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I don’t think it’s a stretch to suggest most golfers would place Augusta National Golf Club at the top of their course bucket list, but the wildly exclusive nature of that hallowed institution means very few people will ever get the chance to check it off.
As a result, it’s pretty hard not to be jealous of the people who are lucky enough to win the lottery that’s held for media members who descend upon the course for The Masters each year—a list that now includes one reporter who’d never played a round of golf before getting the nod.
You don’t have to be a diehard golf fan to be familiar with the reputation surrounding Augusta National, which officially opened for business in 1932 before hosting the first iteration of The Masters a couple of years later. Since then, it’s become one of the most iconic venues the sport has to offer, and it’s done an impressive job maintaining the veil of secrecy that only contributes to its legend.
If you’re not good enough to get an invitation to compete in The Masters, the only real shot you have at playing the 18 holes that comprise Augusta National is knowing one of the approximately 300 members—including Bill Gates, Roger Goodell, Warren Buffett, and Peyton Manning—who pay an unknown sum to belong to a club that doesn’t accept applications from members of the public.
However, there is an alternate path for members of the media tasked with covering A Tradition Unlike Any Other in the form of the lottery that gives around 40 people in that particular line of work the right to take on Augusta each year on the Monday after The Masters wraps up.
The crew of correspondents who were selected in 2024 includes Julia Westerman, a sports reporter for WIS10 in South Carolina who let the world know she’d made the cut when the winners were announced on Friday.
As if this month couldn't get any crazier, I just won the media lottery to play a round at Augusta National on Monday.
I am in disbelief
— Julia Westerman (@JuliaWesterman) April 12, 2024
The following day, her boss at the station shared a pretty wild tidbit when he hopped on LinkedIn to reveal Westerman’s round at Augusta National would also be the first round of golf she ever played.
Another reporter noted Westerman had taken golf lessons before learning she won the lottery, and it’s hard to think of a cooler place to put those skills to the test for the first time.