Masters Monday This And That
/It's Monday of the Masters and here's what you need to know: the course is firm, the fairways lush and the forecast for Thursday and Friday a bit dicey. Other than that, all is well in Augusta.
Read MoreWhen you come to think of it that is the secret of most of the great holes all over the world. They all have some kind of a twist. C.B. MACDONALD
Driver, Chip And Putt Presser: Anchoring Humor Not Welcome!
/The anchoring question came up during the Monday Masters presser to announce the very exciting Drive, Chip and Putt announcement
Read MorePunter's Note: Stricker Explains Why His Chances Aren't Great
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From an unbylined Sky report on Steve Stricker's brutally honest comments Monday at Augusta National:
"You need to spin the ball here, and I'm not a spinner of the ball.
"I bring it in with some height but I don't put a lot of spin on it, and I think that's a negative for me here.
"And I'm coming in with usually a club or two more than some of these big hitters."
Having walked the course today I was struck again by how high the fairway cut continues to be. When combined with the mowing pattern toward the tee, this makes it very hard to spin the ball going into the greens. So one to two clubs will make a huge difference.
Condi Working As Berckmans Place Greeter?
/And here I had Media Center duties in the pool.
David Westin reveals the details of Condoleeza Rice's first Masters Monday fulfilling rookie member duties as a greeter at the new(ish) Berckmans Place corporate entertainment venue.
(The former Secretary of State made her green jacket debut yesterday playing golf with Phil Mickelson.)
“We turned the corner to the entrance to Berckmans Place, and there was Condoleezza Rice standing there welcoming all the guests in for the morning,” said Jay Caldwell, of Conway, Ark., who had a Berckmans Place badge for the day.
Caldwell, who said he arrived about 8 a.m., described the experience of meeting Rice as “incredible. We took a picture with her and she introduced herself to all of us. It was over the top.
”She was really just there as a gracious host,” Caldwell added. “A pretty memorable welcome.”
John Helyar & Michael Buteau examined the role female memberships might have played in opening up the potential for increased corporate sponsor revenues that the club can put to grow the game initiatives. The Bloomberg duo report that the club may take in as much as $18 million annually from each of their four primary partners, who also didn't like entertaining their guests off site.
All 400 weekly passes, costing $6,000 each and providing Masters badges and Berckmans Place access, were sold.
The addition of Berckmans Place has given the Masters-week economy in Augusta a boost, according to Diane Starr, whose Corporate Quarters Inc. rents area homes and condominiums for prices ranging from $3,000 to $30,000. Berckmans increased the supply of Masters badges for up-market patrons, in turn helping boost rental prices this year by as much as 15 percent, she said.
Masters Foundation Shares Rise On First Year Earnings Report!
/Bloomberg's Michael Buteau has looked at the returns and reveals that $6.8 million was brought in by the Masters Tournament Foundation during 2011, its first year of establishment as a grow-the-global-game initiative by Augusta National Golf Club.
Stanley Druckenmiller was the leading donor among members at $100,000.
The first tax records filed for the foundation show 58 people or organizations donated to the private foundation, which in turn gave $1.7 million to eight golf groups, including $1 million to the World Golf Foundation.
“That’s a lot of checks,” Andrew Morton, a Chicago-based philanthropy attorney and chairman of the Sports & Entertainment Law Group at Handler Thayer LLP, said in a telephone interview. “Let’s face it, members of Augusta have a fairly well-known allegiance to the club, so it’s not surprising that they would have that broad base of support, but it’s still impressive. It will be interesting to see what happens in Year 2. I would suspect that they will attract even more donors.”
Masters Teams With USGA, PGA of America On Drive, Chip & Putt; Finals To Get Live Golf Channel Airing From ANGC!
/An impressively conceived grow the game effort was announced from Augusta National Monday, free of life skills preaching and heavy on golf. With a final set for Sunday prior to the Masters, a live television audience watching on Golf Channel and tickets to be available to the public, it has all the ingredients to become golf's Little League World Series. Only instead of Omaha, the finals will be at a packed Yankee Stadium.
Read MoreBeljan's Back On Twitter And Complaining He's Not In Masters!
/Once-retired PGA Tour Tweeter and recovering low blood sugar sufferer Charlie Beljan has returned to Twitter in a big way. He responded to former 420 arrestee Matt Every's Tweet about the Masters field makeup. Beljan appears displeased this his Disney win last year--labeled by one scribe as the four most remarkable rounds of golf ever played--did not earn him a spot in the field.
These guys are good!
New Masters Gathering Spot: "Bubba Land"
/David Westin rightly
Read More2013 Masters Television Viewing Guide
/ESPN, CBS and Golf Channel have quite a lineup for Masters week, most notably with expanded CBS Sports Network coverage and all day coverage on Golf Channel during the tournament days.
Here's my best copy and paste job on the key times, starting with ESPN:
Wed., April 10
Masters Par 3 Contest 3 p.m. ESPN, ESPN3, WatchESPN
SportsCenter at the Masters 5 p.m. ESPN, WatchESPNThu., April 11
First Round 3 p.m. ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3, WatchESPN
First Round (encore) 8 p.m. ESPN, WatchESPNFri., April 12
Second Round 3 p.m. ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN3, WatchESPN
Second Round (encore) 8 p.m. ESPN, WatchESPNSat., April 13
Third Round 4 p.m. ESPN 3D
Sun., April 14
Final Round 4 p.m. ESPN 3D
And CBS Sports Network...
MASTERS ON THE RANGE*
Monday, April 8: 12 Noon - 2:00 PM
Tuesday, April 9: 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Wednesday, April 10: 9:00 - 11:00 AM
Thursday, April 11: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Friday, April 12: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Saturday, April 13: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
Sunday, April 14: 11:00 AM-1:00 PM
REPLAYS*
Saturday, April 13: Immediately following conclusion of CBS Sports’ live coverage
Sunday, April 14: Immediately following conclusion of CBS Sports’ live coverage
* Start and end times are estimates and subject to change.
