Augusta: Home of the Masters Tournament Hardcover – January 1, 1997

Excellent history of the Masters.

As the grandson of Bobby Jones, I thought I had read pretty much everything that had been written regarding the founding of the Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. For some reason, though, this volume by Steve Eubanks escaped my attention. This is even more embarrassing, considering that members of my family were consulted by Eubanks in his preparation of the book!To me, this is the best popular and reasonably contemporary presentation of the history of ANGC and the Masters in print, standing head and shoulders above the contemporary volumes by Curt Sampson and David Owen. Eubanks wrote with humor and respect, simultaneously poking fun at the pretentiousness of both events and maintaining a respect for the great tournament that the Club hosts each April.The author spends a significant amount of time on the story of the enigmatic Clifford Roberts. Eubanks skewers the myth that Cliff Roberts and Bub (my family’s nickname for our grandfather) remained close friends until the latter’s death in 1971. He writes of Cliff’s scandalous treatment of Curtis Tillman, the African-American who was a “gift” to Cliff from Tom Barrett, a former mayor of Augusta and a founding member of the National. He accurately portrays Cliff’s almost tyrannical approach to running both the club and the tournament. Yet, at the same time that he does this, Eubanks skillfully frames Cliff’s behaviors within the context of a man who grew up in a chaotic home where his mother took her own life. While no one would call Cliff Roberts a sympathetic character, Steve Eubanks certainly makes him understandable and a more three-dimensional character than has previously been revealed.In his epilogue, Eubanks summarizes the current situation of the club and the tournament, current at least in 1997. He writes with passion about the club’s responsibility to the larger community of Augusta and its people, noting that the club did little for the community at large.In short, if you want to consider yourself well-read on the foundation of the ANGC and the Masters, then I would definitely read this book and also _A Golf Story_ by Charles Price.

Great Gift , Thanks

This book was an absolutely a treasure to listen to and hear the history of the club!

It seems there's a new "unprecedented" book on Augusta and the Masters coming out every April these days, but this one was the first of its "investigative" ilk and it remains the best. Anything I had ever read in book form about Augusta/the Masters before this read like so much puff because they were written by authors who wanted to remain friends with Augusta's secretive powers-that-be. Eubanks examines and explores Augusta National with a lot of gusto and tells me dozens of things I didn't know about this place. Like the hush-hush shooting incident involving some black youths who had trespassed on the course just so they could take a dip in one of the ponds. Or how the myth surrounding Charlie Sifford's alleged exclusion from the Masters field by racist manipulators assumes facts Eubanks proves wrong. Or Bert Yancey's real obsession with the course itself. Or the suicide by the ticket scalper in 1997. There's also a lot of nice stuff about Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, as well as a chapter devoted to Ike and how his presidency was pretty much launched in the inner bowels of Augusta National's clubhouse. Buy this book--it's wonderful!

If you've read the Clifford Roberts book and are an ardent follower of the tournament, you will be disappointed. What I was expecting versus what was delivered were 180 degrees apart. Mr. Eubanks would have done better to explore more of the relationship between the National and the residents and town of Augusta. Eubanks needed to delve more into more recent tournament history (post 1980) as opposed to dedicating more to the period from 1933-1960. I'll be attending my fifth Masters Tournament in 1998 (4th in a row) and I hope to talk with some residents/patrons who have attended many tournaments throughout the years.