Pan for gold at the Consolidated Gold Mine where you can tour caves and learn about Georgia’s rich gold-minding history.
- Another historic ‘must see’ is a visit to Margaret Mitchell House where the author wrote the epic Civil War novel “Gone with the Wind”. Here you will gain a sense of what 1920s Atlanta was like
- The Martin Luther King Jr. National Historic Site commemorates another famous resident of Georgia. At this 14-hectare site you will see the famous civil rights leader’s birthplace, family church and tomb and gain a sense of his life and his legacy in fighting for social reform in the South during the 1960s.
- Savour the Georgia ale trail – Georgia is famous for its craft brews and its Sweetwater Brewing Company is one of the largest facilitators of craft brew in the whole of the USA.
- Play a round at the Forest Hills Golf Club. While you won’t be able to show your skills on the green at the Masters, this historic Augusta University-owned 18-hole course is older than the Augusta National Golf Club and was designed in 1926 by Donald Ross.
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