Who designed Augusta National? A hole-by-hole guide

Berckmans Nursery, also known as Fruitland, was the first large-scale horticultural nursery in the southeastern United States. Founded in 1858 in Augusta by Louis Mathieu Edouard Berckmans and his son Prosper Jules Alphonse Berckmans, the grounds later became the site of the Augusta National Golf Club.

Both of the Berckmans were natives of Belgium and immigrated to the United States during the 1850s. The younger, Prosper, was a university-educated horticulturist who received his degree in France. The Berckmans were also responsible for introducing wide varieties of fruits and ornamental plants to the South in their family-operated Fruitland Nurseries from 1858 to 1918. During this time, the Berckmans family introduced many plants, shrubs, and trees to the Southeast.

Prosper became recognized for raising new fruit varieties that are more suitable for growing in southern climates. He also molded or enhanced many types of peaches and eventually became known as the “Father of Peach Culture.”

Who designed Augusta National?

Today, the Augusta National Golf Club, home of the Masters Tournament, settles the former parcel of Fruitland Nurseries. When Golf champion Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts designed the course, the two sons of Prosper Berckman assisted them in the landscape design. Also, the Berckmans Family manor became the home of the Augusta National Clubhouse. Many of the plant varieties grown and improved by the Berckmans family still flourish at Augusta National as part of its developed landscape.

Louis Alphonse Berckmans, Prosper’s son, decided where to plant each of the 18 varieties, now the names of the holes at the Golf course.

AUGUSTA NATIONAL HOLE NAMES