The Augusta National golf course has 12 buildings on its premises, with one of them being the Butler Cabin. It is the most well-known of the buildings and has a lot of mystique behind it.
What is the Butler Cabin at Augusta National? The Butler Cabin is a small non-descript cabin on Augusta National Golf Club grounds. But it is known as the place where the winner of the Masters is crowned and interviewed. But it’s also used for member and guest lodging. It was built in 1964 and named after former club member Thomas Butler.
All serious golf fans will want to know more about one of the most iconic places in the tradition of professional golf, though.
Read on to learn more about the Butler Cabin, the member it is named after, what it looks like, and where it is located at Augusta National.
What Is The Butler Cabin at Augusta National?
After you win the Masters, you sign a card, and they will take you over to the Butler Cabin. This became a tradition where they whisk you to an interview with Jim Nantz. He belongs to the leading network CBS Sports for the US network.
Inside the Butler Cabin, the tournament winner receives a green jacket from the previous year’s champion. Augusta National calls it the Green Jacket Ceremony. It happens in front of the fireplace with a picture of Bobby Jones, one of the founders, inside Butler Cabin at Augusta National. The green jacket represents the ultimate success in golf.
This tradition of the green jackets date all the way back to 1949, when members first started to wear the jackets. Only 54 people have ever earned this jacket since the tradition started.
We saw some incredible moments during this time. For example, when Tiger Woods lost the Masters in 2006 as the defending champion, he had to give up the green jacket to Phil Mickelson. You only get to keep the green jacket for a calendar year, and you must give it up if you lose to the new champion the following year.
As an interesting side note, Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods share the title for the most Butler Cabin interviews. They both tied at 5 apiece.
Whoever serves as the current Chairman of Augusta National will conduct the Green Jacket Ceremony with Fred Ridley responsible for it right now.
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Who is Butler Cabin Named After?
Some may think that with a name like Butler, this cabin serves as the servant’s quarters. This cabin never housed anything for servants.
The Butler Cabin at the Masters was named after Thomas B. Butler after they built it in 1964. He held a membership at Augusta National and served as the Chairman at Mercantile Bank and Trust.
Interestingly, they first used the Cabin Butlers as a TV studio in 1965 after Jack Nicklaus won the Masters by nine shots. He was the first to win the Masters and see the ceremony performed there.
At that time, they turned the Butlers Cabin into a broadcast headquarters for CBS.
Now, you may wonder, “What did they do before constructing the Butler’s Cabin for the Masters? Before they had the cabin for the Green Jacket Ceremony, they would perform it at the residency of the co-founder Cliff Roberts.
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What Does The Butler Cabin Look Like?
The Butler Cabin sits close to the clubhouse, and it’s not far from the par-3 course. When you look at the cabin, it was painted white with dark shutters in the windows. Even the chimney was painted white, and it has two dormer windows.
The Butler’s Cabin at the Masters is one of 12 cabins at Augusta National. These are known as the Augusta National Cabins. It’s one of the most well-known cabins beside the Eisenhower Cabin.
Interesting to note: Dwight D. Eisenhower and Thomas Butler were both friends, and both had cabins named after them.
In truth, you rarely see this building covered during the event of the Masters. They use it for one specific thing: the Green Jacket Ceremony. You can see the Butler Cabin as the winner puts on the green jacket. The building has a couple of bedrooms and bathrooms and a kitchen.
You won’t look at the Butler Cabin and think, “Wow!” because it mostly looks like a regular house. It’s not a big grand house or anything overly elegant, but the prestige of it remains either way.
How is Butler Cabin Used for the Rest of the Year?
The Masters for Butler Cabin is when it receives the most attention, but what about the rest of the year?
For the rest of the year, they use the cabin as a place to stay for the guests. No one knows the exact price of the stay, but rumor is that it sits between $100 and $200 per night. The lower cost probably relates to the high initiation fee of $100,000 to become a member.
Augusta National has about 100 beds, but they fill up pretty quickly whenever an event happens at the country club. Rumor has it that during a tournament known as “The Jamboree,” Bill Gates had to stay at a Red Roof Inn—a budget hotel—because who gets the rooms here doesn’t depend on membership. It also depends on seniority.
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Who gets to stay in the Butlers Cabin depends on seniority. That means you couldn’t buy a membership and expect to stay at the Butlers Cabin. You may find yourself elsewhere if you’re a newly inducted member like Bill Gates. Money won’t buy your way into Butler Cabin.
As a side note, only the privileged will ever enter Butler Cabin. Fewer will get to spend the night there. Some players don’t even know where it’s located on the 365 acres, and some have played at this tournament for over a decade.
Related article: How to Get Masters Tickets
Where is Butler Cabin Located at Augusta National?
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Considering how Augusta National covers 365 acres, you may wonder where you can find Butler Cabin. Look for the grasslands Gallery fairway areas. In fact, it sits right across from the clubhouse, so if you want to begin your search, look for it there. You have the Founder’s Circle up front, but if you follow the road going east and then south, you will be driving right on the road that passes Butler’s Cabin.
If you’d like to know exactly where Butlers Cabin is located, just check out the video below:
Final Thoughts
Hopefully, this gives you more of an idea about Butler Cabin and what to know about it. Because the Masters is an invitational-only event, it remains smaller than other golf championships held worldwide.
Before they called it the Masters, they called it the Augusta National Invitational Tournament.
Many will see Butler Cabin when they watch the tournament, and it is steeped in a great deal of tradition with the Green Jacket Ceremony. Butler’s Cabin plays a crucial role in that and the interviews, but few people will ever see the inside of the cabin.
- Favorite club: Cobra Fly XL Set
- Favorite ball: Callaway Warbird Ball
- Favorite food at the turn: Nachos
