Augusta National Golf Club

Augusta, Georgia

 Augusta National Golf Club, a private golf club in Augusta, Georgia, is one of the most famous and exclusive golf clubs in the world and is considered Bobby Jones's masterpiece. It is the site of the annual Masters Tournament.

Augusta is generally regarded as the most revered golf course on Tour by American fans. Since the Masters is held there each year, fans watching on TV have the unique opportunity to become familiar with the course, something the other majors do not afford.

Augusta National Golf Club has about 300 members at any given time. Fees are reported to range between $25,000 and $50,000 (a very low number considering both the unmatched quality of the golf course and the vast wealth of many of the club's members). Membership is strictly by invitation; there is no application process.

No woman has ever been invited into the membership, though women are able to play the course as guests of a member. The ex-chairman of the Club, Hootie Johnson, publicly stated no rule exists that would exclude anyone from becoming a member of Augusta National. Pressure placed upon corporate sponsors of The Masters over this controversy led the Club to voluntarily televise the 2003 and 2004 tournaments without commercials. However, as the controversy has largely died down, commercials resumed in 2005 with sponsorship by ExxonMobil, IBM and AT&T.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augusta_National