Stulb, architect who designed Eisenhower Cabin and Sarazen Bridge at Augusta National, dies at 96

H. Lowrey Stulb, the architect responsible for designing the Eisenhower Cabin and the Sarazen Bridge at Augusta National Golf Club, didn’t go around bragging about his accomplishments at the home of the Masters Tournament.

After all, they were just a small part of a much larger body of work. His firm, Eve and Stulb, designed many prominent buildings around Augusta after World War II, including the Augusta Richmond County Library on Greene Street, Butler High School, Langford Junior High School, a research and education building at the Medical College of Georgia, the Convent of Saint Helena and Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal Church.

But Stulb, who died Wednesday at 96, was mighty proud of his affiliation with the private club.

“He was very modest,” his son, Franklin Stulb, said Thursday.

“He got the work at Augusta National because his father-in-law was Ed Dudley (the club’s
first professional).”

A funeral service will be held 11 a.m. Saturday at Saint Augustine of Canterbury Episcopal
Church with interment following at
Westover Cemetery.

Lowrey Stulb’s love affair with the Masters began in 1934 when he was a student at Richmond Academy and served as a gallery guard for the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament.

On the Wednesday before the 1934 tournament, players competed in an alternate-shot format event. Stulb followed Bobby Jones that day and held one end of a cane pole while another cadet held the other end to prevent patrons from walking too close to the players.

Stulb kept the scorecard from that round, and discovered it years later when he found his old cadet uniform.

Stulb was at the tournament the following year when Gene Sarazen recorded his famous double eagle on the 15th hole. Stulb said he heard the loud roar, but, “I’m the only person who didn’t see it,” he said.

Stulb received his architecture degree from Georgia Tech and received a fellowship to the Princeton Graduate School. He joined the Army Corps of Engineers during World War II and opened his architectural firm with partner William Eve in 1945.

He married Elizabeth Dudley and that led to him getting a call to design quarters for President Eisenhower and his family for their frequent visits to Augusta.

In 1953, the Eisenhower Cabin – some call it Ike’s Cabin, Stulb always called it Mamie’s Cabin – was built near the 10th tee at Augusta National.

It consisted of three floors, including a basement that was used by the Secret Service as its headquarters in Augusta.

During an interview with The Augusta Chronicle, Stulb said the president kept a red phone next to his bed, presumably the presidential hot line in case of an emergency.

“We started Monday morning at 8 o’clock after the tournament that year,” Stulb said.

“We had construction crews in there that morning. We had until Oct. 1. On Oct. 1, they turned keys over right on time.”

The cabin wasn’t Stulb’s only project at Augusta National. He also designed the Sarazen Bridge; the golf shop, a suite above it, and an office used by Eisenhower; and the wine cellar underneath the clubhouse.

Stulb came up with the idea for the Sarazen Bridge, which runs to the left of the pond fronting the 15th green, to commemorate Sarazen’s “Shot Heard ‘Round the World.”

The flat footbridge was dedicated on the 20th anniversary of the famous shot.

“It isn’t a bridge,” he said, “but we’ll call it that.”

His son said Stulb had been in a nursing home for the past 15 months, but he still enjoyed talking about his work at Augusta National.

“He was proud of the work he did,” Franklin Stulb said. “That was a bright topic for him to talk about.”