The Masters Blog

As the Augusta National finished hosting the Women’s amateur tournament this past weekend, my thoughts are about the continuing growth of women’s sports and women's golf, and also about the women that have lead the sport throughout history.

I remember seeing the name Patty Berg for the first time on the clubs in my mother’s golf bag. From her first clubs when she was a teen, all the way through her adulthood, my mom's clubs were Patty Berg’s woods and irons. I started golfing when I was 3 years old and even before I was big enough, I was obsessed with those Patty Berg’s! I was convinced my little kid clubs were holding back my game.

In the summertime, I golfed every week with grandparents and recall being told numerous times by them that Patty Berg was the greatest female golfer in history. She was a founding member of the LPGA, and from 1937 to 1961, she dominated the game with 57 LPGA and WPGA tournament wins. She won 15 majors during her career

After two years away, we are finally back watching the very best play golf at the Masters!

So much has changed in the past two years, but one thing will always remain the same... The Masters at the Augusta National Golf Course. When we last left Augusta, Georgia, in 2019, the Masters Champion was Tiger Woods and it seemed like all was well in the universe. Tiger had added to his career to earn a 5th Green Jacket. The tournament week had been filled with incredible play and beautiful weather. Our only worry was on Championship Sunday from an impending thunderstorm system that never much developed.

None of us could have ever imagined spectators being away from this tournament for two years. So much has changed, but if you are traveling back with us we can promise the city of Augusta, Georgia is ready to welcome you home!

What to expect when you arrive in Augusta... 

We recommend flying into the Augusta, Georgia airport (AGS), if possible. Not only is the airport small and easy to navigate,

Arnold Palmer is perhaps the most recognizable golf name in the history of the sport and one of the greatest golfers of all time. I recently watched In Depth with Graham Bensinger’s tribute to Arnold Palmer and I was inspired by Arnold’s lifetime of career achievements, his dedication to his community, and the passion of his fans forever known as “Arnie’s Army”.

The episode of In Depth is a must-see for golf fans highlighting Arnie’s incredible career, all the wins on the Tour, and the iconic Masters Tournament moments. It also defines how he is the grandfather of modern sports marketing and golf fandom. Sure there were passionate golf fans before Arnold Palmer. But did anyone have his own Army of fans?

Unbelievably, Arnie never personally founded Arnie’s Army.

In 1959, television was becoming a part of every American household and golf was being broadcasted more than it ever had been before. The tickets to the Masters that year were sold for $5 a piece,

When you think of Augusta, Georgia, you almost automatically think of The Masters and the historic Augusta National Golf Club. Despite visiting Augusta numerous times to host Masters Golf Tours, I admit, I had barely explored beyond the street that the Augusta National is located on, Washington Road.

A few years back, during one of my long weeks of working during Masters Week, I decided to escape to the Augusta Museum of History and eventually found myself on a trolley tour hosted by local historian and author, Stan Byrdy. Stan is the author of two great books that every golfer and golf fan should own, The Augusta National Golf Club: Alister MacKenzie's Masterpiece, and Augusta and Aiken in Golf's Golden Age.

As we toured around, Stan talked about the Revolutionary War and Civil War history of the city. We explored neighborhoods with stately homes and the homes of famous city residents, including Ty Cobb and Woodrow Wilson. Then Stan began tracing the history of golf and how the players

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Are you sitting at home watching the 2015 Masters on TV and wondering - How did all those people get tickets? How much does a ticket to the Masters cost? How can I plan my trip to the 2016 Masters?  Let's talk about how to get YOU to the Masters in 2016.

Step 1: Choose Practice Round or Tournament Round Ticket

There are two types of Masters Tickets at Augusta National: Practice Rounds Tickets are available for Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday and allow patrons to walk the entire course, take pictures of the players, and in some cases get autographs, all in a very relaxed atmosphere. The tickets are the cheapest Masters Ticket of the entire Masters Week and if you want to take your own pictures of the course, attending on one of these days is a must. If you have children, consider attending Wednesday for Kids Day when most players are very willing to sign autographs. Also, many of the Masters most memorable past champions often play in the Par-3 Tournament.

The official Masters tournament

Whoa!  The sports world is going crazy right now!  So much going on and it is all too exciting to miss.  To catch up with the sports world I have harnessed all the major news/results from the recent events.  I am going to briefly hit on each sport and give a few predictions for the Masters, MLB, NBA, and NHL.  Ready?  Lets go!

NHL

Seems like the season just started but it will shortly be coming to an end.  But I guess that's what happens when you are in a shortened and compressed 46 game season.  Thanks lockout.  The story early on in the season was the winning streak by the Chicago Blackhawks and then both the Anaheim Ducks and Pittsburgh Penguins went on their own winning streaks.  Although no one has matched a start like the Blackhawks, it seemed for a while like the Penguins might be the best team.  Now that Crosby is out the battle for best appears to be between the Ducks and Blackhawks.

It has been quite some time since you could say Tiger is the best golfer in the world and be accurate.  Whether or not he is the best is up in the air right now but his world ranking indicates that he is currently the top dog.  Tiger climbs to number 1 after a 29 month hiatus from the top spot.

He does so by claiming his record tying eighth victory at the Arnold Palmer Invitational.  He already owns the record for most navy jackets but this time he ties the record with Sam Snead for most victories at a single event.  Woods also continues to chip away at the all time victories record which is also held by Snead.  Woods earned his 77th victory and is now just 5 behind Snead.

It has been a hot minute since we checked in with the world of golf so this week we are going to reconnect with that pesky little white ball.  There has been some early excitement thus far in the PGA season.  Tiger has already pulled off another dominating win at Torrey Pines and Phil Mickelson was a lipper away from breaking 60 in the first round of the Waste Management Phoenix Open.

We are just 6 tournaments into this young season and the action picked up again this past weekend at the famous Pebble Beach Resort.  The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am has been a tradition since the mid 1900's.  In modern times it still a great tournament that offers up some entertainment with celebrities and gives golfers a chance to begin fine tuning for the Master's.  The defending champion of this event was Phil Mickelson but he was unable to take the win to give him back-to-back victories in 2013.  Instead, Brandt Snedeker took the win and has put together a nice run in the last 3 weeks.  Snedeker finished second to Tiger at Torrey Pines and Phil at the Phoenix Open.  Pretty impressive 3 tournament run.  One might goes as far to say that Brandt is a favorite heading into the Masters this year.  I won't go that far, but some might.  So in light of this recent surge from Snedeker, lets take a look at the current world rankings in golf.