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If you’re still feeling hungover from the election season and now all of the legal wrangling that comes after it, we understand.  If you’re done with Fox News (at least for now), we understand.  If you’re done with worrying about COVID-19, we understand.  If you’re over the Green New Deal, we understand.

That’s why this AM, we decided to go with something new that’s about green jackets, putting greens, and lots of greenbacks to the winner. You don’t have to like golf to enjoy the history and beauty of Augusta National just like you don’t need to like horse racing to enjoy The Kentucky Derby.  Below we deal you ten fun, interesting, and light facts about The Masters.

1.  Jack Nicklaus, John Harris, and the deceased Arnold Palmer are/were the only professional golfers to ever be invited to be members.  Membership outside of Georgia residents is limited to two people per state.
2.  The tradition of wearing green jackets began in 1937 when jackets were purchased from New York’s Brooks Uniform Co. The idea was that Masters patrons easily could see members who would have accurate information to assist them while on the grounds.
3.  Avid golfer Dwight (Ike) Eisenhower is the only U.S. president to have been a club member. Ike’s Pond occupies 3 acres near hole No. 9 on the par-3 course.
4. Each hole is named after a plant or shrub that adorns it. For example, No. 3 is called “Flowering Crab Apple.” An estimated 80,000 plants have been added since the course was built.
5. Club founder and legendary patron of the sport of golf, Bobby Jones, initially intended for the Augusta National course to have a19th hole. His reasoning was that losing golfers would have an opportunity to win their money back through a last-ditch double-or-nothing round.  The idea was scrapped when it was realized that the view from the clubhouse of the 18th green would be lost.
6. The tournament was not played during the years 1943, 1944, and 1945 because of World War II. To help with the war effort, turkey and cattle were raised on the Augusta National Grounds.  It was estimated that the cost to repair the damage to the grounds was nearly $20,000, an outrageous sum of money back then.
7. Tiger Woods was the youngest player to win a Masters Tournament, at the tender age of 21 years, 3 months, and 14 days.  Fuzzy Zoeller was the only player to win there on his first try.  Jack Nicklaus has the most Masters Tournament wins, with six. Nicklaus became the oldest player to win a Masters Tournament, at 46 years, 2 months, and 23 days in 1986.
8. There is no question that the map in the official logo for the tournament is meant to represent the continental United States. But its proportions are conspicuously wrong. So how exactly did the most prestigious golf tournament in the world, one that is so concerned with details and decorum, come to have such a wonky logo?

   

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   One theory speculates that printing technology in the 1930s, during the time that the Augusta National was constructed, was simply not precise enough to replicate the sharp angles and narrow off-hangings that an accurate map of the continental U.S. would entail.  As to why the original logo is still used to this day, the answer is something that is used to explain many facets of the Masters: tradition.

9. One of the most beloved traditions of the tournament is the bequeathing of a famed Green Jacket to the new champion from the previous year’s winner. These Green Jackets are among the most iconic pieces of clothing in the sporting world. Yet, somehow, in 1994 a lucky and unsuspecting golf fan came across one in a Toronto thrift shop and paid a whopping $5 to take it home.  The Augusta National confirmed the authenticity of the piece and determined that the Green Jacket in question was from the 1950s. The lucky thrifter went on to sell the jacket at auction for nearly $140,000 in 2017.
10. Although CBS has broadcast the Tournament since 1956, Augusta National still owns the broadcasting rights and negotiations are renewed every year. So theoretically, the tournament could switch to a different broadcaster at any time.

Enjoy the escape, you’ve earned it.