"Woods’s success has helped pushed the black caddie to the brink of extinction."

The New York Times features Karen Crouse's story about the demise of the black caddy on A1, accompanied by a fantastic shot of Ben Hogan following through as The King looks on with quite possibly the longest cigarette ever sold.

At the 76th Masters this week, there will be no club caddies required; only two black caddies started the season with regular jobs on the PGA Tour and one has since been fired. The great black caddies of the past, who carried the bags for Gene Sarazen and Jack Nicklaus and the game’s other greats, are dead or well into the back nine of their lives.

For a variety of reasons, no new generation has taken the bags from them. Caddying, once perceived as a menial job, has become a vocation for the college-educated and failed professionals who are lured by the astronomical purses driven by Woods’s immense popularity. In 1996, the year Woods turned pro, the PGA Tour purses averaged $1.47 million. This year, they average $6.20 million.

"Today's slower turf does have the effect of making the landing areas play 'wider.'"

Geoff Ogilvy's latest Golf World column features more great insights, including this about the fairway mowing at Augusta National and the impact on width and distance.

The fairways do look better without the stripe effect you see so often at other courses. No matter where you are at Augusta National, the grass is the same uniform shade of green.

Still, there's more to it than mere appearances. Mowing the grass like that makes the course play longer because the ball doesn't run as far as it might otherwise. When you look at footage from the Masters of maybe 20 years ago, you see balls bounding down fairways. The players got a lot of run out of their shots back then, far more than we do today. But that's not all bad. Today's slower turf does have the effect of making the landing areas play "wider."

"I’m thankful for hand-operated scoreboards and the devilish staffers who work them and tease through the little windows poor spectators desperate to know the source of the distant roars."

The Augusta Chronicle's Scott Michaux pays tribute to the late Furman Bisher, rolling out a "thankful" Thanksgiving column, only in April.

I’m thankful for overnight showers that wash away the pollen and leave the air fresh.

So's Tiger. According to the Haney book, all of the allergy-prone great's wins have come in years it has rained.

I’m thankful that cellphones are not allowed under penalty of lifetime banishment, forcing everyone to unplug and share in a communal experience that is rarer by the minute.

I’m thankful for hand-operated scoreboards and the devilish staffers who work them and tease through the little windows poor spectators desperate to know the source of the distant roars.

I’m thankful for those roars.

I’m thankful for rules such as “no running” that breed decorum, and for yellow-clad kids with “Litter” on their caps who diligently keep the illusion of universal civility in place.

I’m thankful for “benevolent dictators” who sustain an anachronism.

Masters 2012 Coverage Plan

Here's the coverage plan for this year. I will be in Augusta, so early in the week I hope to bring you a little of the flavor from the on site scene, media regulations permitting. Twitter will still be the primary means of communication, even though smart phones are restricted to the media center.

Postings will be a bit more sporadic based on expected WiFi access issues and my evening social schedule.

Readers who may recall my daily clippings collection will, sadly, have to do without this year. There just will not be 3 extra hours in the day to read all of the fine dispatches and summarize them, but I'll do my best to highlight the must-reads. Naturally, all reader support in the form of emailed links is, as always, greatly appreciated. (GeoffShac@me.com works best).

Starting Thursday, GolfDigest.com will be hosting a daily Cover It Live package, starting each day with a 2 p.m chat featuring a different writer each day (Johnson, Rosaforte, Diaz and Jenkins). Then at 3 pm, the Live Chats begin with the telecasts.  

Those chats will be embedded here as well as at GolfDigest.com. I will be hosting from 3-4:30, Thursday and Friday, 3:30-4:30, Saturday, and Sunday from 3-4. John Huggan and Matt Ginella will follow me each day, and I expect to stay around as much as I can resist visits to the course.

Vets of past Cover-It-Live events here can attest that these live blogs are great fun, especially now that Cover It Live allows for Twitter feeds to be embedded in the chats, making it your perfect laptop or iPad-friendly sidekick for insights and tournament updates during the telecasts.

And Monday I'll be hosting a follow-up chat at 2 p.m. from the majestic Atlanta airport. All times are Eastern.

Looking forward to what should be a great week!

