I can hear the music now coming through the TV.

It’s a melody that seems to fit with the rebirth of spring and the feeling of comfort one gets when you have the chance to return to a favorite moment or place that was cherished a long time ago.

Welcome to the 75th playing of…The Masters.

For me, it’s the 40th anniversary of sitting in front of the television watching an invited field of eighty or so of the worlds best golfers have the chance to compete in golf’s first major title of the year.

It was the first time I can remember watching a sporting event on television. It was 1971, the year my family first bought a color television set and forked out five bucks a month to also be hooked up to something that had just been out a few years. It was called cable tv. I watched Charles Coody hold off Jack Nicklaus and Johnny Miller to win the 35th Masters.

That spring, I discovered the feeling of being a sports fan.

I didn’t yet understand the relation to par, and I only knew that the term birdie or eagle  was “really good,”  but I understood that the goal of the game was to hit a ball into a hole in as few shots as possible.

I began to watch with equal interest and fascination. I wanted to try to do what the golfers were doing, and I loved where they were doing it. The landscape looked so perfect…so beautiful.

There they were, golfers striding up a long expanse of perfectly mown grass, the sides roped off with thousands of people behind them eagerly watching every movement and swing of the competitors.

They appeared like royalty to me. And they were playing a game on a piece of land that I thought was only reserved for kings.

I only know of one king that has ever played there. Arnold Palmer didn’t get that title by birthright, he earned it playing at Augusta.

I think the thing that gets me about Augusta is that we get to revisit the course every year. And the tradition?

Well…

The reason why it appears so rich in history and tradition is because it is actually the youngest of golf’s four major titles. The “Open” the British Open, is the oldest of championships beginning in 1860. The US Open was first held in 1895. The PGA championship in 1916.

Then came along The Masters or “The Augusta Invitational” as it was originally called, in 1934.

Now 77 years later, (the tournament was suspended from 1943-45 during WWII) it appears to have more tradition than the other three because it continues to be the closest resemblance of what professional golf used to be like, in appearance, and in formality. It is tradition and etiquette that was invented for the sole purpose of being preserved, magnified and accentuated more than any other sporting event. And that includes the Olympics, friends.

How do they do it?

Since the Masters is the only major golf tournament played at the same course every year, the Augusta National Golf Club grants the television rights to CBS at a relatively low-cost compared to the other three majors. In return, the club continues to have control over how the tournament is run, and how it is presented on TV.

“Augusta National along with CBS and it’s sponsors, is pleased once again to bring you The Masters, providing live coverage for 56 minutes out of every hour. We hope this presentation, with limited interruptions, will add to your enjoyment of The Masters.” 

Here are some things that you may not know about The Masters:

  • It invented the over/under system in relation to par, something we take for granted when counting up our score today.
  • It was the first golf tournament to have “gallery ropes” that line the fairway to separate the players and the patrons.
  • There is still no advertising on the golf course. you won’t see placards pasted around the tee boxes, and you won’t find any big white corporate tents selling merchandise or accepting ticket stubs to get you into the beer garden.
  • Parking is ten bucks. Pimento cheese sandwiches are just $1.50
  • The Augusta National Golf Club has never sold french fries. Club and tournament co-founder Clifford Roberts hated them. His decision is still enforced.
  • There hasn’t been a ticket available for the Masters since 1972. People that have Masters tickets have first right to purchase them again for the next year. The tickets have become so sacred, people now leave legal instructions in their will so that they will be kept “in the family.”
  • If you win The Masters tournament, you are invited to come back and play it again every year for the rest of your life. No other golf tournament allows this gracious invite.

Now, forty years later, I still get excited when the snow begins to melt and the date begins to creep into April. It’s that same feeling I get when I’ve booked a Saturday tee time a week in advance and I methodically go over the course I’m playing in my head, what ball I’m going to use, what shirt I’m going  to wear, should I take the driver out on that tight par 4?

And it’s only Monday.

Enjoy the Masters. We’ll see you out on the course.

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