Augusta National’s penchant for innovation and expansion has officially gone outside the club’s Northeastern Washington Road border.
While the home of The Masters is constantly making improvements to its vast property both for the sake of the golf course and its on-course patrons, the recent completion of a tunnel from the grounds under Washington Road has the at-home spectator at the forefront of the minds of those who wear the green jackets.
The project, which was commissioned in order to create a “Global Broadcast Compound,” was announced during last year’s chairman’s press conference by Fred Ridley.
“With the much-appreciated support of the city of Augusta and the state of Georgia, this summer we will begin a multi-year development of a portion of our property north of Washington Road,” Ridley said in April 2019. “Site work already is underway, and in a matter of weeks, we will commence construction of a tunnel connecting an area near Gate 1 to new development on the north side of the road. This project is the first of its kind in the state of Georgia. Thanks to modern engineering, we will be able to excavate under Washington Road without any impact to the flow of traffic above.”
That construction was recently completed, and MetroSpirit.com shared pictures of the tunnel during the various stages of construction.
It’s no Magnolia Lane, but Augusta National’s new tunnel is still an impressive feat of engineering. https://t.co/noxs7U0um8 pic.twitter.com/0lEIMF2k5T
— GOLF.com (@GOLF_com) February 17, 2020
The tunnel is 26 feet deep and 120 feet long, with an interior 16 feet high and 26 feet wide, and in true Augusta National fashion, guarded by “over 200 pines, oaks and holly as landscape to the renovated area,” according to GolfDigest.com.
The Masters made a gigantic leap forward in terms of their digital offerings in 2019 with the introduction of every shot from every hole being available on Masters.com and inside the Masters app.
Check out what’s new with #themasters online experience this year, including the ability to watch virtually every shot from every player on every hole. pic.twitter.com/smSbZ3MCi3
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 11, 2019
“The reason we’re doing it is because we have always subscribed to the notion that we want to provide content to our fans in the way they want to receive it,” Ridley said. “You know, the world is migrating more and more towards digital technology. It was something that we thought, and that we were hearing, that our fans wanted, and with a lot of great work of our digital technology committee and our staff, we were able to develop this.
“It’s been two or three years in developing. We had it in a beta test mode previously, but now I feel like we can actually execute on this.”
With the completion of the tunnel and the 40-acre Global Broadcast Compound now connected to the club, the sky is the limit for the home of The Masters.