State Of The Game Podcast, Episode 7: Masters Preview

No guests this time, just Rod Morri, John Huggan and I talking about the Masters for about forty minutes or so. Note: this was recorded before Hunter Mahan's win Sunday in Houston, so when we discuss favorites, my "Hunter Mahan flying under the radar" may sound a bit silly. Oh, and yes my predictions were based on last week's weather forecast, which was much more upbeat than the current one.

As usual, there are a few options for listening if you don't want to keep this webpage open. There is the State of the Game page, a direct play option, and the iTunes option where you can also subscribe.

Tracing Jones And Augusta Through Clippings

The Internet makes research rather antiseptic these days, which is why I so enjoyed Larry Petrillo's look at the evolution of Augusta National and the first Masters through newspaper clippings, and includes some for our viewing. There's just nothing like reading this stuff with the old fonts and headlines. Thanks Larry.

And Then There Were 97...

With Hunter Mahan's Houston win, the field is set at 97, reports John Boyette.

A full field list should be available at the official site soon.

Sources: Donald Trump Now An Augusta National Member

Donald Trump, the New York real estate developer, reality television star, litigation hobbyist and occasional political pundit, was extended a membership to Augusta National Golf Club this fall, sources exclusively tell GeoffShackelford.com.

Trump first started telling confidants about his new membership not long after the exclusive home to the Masters opened for play in October, 2011. Anecdotal evidence of his membership surfaced soon thereafter. Golfers who encountered Trump at Doral Resort last month while playing his latest $150 million purchase reported that he discussed ways he could influence how the home of the Masters might be better now that he was a member.

“He told us he’d put fountains in the lakes on 15 and 16 for ambiance, claiming there’s too much silence when a guy is standing over a putt during the final round,” said Dave Pidgeon, 36, of Coral Springs, Florida. “Trump also said the club was missing out on a great chance for better aesthetics at the 13th green by raising the creek level. He compared the water movement in the brook to a sewer line he saw feeding into the Hudson.”

Another Doral guest was visiting from Munich, Germany, and eavesdropped as Trump, accompanied by a film crew, walked through the hotel lobby with an accompanying entourage. Detlef Hindenburg and wife Angela were heading for lunch when they listened to a discussion about decor, which Hindenburg later posted about on GolfClubAtlas.com. Though the Trump entourage's focus was on redecorating Doral’s lobby, Trump could not help but mention a recent trip to Augusta.

“These drapes are awful,” Hindenburg recalls Trump announcing, pointing to a pink-flamingo patterned set. “But this is nothing compared to Augusta’s clubhouse which, in all honesty, and I say this in the nicest way possible because I'm a member now, is just a tired dump. It’s termite infested. All those old clubs and photos and the paintings of dead guys on the walls makes you want to take a nap. I told Billy Payne, 'you’re fired' if you don’t do something to liven this place up.”

Hindenburg said he is sure the word “dump” was used because he recalls looking to his wife immediately following the comment and she mouthed the “D” word to him.

Blurry cell phone image captured by a reader of Donald Trump heading for the Bush Field terminal after landing in his jet (click to enlarge)The final piece of evidence confirming Trump’s membership surfaced after he was photographed by reader Green Blazer's cell phone camera when he spotted the mogul arriving at the Augusta’s Bush Field, where he is seen leaving his jet and wearing a green jacket (right).

Contacted to confirm whether the story of his membership or critical comments about the club were true, Trump declined comment.

Then he called back five minutes later.

“Hypothetically, if I were to say I was a member, wouldn’t that be a compliment to the club? I mean, it’s not like I’m a bad guy or a poor guy. Or God forbid, a woman.”

As for criticizing Bobby Jones’s dream course, Trump had a few nice things to say.

“I love all the azaleas and the flowering trees. Jones was a genius to bring that stuff in. I don’t think I’ve encountered a genius for the visual possibilities of flora and fauna like that, except maybe Steve Wynn. That’s a compliment to Jones, I assure you.”

Steve Ethun, press officer for Augusta National and The Masters, declined comment.

“We do not discuss membership-related matters, particularly on a Sunday and most definitely not on April 1st.”