Natural beauty part of Augusta National's allure

Two men deserve credit for the beauty on display each spring at Augusta National Golf Club.

But it’s not who you think.

Bobby Jones and Clifford Rob­erts had the vision to create Augusta National and the Mas­ters Tournament.

However, it was Belgian Baron Louis Mathieu Edouard Berck­­mans and his son, Prosper Ju­lius Alphonse, who laid the foundation for what would become Augusta National. Without them, it is doubtful Jones and Rob­­­­erts would have selected the property that would become the world’s most famous golf course.

In the 1800s, the 365-acre tract off Washington Road was an indigo plantation. That changed in 1857, when Berckmans and his son purchased the land and formed a partnership a year later to start a nursery.

Under the name Fruitland Nur­se­ries, the two began to import many types of trees and plants from other countries. Pros­per is credited with popularizing the azalea, which is found all over Augusta National.

The business ceased operations a few years after Prosper’s death in 1910.

Enter Jones and Roberts, who were looking for a suitable piece of land on which to build Jones’ dream course after he won the Grand Slam in 1930 and retired from competitive golf.

They purchased the old Fruit­land property for $70,000 in 1931. Dr. Alister MacKenzie was selected to help Jones design the course, and construction began that summer.

Jones knew immediately that the land was spectacular.

“Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a golf course on it,” Jones said when he viewed the property for the first time.

With a solid foundation left from the former nursery, Roberts and Jones enlisted the help of Louis Alphonse Berckmans, son of Prosper Berckmans. He returned to Augusta during construction of the course and, at age 74, helped decide where the varieties would be located on each hole. According to club records, a few were already in the right location, but most had to be planted.

Each hole is named for its distinctive plant. Some have changed through the years; No. 14, for example, used to be known as Spanish Dag­ger but is now known as Chi­nese Fir for the exotic plant that is on the left side of the fairway.

A few palm trees can still be found on the property, too. The fourth hole was known as the Palm hole in early years but is now distinguished by the flowering crab apple trees on either side of the fairway.

More than 80,000 plants of more than 350 varieties have been added to the grounds through the years.

Pine trees, dogwoods and azaleas are still the most identifiable plantings on the course. Many of the pines are more than 150 years old, and there are more than 30 varieties of azaleas, several strains of dogwood and dozens of varieties of ornamental shrubs at the course.

Other trees and plants are also well known:

• Magnolia Lane contains dozens of magnolia trees that were planted before the Civil War.

• The “big oak tree” behind the clubhouse was planted in the late 1850s.

• The wisteria vine, on a tree near the clubhouse, is believed to be the largest vine of its kind in the country.

• The privet hedge at the club was imported from France by the Berckmans in the 1860s and is the source for most hedges of its kind in the South.