On the TunneySide of Sports November 23, 2020 #823 Up next… Unlike Any Other
After further review… For years Jim Nantz, the Voice of CBS, has referred to The Masters as “A tradition unlike any other.”
The Masters held at Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta Georgia is so appropriately tagged because it is a tournament unlike any other with traditions unlike any golf tournament in the world. And 2020 took that iconic expression to a new level.
First and foremost is that at the Masters the customers are called Patrons. They are not allowed to lie on the ground but must sit in the bleachers or in chairs. No cell phones are permitted! Further, baseball caps must have the bill pointing forward. No cap is to be worn backward.
There is to be no running. At the Masters some years ago one of the TVs network’s best announcers said on-the-air “Look at that ‘mob’ of people” as they hurriedly followed a golfer from green-to-tee. That announcer was never allowed to be part of that television crew again.
While you and I may occasionally hit our golf ball into a sand trap, at the Masters they are called bunkers, not sand traps. A ball just off the fairway lands in the first cut, not the rough. And you play the first nine, then the second nine, not the back nine as most golfers refer to it.
The caddies are all dressed alike in white jumpsuits with the name of their golfer on the back and a number on the front. The returning champion is given the number 1. Caddies must also wear green caps.
The speed of the greens is measured by a Stimpmeter (other courses use this device as well) but the greens at Augusta National are extremely fast. One television announcer in describing how fast they were once said on-the-air: “they don’t mow the greens at Augusta; they use bikini-wax.” He was also not invited back.
Of course, with the pandemic raging in 2020, no spectators (oops, patrons) were permitted on the course at this 84th Masters. If you watched on ESPN or CBS and saw some patrons along the fairways, those were –only– Augusta National members or invitees of the golfers (one per golfer) and the golfer’s coach.
Dustin Johnson, age 36, won by 5 strokes and went wire-to-wire having the lowest score all four rounds. Again, a first at the Masters. Followed in a tie for second was 27-year old Australian, Cameron Smith, who scored all 4-rounds in the 60s. Another first at the Masters.
Will you appreciate the care that the Augusta National Golf Club has given to the Masters?
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Thank you!
Jim Tunney
Please forgive this personal note as I give my love and thanks to my wonderful wife, Linda, as we celebrate today our wedding anniversary. She still is my beautiful bride! Happy #24, hon!
