The elegance and dynamism of the Masters and the R&A Club of St Andrews

The Augusta National Club and The Royal & Ancient Club of St Andrews, steeped in culture and mythology, have the same aim but different structures, and host the two most important tournaments in golf

Arguably, the Augusta National Club where the Masters is held, and The Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews (R&A) which host The Open (British Open) are the most iconic and famous golf clubs and institutions in the world.  They make a dramatic impact on the world of golf but are not the same in their structures. 

The Royal and Ancient Club of St Andrews (R&A) is the oldest and the most historic golf club in the world and is revered by many as the temple of golf.  It started decades before golf was introduced into North America, or anywhere else in the world, and therefore can never be ousted from that prestigious position.   

As the game developed, including being banned by the then Kings for being wasteful of time,  it had to deal with the impact that progress, technology and the spread of the game worldwide had on course design, equipment, rules and, of course, the demands of an erstwhile upstart colony that became bigger in scope than the R&A. Many trials and tribulations were overcome to arrive at today’s state (one cannot call it a steady state because circumstances are always changing and the impact of women being allowed into its hallowed portals is still being assimilated). Time, circumstance and evolving tradition have vested the R&A with a sort of divine status and unlike some religions which are losing their flock, the R&A is only adding more golfers to the game. 

The R&A has about 2,400 members from around the world while the Augusta National Club (ANC) has about 300 also from different parts of the world at any one time.  The iconic prize for the winner of the Masters is the Green Jacket that is ceremonially placed on his shoulders by the previous year’s champion (a sort of passing on of the baton, if you will) but he cannot own the Green Jacket.  He must return it before the end of twelve months so that it may then be presented to the next winner.  (What happens when there is a repeat winner? Who places the jacket on the winner?)  

All members of the ANC are expected to wear the Green Jacket when they are on the premises of the ANC but they too may not own the jacket and must return it to the locker room before they leave as all green jackets are owned by the ANC and must always be returned.  During lunches and dinners at the Club and during the tournament there is a sea of green from Green Jackets but, interestingly, the colour of the Green Jacket is somehow different from any other hue or tone of green anywhere on the very green ANC.  

The Open on the other hand presents a silver Claret Jug to the winner but, as with the Green Jacket at the Masters, the winner may not keep it and must return it to the R&A as it is a rolling trophy.  However, the winner these days gets a smaller sized replica of the Claret Jug in silver as a permanent keepsake, but that was not always the case.  

The Masters and The Open generate the most viewership for any tournament in the world and as a result they harvest enormous surpluses some of which are then, after costs, applied to the support and promotion of golf all around the world.  This has led to a huge spurt in golf interest and thus professional golf tournaments and the promotion of golf become virtually a perpetual motion cycle, of mutual benefit. Both these organisations are very rule bound but are also extremely sensitive and considerate of their traditions as well, of the winners and the players.  An interesting episode typifies the nature of the R&A.  

Peter Thomson who won The Open five times, the last of which was in 1965, never received a replica of the Claret Jug as that practice had not yet started.  Arguably the most famous winner of The Open, he fell to Parkinson’s and age related ailments and was greatly mourned by family, those who knew him, the media and golfers worldwide.  The R&A, where he was an Honorary Life Member, was especially grieved and in their typically sensitive way, organised a surprise presentation of a smaller sized solid silver Claret Jug to his charming wife Mary and son Andrew.  The jug was complete in all respects, including the names of winners of the Claret Jug duly inscribed on the plate of the base of the trophy, except that it ended at 1965 which was the fifth time Peter winning The Open.  The event was organised by the Australian Golf Media Association to coincide with the 2018 Australian Open.  “It was his greatest honour to be part of the R&A,” Mary said of Peter Thomson in her acceptance speech which is worth listening to and can be accessed on YouTube with the caption “The R&A presents a special Claret Jug to Mary Thomson”.  Clive Brown, chairman of the R&A Championship Committee and Chris Hilton, Captain of the R&A made the presentation.  Thus are great traditions that sustain a great institution built.

The Masters Invitational Tournament, so successful today, had an extremely tenuous beginning.  Bobby Jones and Clive Roberts had a dream which sometimes felt like a nightmare.  Soon after the depression in the US, many economic plans had floundered and it was very difficult to sell memberships.  Thousands of invitation letters, efforts by travel agents and friends and relatives yielded nothing much.  The situation was parlous indeed and they could not even fully pay Mackenzie the fee for the design and construction of the course. 

The way to save the entire enterprise, Roberts came to believe was to host The US Open in 1934.  But the US Golf Association (after an inspection by Prescott Bush, father of the recently demised President George H W Bush) turned them down.  Roberts then persuaded Jones that the solution was to conduct a tournament of their own, with Bobby Jones as the star attraction.  The first Masters, known initially as the Augusta National invitation Tournament, was born.  It was nothing like the Masters of today.  Most of the advertisements in the first tournament programme were for suppliers that the club owed money to, and the field, which was small to begin with, shrank steadily until 1939. (The New Yorker).

From here, through many growth pangs, the Masters is where it is at today, but, it would not have been so had the US Open (which rotates from one suitable venue to another) been held here in 1934.  It’s the holding of this tournament at the same venue each year that has enabled the Masters to build a unique mystique and market itself brilliantly to be one of the two most vaunted tournaments in the world. 

For the members of the Delhi Golf Club, that’s the true route to stardom.

Next: Golf, the most fun and most difficult game on Earth