Masters Golf Tournament Tag

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,

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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 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.

washingtonpost.com

It’s tough to avoid Augusta National, especially when you are here every year working the event. A lot of the people that work with me in this industry camp out at our hospitality clubs, shuttle people back and forth between hotels, and distribute Masters Tickets to all our customers, working tirelessly throughout the whole week. We stuff ourselves on the endless buffets starting on Monday. By Thursday we are looking for looser fitting pants. By Sunday we can’t even look at the dessert tray, except maybe for one last key lime mousse. Yes, I’m working in Augusta during The Masters. But some of us, make that almost of all of us, haven’t seen the course in years. Augusta National is just down the street. We can sometimes hear the cheers from the galleries. Our customers return from the course sunburned and smiling, telling us about how Rory was swinging or how Phil looked on 7. Sure, the neighbors back home are jealous of us. We are lucky to be here. It’s exciting being in this small city during such a prestigious event. But….

This Thursday the PGA will host the fourth and final major of the 2011 season at the Atlanta Athletic Club-Highlands Course.  The 93rd running of this annual event is full of excitement and intrigue.  All the buzz around this tournament comes from a few different angles, but they all seem to center around Tiger Woods.  I could write a short novel on Tiger's shortcomings but I will leave El Tigre alone for a moment.  Although, it is hard to ignore the impact Tiger has on golf whether he is playing golf/playing well or not.

Taking your clients or top sales associates to The Masters Golf Tournament will not only impress them but also help build relationships that could last the lifetime of your business. But beginning to plan a trip to the most famous golf tournament in the world can also be intimidating. I've been planning corporate outings to the Masters for the past 11 years for clients from all across the globe.

And so comes that time of year again here in Chicago when I get into my car and realize that my window has a fresh coat of frost on it and I have no idea what happened to my scraper. It's nearly November and darn it, winter is coming!

When I got to the office this morning I started reviewing the Masters video that we just completed here at Sports Traveler. And ahhhhh, Augusta National. Just saying those words brings a smile to my face. It's so green, beautiful, with the manicured fairways, and the great golf! Remembering my days that I've spent walking that course just makes me feel happy. It's a special place to me. My first trip there I was supposed to go out on the course for 2 hours and come back to meet with some people. Instead I disappeared into the galleries for the entire day. I came out 9 hours later, sunburned, with a big smile on my face having witnessed some of the best golf I've ever seen in my life and also with the strongest desire to go to a driving range to try and replicate