Into the Green
Thoughts on the Masters.
There's a sense of universal joy for anyone who attends the Masters. It doesn't matter who you are or what you do, the patron experience is unlike anything else. Going to Augusta is a rare thing in life which actually exceeds the expectations.
The Masters is undoubtedly the best experience you can have at an American sporting event. You don’t need to even know anything about golf to appreciate it. The grounds are so awe-inspiring you can walk around for 8 hours stunned at how hard work can transform the rolling hills of Georgia into perfection. You can marvel at the precision and service of such a large event. You can absorb the pure joy that thousands of people collectively share throughout the week.
The duality of the Masters is what makes it interesting to me. It’s an exercise in unlikely combinations. The tournament is well attended but never crowded or chaotic. It manages to be quaint and have scale. The Masters is old school and traditional, but also completely modern. It is efficient and hospitable, which would seem like opposites anywhere else. It’s constantly evolving, yet forever remaining the same.
Augusta National Golf Club is a blank canvas of sorts —it's the perfect backdrop of green and white— which allows the golf to come alive like a beautiful painting. Everything there is memorable, from the striped umbrellas to the simplicity of the leaderboard. Every detail is considered but nothing is overdone.
It’s rare for something to be enjoyable on television and even more so in person. The lack of phones keeps everyone completely present. With the tournament's tradition of etiquette and the lack of selfies you get the best version of people. When you walk inside the gates, or through the golf shop or concessions you realize how friendly and polite everyone is. As an ex-New Yorker and current LA driver it almost doesn't feel like it could be real, but it is. You start to appreciate that the Masters is more than just a tournament on a beautiful golf course. It's a portal into a different world and another time.
The Masters traditions are some of the most interesting aspects of the tournament to me and many other people. This week I have contributed several stories to Masters.com around some of the most cherished traditions of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. As far as fun historical stories to tell around golf, this is about as good as it gets. Hope you like them.
Masters 101: Magnolia Lane, Caddie Uniforms, Honorary Starters, Par 3 Contest, the Crow’s Nest, the Champion’s Dinner and the Green Jacket.
There's a film that I love called Jazz on a Summer's Day. Directed by the fashion photographer Bert Stern, it documented the 1958 Newport Jazz Festival and the America's Cup which was going on at the same time in the waters near Newport, RI. It's one of the most beautiful films ever created and I am always struck by all the shots of the fans in attendance. It's a time capsule of sorts with the personal style of the era on full display. The film is like going back in time to a stylish event to people watch.
There's an element of Jazz on a Summers day going on every year at the Masters. Each time I have attended the tournament I have seen flourishes of modern moments which could be straight out of Jazz on a Summers Day or even Take Ivy. With the ultra clean aesthetic of Augusta National and the tournament's lack of commercialization (and cell phones!) it's a rare glimpse into what things might have been like way back when.
Great stuff, Michael. Well done, man!
I have a love/hate relationship with the Masters, tempered even further because I don't foilow golf closely. As a child I considered myself part of Arnie's Army as I watched on Sundays with my dad, who was a teens handicap golfer. (He's still alive, just hasn't golfed in ages.) I took lessons at our club, then a top 200 American club and now public, and as an ex-teaching pro in tennis I have massive respect for what's required to be a really good golfer, let alone a top pro.
At the same time I have a hard time with Augusta's history as regards women and minorities. Yes, my beloved sport of tennis hails from a similar background, but imo it's done a better (very far from perfect) job of responding to its traditional prejudices.
Having been lucky enough to attend Wimbledon a few times your description of Augusta resonates. Like Augusta, The All England Club has retained its sense of its own history, and tennis on grass, played in whites, is a gorgeous thing to behold; green predominates there, as well. There was a rumor that VISA was going to take title sponsorship some years ago, and thankfully it did not come to pass. Can you imagine "The VISA Masters"? Neither can I. There are very few billboard-type adverts at SW19, like at Augusta, and of course tennis' demand for quiet from spectators silences cell phones, too.
My discomfort with Augusta's history aside, I still get a shiver at the sight of someone putting on their green jacket for the first time. Or on watching (more than once) the video of Nicklaus' grandson getting a hole in one while playing in a foursome at the pre-Masters round for past champions with his grandfather, Tom Watson, and the amazing Gary Player, all of whom loudly cheered his ball into the cup.
Thanks for this. Not everything should or has to be structured like the NFL.