No matter what happens on the back nine of Sunday at the Masters, viewers are left with a lasting image and a memory that is unique from golf’s three other major championships. While Sunday’s rendition of Augusta’s back nine might have fell short of expectations in the drama department, with Bubba Watson holding onto a three-shot lead from the 12th hole until the finish line, what happened during yesterday afternoon at the Masters will most definitely leave a lasting impression on golf in the years to come.
Golf fans witnessed 20-year old Jordan Spieth prove to the world that his name will be seen on major championship leaderboards soon again and quite often. His tenacity and knack for competition at an early age is something for which golf fans have yearned, and his appetite for winning only could have grown stronger after yesterday’s defeat. We also watched Bubba Watson cure his 2012 Green Jacket hangover by showing yet again that “Bubba-Golf” might just be the Masters fields’ biggest enemy.
Yes, the unique feeling that golf fans share with regards to the Masters has plenty to do with how it is the only major played on the same course every year, but there’s more to it than that. The images and the memories that we are left with, in my opinion, are not necessarily a result of the iconic golf shots that have resulted in Green Jacket glory over the years, but from the countless “perfect” details about the course and the tournament in general that create the stage for such shots to stand out in our minds. To sum it up, come Sunday evening in mid–April, the Masters always wins.
After receiving an envelope in the mail from the Masters Tournament in the late fall with a pair tickets to Wednesday’s practice rounds, I would get the opportunity to uncover all of the mystique, the expectation and the “perfection” I had been hearing, dreaming and probably talking about way too much for the last decade.
One of the things a patron will notice about Augusta National for the first time is the immense size of the property. From the recently constructed practice facility (which I will discuss below), to the par-3 course and the concession and merchandise areas, the landscape of the Augusta National property is gigantic. While the property is so grand, spectators will also notice that the actual golf course — from the 1st tee to the 18th green — is actually very close together, and here’s why.
When Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts embarked upon this landscape in Augusta, Ga., in 1930, their intention was not to just build a golf course, which one could argue was the intention of maybe every other course ever constructed in the world. They settled on this property with the goal of creating a tournament and spectacle. It’s almost as if Jones and Roberts had the ability to look into the future to 2005; when Tiger holed out from the left fringe on No. 16, or in 2010 when Phil struck his 6 iron out of the pine-straw to establish the courses most influential holes coming down the stretch in area of the property where the noise and reaction of the crowd would radiate in a amphitheater, manufacturing a noise and a creating a buzz that could not be matched in this sport.
While standing at the practice green situated right in front of the clubhouse, which looks out over the entire golf course, I could hear patron’s chant “skip it, skip it” as players participated in the 16th hole practice round tradition of skipping it over the water onto the green. I could only imagine the sounds a Sunday roar could create, as the ones I witnessed on a Wednesday managed to send chills down my spine.
Another aspect of perfection and genius that caught my eye, which I don’t think many others would have picked up on, was on the practice facility, and I emphasize the word practice. First, I think I can answer this question for all of you… have you ever been on a driving range where there isn’t a green as a target at the very end for your longest club? I am 99.9 percent sure that the answer is no, but if you have then please say so!
At the Augusta National range, the farthest green from the tees is about 230 yards away. Beyond this green are clump of trees separating the range into a Y shape, creating two separate fairways. While watching players hitting drivers and 3 woods to both to the right and left sides of the range, a light bulb went off in my head and I yelled out loud to my dad, “It makes perfect sense!” How often in a round do you hit a tee ball that isn’t on a par-3 to a green? The answer is never, unless it’s a drivable par-4.
The end of the range is set up so that you practice hitting tee balls to locations similar to the course. There is also a set of fairway bunkers along the right side of the range at the 300-yard distance, so players can practice hitting a tee ball in between a set of trees and a set of bunkers, just like on the course. It actually makes so much sense and it’s really quite simple when you think about, but still, Augusta National is the only place that I’ve seen it done.
While I believe Augusta National’s decision to allow female members to the club was one that could have come a decade or so earlier, I will finish off by eluding to what might turn out to be the most impactful decisions the Masters committee has made in recent years with regards to the growth of the game. Last year, Masters Chairman Billy Payne announced the finals for the Drive, Chip, and Putt competition – a golf skills contest in America for girls and boys ages 7-to-15 – would be hosted at Augusta National.
While much wasn’t made of such a decision at first, the televised coverage of the event created a stir among golf’s leading influencers that was centered around the overwhelming positive impression the initiative will have on the game. For those kids who didn’t qualify or didn’t even attempt to be the first Drive, Chip and Putt contestants to hit golf shots on the course, I’m sure that after seeing Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth fist pumping and high fiving all the participants has driven hundreds of thousands of young kids to want to work harder, or even pick up the game in order to have that opportunity next year and in the years to come. The impact that a little detail like having the 2013 Masters Champion, Adam Scott, hand out the trophies to the competitions winners may have made this initiative and this new Masters traditions one of the best one’s since the clubs inception.
In recent years, the Masters Committee has also established its roots internationally, inviting the winners of amateur events in Asia and South America to play in the Masters. The growth of the game, or lack there of, is a much-debated topic in golf. While I don’t believe it is the responsibility of the Masters Tournament and the Augusta National Golf Club to fix whatever issues the game might face, the fine men in their Green Jackets do in fact realize and utilize the influence their club and their tournament has on the game.
The decisions they make — from where they place the greens on the practice facility, the $1.50 sandwiches and growing the game in fast-growing continents around the world — are always the right ones and seem to have impacted the game of golf in the highest regard.