The History of the Masters Golf Tournament

07 April 2011

The Masters Tournament is a golfing tournament that takes place every year in Augusta, Georgia in the United States. It is one of the four annual major professional golfing events and is usually held in the first week of April each year. The Masters Tournament is the only one of the four major golfing events that takes place in the same location every year. The other major events are the US Open, the British Open (also known as the Open Championship) and the PGA Championship and each event changes location annually.

The Masters Tournament was established by Bobby Jones who was the most successful American amateur golfer that has ever competed nationally and internationally. He was a lawyer by trade, but had a real passion for golf, and after he retired from being a lawyer he wanted to build a golf course.

Out of his dream for building a golf course was born the Augusta National Golf Club which is the club that houses the Masters Tournament in Augusta. Bobby Jones took the advice of Clifford Robert in building the club house, who was an American investment dealer and Golf administrator. Clifford Roberts then took the position of Club Chairman.

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A Brief History of the Oxford and Cambridge Boat Races

27 March 2011

The Oxford and Cambridge Boat race is an annual boat race between the two universities in England, Oxford and Cambridge. The idea came about in early 1829 by two friends, Charles Merivale and Charles Wordsworth who were attending the two universities at the time. In March of 1829, Cambridge university invited Oxford university to a challenge, and ever since then the boat races have been a tradition for the two well established educational institutions.

The very first boat race was held on the River Thames in Henley, Oxfordshire and according to the local newspapers, 20,000 spectators attended to watch the two teams compete. There was a false start that year and the two teams had to row back for a restart. Oxford won the first race well ahead of Cambridge. Because of the popularity of the race, the citizens of Henley subsequently founded the Henley Royal Regatta which is now another annual boat racing event.

In 1836, the next boat races were held in Westminster in London, where it was held over the next 15 years. The next races didn’t take place until 1845, and the crowds had become so large that the location could no longer cater for such a high number of spectators and so the races were held in Putney, not far from Westminster. In 1856 races then became an annual event as it was so popular among spectators.

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The History of the Cricket World Cup

10 February 2011

The Cricket World Cup is the premier international championship of men’s cricket. It is a One Day International event, also known as an ODI. The first international cricket match was in 1844 played between the US and Canada, but the first credited test match was not until 1877 between Australia and England.

In the 1900 Olympics in Paris, cricket was included as an Olympic sport and England won against France, winning the gold medal. In 1912, the first Triangular Tournament was played which was a tournament involving all three of the test playing countries of that time which were England, South Africa and Australia. This was not very successful and so in the following years only two teams played in a tournament until 1999, when the next multilateral tournament was played called the Asian Test Championship.

Over time, the number if international test cricket teams increased. In 1928 West Indies became a test team, followed by New Zealand in 1930, India in 1932 and Pakistan in 1952. However, throughout this time international test matches continued to be bilateral (two countries).

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The History of the Australian Open

28 January 2011

The Australian Open is getting underway this week, but do you know about this history of the Australian Open? If not, read on for some interesting facts about the Australian Open in the early days.

1880 was the year of the first Australian tennis tournament and it was held in Melbourne. It was the Championship of the Colony of Victoria. Until 1905, all states in Australia and New Zealand held their own championship tournaments.

Then in 1905, the ‘Australasian Men’s Championships’ kicked off at the Warehouseman’s Cricket Ground in Melbourne. This was later renamed the Australian Championships in 1927, and by 1969 it had been given the name that it goes by today: The Australian Open.

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