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This is a story you may be sick of given how many iterations you’ve read and heard over the years. This is a story about The Masters and Augusta National and how incredibly unique and special the first full week in April is.
The Masters isn’t just one of the four major championships. The Masters is the major championship.
Augusta National isn’t just another golf course. Augusta National is the golf course.
Jim Nantz’s famous five words ‘a tradition unlike any other’ could very well be the most accurate description of any other sporting event in the world.
What A Place Augusta, Georgia Is
Augusta, Georgia is both a unique and a normal place all at the same time. Nothing about the town is particularly glamorous, but it surrounds the most beautiful place on the planet, and for one week the city turns into a theme park.
Augusta has its rich areas and its poor areas. In that regard, it’s just a ‘regular’ city in the United States except for that unbelievable plot of 53-acres named Augusta National.
When you enter the gates of the golf course you immediately forget where you are. You forget about what happened yesterday and you forget about your plans for tomorrow. You don’t worry about how you spent $500 on a two-star hotel room the night prior. You forget that you have a seven-hour drive home staring you in the face in order to get back to your job the next day.
Augusta National is a spiritual place. You feel the history, the magic, and the drama in the air. This is a place that refuses to let your brain worry about your own, and everyone else’s, everyday struggles.
After making your way through some rather tight security you begin the trek to the course.
The first part of the course the golf gods grace your eyes with is the most incredible driving range there has ever been built. It’s gigantic, yet not a blade of grass is out of place. You watch players hit shots and work on their short game while thinking of what you would give to just hit one single putt.
The Food, The Beer, And The Merchandise
Then, your eyes can’t help but notice the merchandise and the food. Everyone walking the property has a Masters shop bag in one hand and most others are doing a balancing act of a sandwich and cold drink in the other.
Books could be written on the merchandise and food at Augusta National. You can stand in line anywhere from four minutes to an hour to get into the shop, but Augusta has been doing this for so long it has it down to a science on moving people in and out of these spots. Think a more efficient Disney World, but with similar prices.
As far as food goes, it’s all great, it’s all cheap and it’s all The Masters.
Quite literally every piece of food and drink has The Masters’ logo on it.
From an egg salad sandwich, to peanut butter crackers to a peach ice cream sandwich, it’s branded with a Masters logo. Even the beer is Masters beer. You have your choice of a light beer, a regular beer, or an imported beer.
Imported beers are special because they come in green cups while the others come in just a clear one.
You can grab a drink, chips, and a sandwich for around $10 which is mind-blowing when you think about it, and the prices have been low forever. You’ll drink and eat more than you ever have at any other sporting event, and you’ll enjoy every second of it.
Onto The Golf Course
Once you pass the famous scoreboard lined with flags of various countries, you’ve made it. You’re standing on the course and things all of the sudden slow down even more.
I’ve been lucky enough to go to a few practice rounds at the Masters and anyone that has ever gone will tell you that they’ll never forget that moment they first stepped foot on the hallowed grounds.
During those first few seconds, you forget that you’re there to watch golf. You look around and realize that this 53-acres was created for this exact golf course. Nobody can design a golf course like this one, only Bobby Jones and Alister McKenzie can.
The practice rounds are very different from Thursday-Sunday. The crowds are still ginormous, but you don’t see as much golf. This gives you the chance to walk the course at your own pace while not worrying about the action going on behind you or in front of you. You always feel like you’re at the right place at the exact right time.
It also gives you time to soak in the ‘hidden’ spots at Augusta National.
You get to see the open space between No. 1 and No. 9, you get to stand right behind the No. 11 tee and question how players ever actually hit that fairway. You see the elevation change on the Par 3 sixth. You stand with your jaw dropped for a minimum of 60 seconds when seeing Amen Corner. You see the absolutely bizarre undulations in these greens that look they’re glass table tops just painted green.
Hell, just the cart paths weaving through the azaleas to cut through to other holes make you feel like you’re on a movie set.
There are so many unforgettable things within this 7,500 yards of the golf course that it’s unbelievable. The grass, the trees, the ‘hidden’ spots, the food; it’s all mesmerizingly fantastic.
This week really is a tradition unlike any other. It’s special that The Masters is special to anyone and everyone for different reasons. It’s tough to find someone that has a bad word to say about the collection of 18 holes that make up this golf course/
Enjoy this week. Enjoy streaming every shot hiding from your boss on Thursday and Friday. Enjoy hearing the tournament’s theme song and watching the inevitable drama on Sunday afternoon.
We made it, Masters week has finally arrived.