And CBS...
Saturday, April 13 3:00-7:00 PM, ET
Sunday, April 14 2:00-7:00 PM, ET
Finally, Golf Channel, which is touting quite a revolving door of golf greats through their on-site studio doors this week:
Monday, April 8
7-10 a.m. Morning Drive
3-5 p.m. Live From the Masters News Conferences
5-6 p.m. Masters Highlights 2012: Bubba Watson
6-7 p.m. The Golf Fix
7-8 p.m. Live From the Masters
Tuesday, April 9
7-9 a.m. Morning Drive
9 a.m.-5 p.m. Live From the Masters (includes player news conferences)
7-9 p.m. Live From the Masters
Wednesday, April 10
7-9 a.m. Morning Drive
9 a.m.-3 p.m. Live From the Masters (includes player news conferences)
7-9 p.m. Live From the Masters6-8 a.m. Morning Drive
8 a.m.-3 p.m. Live From the Masters
7:30-9:30 p.m. Live From the MastersThursday, April 11 & Friday, April 12
6-8 a.m. Morning Drive
8 a.m.-3 p.m. Live From the Masters
7:30-9:30 p.m. Live From the Masters
Saturday, April 13
7-9:30 a.m. Morning Drive
9:30 a.m.-3 p.m. Live From the Masters
7-9 p.m. Live From the Masters
Sunday, April 14
7-9:30 a.m. Morning Drive
9:30 a.m.-2 p.m. Live From the Masters
7-9 p.m. Live From the Masters
Darla Moore Speaks: "I'm a member, not an advocate"
/The other lady in green this week gave an exclusive interview to MSNBC while
Read MorePhil & Condi Whap It Around ANGC, Talk Countries & Courses
/Doug Ferguson on Sunday's Phil Mickelson-Condoleeza Rice round at Augusta National that included a long putt drained by the former Secretary of State. Shotlink had the 18th hole putt at...oh right, we don't do ShotLink at the majors. TMI!
Anyway, this was noteworthy...
Rice later donned her green jacket to meet with other members on the practice range.
She slipped away without taking questions. Members typically don't give interviews during the week of the Masters. Mickelson couldn't stop talking about her - especially her 40-foot par putt on the 18th hole. He says Rice asked him about courses, and he asked her about countries.
Update on 2013-04-08 02:35 by Geoff
**Ferguson files a longer story on the Rice-Mickelson game and how it came about along with how golf on Sunday at Augusta National works.
A Ron Williams photo also accompanies the story.
"Awesome," Mickelson said after playing 18 holes with his agent and Augusta members Rice and Lee Styslinger. "She's one of my favorite people to be around. She's so knowledgeable and interesting to talk to. I always learn so much. When I saw she became a member, one of the first things I did was schedule a game close to Masters time. The fact she's here, we were able to work it out. It was really cool."
Apparently Golf Channel had the first images of Ms. Rice in green and showed it on Golf Central Sunday.
Tiger Giving Telecasts A 60% Boost These Days
/Matthew Futterman files a WSJ look at the state of Tiger and big business.
Down the piece a bit, and after considering what the sport faced in 2008-09, Futterman looks at the Tiger-fueled recovery and includes this on 2012 and 2013 television ratings:
CBS has seen television viewership for golf rise steadily. Audiences for final-round coverage of tour events averaged 3.5 million in 2012, 46% higher than in 2010. So far this year, an average of 4.1 million viewers have watched final-round coverage of the network's three tournament broadcasts. NBC's audiences grew to 3.4 million viewers last year, from 2.3 million in 2010.
Mr. Woods's participation in tournaments still has a big effect—but not as big as it once did. In 2012, his participation in a final round boosted viewership by 60%, compared with 118% in 2009.
"No one can blame Augusta National for wanting to discourage Masters muscle shirts"
/Interesting stuff from John Paul Newport on the effort the Lords of Augusta make to trademark various names related to the Masters.
Trademark landmines send manufacturers scrambling for euphemisms to describe a week that leads to 38% of annual equipment sales over the next three weeks.
By my count, Augusta National holds or has applied for more than 50 trademarks, many for the same words and images but explicitly extending into multiple realms: refrigerator magnets, playing cards, desk sets, ladies handbags, pewter mugs, bowls "with and without lids," nut-based snacks, you name it. "eMasters" and "iMasters"? Taken.
Violators usually receive a polite phone call from someone representing Augusta National, requesting they reconsider words that are "confusingly similar" to those that the club has rights to. Cleveland Golf knows it is close to the border with an online page promoting wedges with customizable logos, using a trio of "Augusta 13" wedges, not themselves for sale, as examples. The page uses the words "Augusta National" and even has a background photo of the clubhouse.
All of this, of course, is routine turf protection in the business world. No one can blame Augusta National for wanting to discourage Masters muscle shirts, Amen Corner whiskey or other products not up to its standards. Nor can you blame companies for wanting a little Masters bounce. Golf, lest we forget, is big business.
Strange: Nike Man Curtis Lashes At Rory Critics, Appears To Have Forgotten His Similarly Disastrous Equipment Switch!
/Curtis Strange, on a conference call to promote his work as part of ESPN's Masters announce team, says Johnny and Sir Nick have been "so out of line, so out of touch with club manufacturers now" in criticizing (here and here) Rory McIlroy's wholesale club switch.
Tony Jimenez of Reuters reports on the comments from the former Macgregor man who turned to Maruman man after winning two U.S. Opens…and never won again.
Thanks to reader Lloyd for the link and reminder of Strange's strange move.
