Augusta National Golf Club is the perennial home of The Masters, Professional Golf’s Fourth Major Championship, but probably the most coveted of all Trophies. The Green Jacket winner receives a lifetime exemption to compete every year. In 2016, from April 7 to April 10, the eyes of the world will be on Augusta, USA.
The Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters or The US Masters, is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year. Unlike the other major championships, the Masters is held each year at the same location, Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in the city of Augusta, Georgia, USA.
Traditions of the Masters
This Golf Masters tournament in Augusta has a number of traditions. Since 1949, a green jacket has been awarded to the champion, who must return it to the clubhouse one year after his victory. The jacket remains his personal property although it is stored with other champions’ jackets in a specially designated cloakroom. In most instances, only a first-time and currently reigning champion may remove his jacket from the club grounds. Beginning in 1963, legendary golfers, usually past champions, have hit an honorary tee shot on the morning of the first round to commence play. These have included Fred McLeod, Jock Hutchinson, Gene Sarazen, Sam Snead, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, and Gary Player. Since 1960, a semi-social contest at the par-3 course at Augusta, USA, has been played on Wednesday, the day before the first round.
Jack Nicklaus has the most Masters wins, with six between 1963 and 1986. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods won four each, and Jimmy Demaret, Sam Snead, Gary Player, Nick Faldo, and Phil Mickelson have won three each. Gary Player, from South Africa, was the first non-American player to win the tournament, in 1961. Seve Ballesteros of Spain was only the second non-American player, winning in 1980 and 1983.
Interesting Sports Betting
An interesting factor regarding online sports betting on golf, because the majors are such huge sporting events that sports betting questions do arise, is that golf is notoriously difficult to bet on with any degree of certainty due to the high levels of difficulty and low levels of consistency which throw up different and often unexpected winners each week. Golf betting is thus more often associated with luck as opposed to form and pedigree.
There are two primary betting variations offered by bookmakers. The first is the tournament win bet, which requires a high degree of luck as it involves the selection of that weeks’ winner. This bet is more often utilised by amateur punters simply having a lucky guess. Professional gamblers tend to favour matchups between individual players. Golf betting sports sites pick and post matchups on the site, and punters select which of the two will be more successful in the tournament at hand. This system is more reliable, easier to predict and better for calculating the odds. Gamblers, therefore, wanting to bet on the Golf Masters in Augusta, USA in 2016, should use form and course preference to try to predict the winner with any accuracy, for the tournament is generally wide open.
