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Posted April 3, 2016, 7:38 pm
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Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters

MASTERS TRADITIONS - AMATEURS
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Bobby Jones drives at the 1934 Augusta National Invitation Tournament, the inaugural playing of what would later be known as the Masters Tournament. Jones, the Grand Slam winner considered golf's greatest amateur ever, came out of retirement to play at the course he built.
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Billy Joe Patton competed in the 1954 Masters as an amateur and finished a shot short of a playoff with Ben Hogan and Sam Snead.
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Jones
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Jones putts as Horton Smith watches during the 1934 tournament. Jones finished tied for 13th, and Smith won.
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Jack Burke, Jr.,left, and Ken Venturi at the Masters Golf Tournament at the Augusta National Golf Club, Augusta, GA. April 1958
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Golfer Charles Coe, a lifelong amateur golfer who twice won the U.S. Amateur championship.
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Mangrum
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Picard
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Arnold Palmer (from left); wife, Winnie; and Augusta National Chairman Jack Stephens stood in 1995 with the plaque honoring Palmer's four Masters wins.
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    Amateur yet to win green jacket at the Masters
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    Gene Sarazen (center) receives his $1,500 check for winning in 1935, the year of his famous "shot heard round the world."

It’s a good thing amateur Billy Joe Patton didn’t win the 1954 Mas­ters.

“If I’d won that tournament, I’d had difficulty handling the money, the liquor would have been a problem, and with the women I didn’t have a chance,” he once said with a laugh.

Patton is among a handful of amateurs who nearly walked off with the green jacket as Masters champion. Nothing would have made Bobby Jones prouder.

Jones is considered the greatest amateur golfer of all time. He retired after winning the Grand Slam in 1930 and soon built his dream course in Augusta and started a tournament for his friends.

Many thought Jones would win his own tournament, but he never fared better than the tie for 13th he produced in the inaugural Augusta National Invitation Tournament.

After World War II, a few amateurs challenged the top pros for one of golf’s ultimate prizes. Ca­reer amateurs were more prevalent because the professional circuit didn’t offer much in the way of prize money.

In 1947, Frank Stranahan closed with 68 to finish two shots behind winner Jimmy Demaret. He tied for second.

In 1954, Patton finished one stroke out of a playoff between Sam Snead and Ben Hogan.

Ken Venturi dominated the 1956 Masters for three rounds. He led after each of the first three rounds, but he soared to an 80 on the final day in gusty conditions. He finished one shot behind Jack Burke Jr.

Charlie Coe, another career amateur, had three top-10 finishes from 1959 to 1962 and tied for second in 1961.

When televised golf arrived in the late 1950s, prize money increased and career amateurs who could compete at the highest level began to dwindle.

After reaching a high of 26 amateurs in the 1966 Masters, the number began to drop. The Masters did away with inviting Walker Cup players by the late 1980s, and in 1989 it revised the standards to include just the U.S. Amateur champion and
runner-up, the British Amateur winner, the U.S. Public Links champion
and the U.S. Mid-Amateur winner.

Since then, two more slots have been added for winners of the Asia-Pacific Amateur and the Latin America Amateur, both of which were created with help from Augusta National and the Masters.

The Public Links tournament is no longer held by the USGA, and its winner made a final appearance in the Masters in 2015.

Thanks to Jones, the amateur spirit remains alive and well at Augusta National. He is the club’s president in perpetuity, and artifacts from his playing days are on permanent display. Jones’ thoughts on etiquette are reprinted each year in the spectator guide for Masters patrons, as well as his tips on how to best view the tournament.

 

 

A dozen amateurs played the inaugural event
 
Bobby Jones headlined a field of 12 amateurs in the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament. 
 
Jones had not played in formal competition since his Grand Slam season of 1930, and his presence was a major boost to the field. Jones shot rounds of 76, 74, 72 and 72 to finish tied for 13th, 10 shots behind winner Horton Smith.
 
Other amateurs who competed were Charles Yates, John Dawson, George Dunlap Jr., Ross Somerville, William Turnesa, Billy Howell, Walter Emery, Sam Perry, Jess Sweetser, Bayard Mitchell and C.G. Stevens.

 

Course Changes

Augusta National Golf Club was designed by Alister MacKenzie and Bobby Jones and opened for play in December 1932. The first tournament was held at the course in 1934, but soon a major change occurred.

The nines were reversed before the 1935 Masters because the first three holes on the original layout were susceptible to frost, which caused delays. The club also felt the original front nine was more difficult and wanted players to be able to ease into the tough stretch.

It turned out to be a wise decision. At the 1935 Masters, Gene Sarazen holed his second shot at the par-5 15th, formerly the sixth hole, for a double eagle and gave the tournament its first major moment.

 

On This Date

1937
 
Byron Nelson made a birdie at No. 12 and an eagle at No. 13 to make up six strokes on Ralph Guldahl and win his first Masters.
 
1938
 
Henry Picard shot 32 on the front nine to help secure a two-shot win over Harry Cooper and Ralph Guldahl.
 
1940
 
Lloyd Mangrum shot an Augusta National course-record 64 in the opening round. The mark stood for 25 years.
 
1995
 
A plaque commemorating Arnold Palmer’s four Masters victories was dedicated. It is affixed to the drinking fountain behind the 16th tee.