The only course that will remain difficult under all conditions will be one that is designed and kept for golf of a stereotyped, monotonous character, and this makes a most uninteresting proposition. BOBBY JONES
"Golf Architecture for Normal People . . . should be required reading for those who are not ashamed to admit they know little about the subject, and for those who think they do . . . . Golf course architecture geeks have trouble slimming their thoughts down to bite-sized chunks, but Shackelford has achieved a remarkable success here." —Independent (Ireland)
"From the relative newcomer who’s slowly getting hooked to those that have played the game for most of their lives and think they know a thing or two, Golf Architecture for Normal People provides a solid and sober perspective that will help everyone recognize why some golf courses are worth playing more than once while a single trip around others is all you’re ever likely to want or need." —Links Magazine.
“It’s a wonderful book. An easy read that arrives just in time for your summer reading list. If you’ve never thought about how an appreciation for course design could heighten your enjoyment of the game, you must check this out.”—The Peterborough Examiner
"This new book does a great job demystifying golf course design ideas for average players, but can also be a beneficial read fro PGA Professionals and other golf course employees to get a better understanding of their home courses." —PGA Magazine
I didn't see much coverage of Gary Player's Masters presser last night and only today after a couple of emails and reading Bob Carney's post did I realize why: he sounded alarms no one wants to hear!
And then you saw our era come along and then you saw this era came along and you'll see new era come along, and I've said this on British television on BBC about eight years ago: It's just a matter of time before players hit the ball 400 yards. And this good player and a good announcer said to me, absolute nonsense. They are hitting the ball 400 yards now, never mind 30 years' time.
And so what we are going to see, we have not scratched the surface of golf yet. We are in our infancy. Unless we slow the ball down, you cannot put the tees back in the streets anymore, gentlemen and ladies.
You can just feel the Twitterers shifting in their seats! Go on...
They have got to their limit now so the next thing is you have to slow the ball down because the golf courses are going to be completely outdated which is happening now. Golf is suffering terribly. You see golf courses just weeds now closing down. You can buy golf courses for a dollar now because it's the maintenance of the golf course. Because they have seen what is happening: These pros hitting a driver and 6-iron to a par 5 so from Timbuktu to Tokyo to China to here, everyone is lengthening golf courses. And the members hate it; and greens are undulating and the members hate it; and the fees are going up and oil is getting more expensive and we are running out of water (laughter)
Just a note from watching the video: that (laughter) was not from Player, who was entirely serious, but from a few in the room. Nice touch lads. Keep laughing.
and so the whole damn game, people are saying let me out of here. They can't afford it. Instead of staying where we were and just slow the ball down. Not for the amateur. We must have technology for the amateur golfer who is the heart of the game.
The pro is a mere tiny part of the game. And this is going to happen; I can promise you, it is going to happen in time because hundreds of millions of dollars are being wasted on unnecessary programs.
I know this is a hard one for people to deal with. Yes, courses everywhere, whether they need to or not, are adding length to accomodate a few players. It's going to happen. And that length, means more cost, more maintenance, and there is also a safety component that has changed.
Now, if you do as Player says and change the ball for competition, this comes to an end, and courses might even get a little shorter (doubtful, but possible). And manufacturers still get to sell clubs, golfers still buy golf balls and the game goes on its very way!
11:45 Pacific, 2:45 or thereabouts to watch some--key word, some--of the Day Care Open and to talk about what is shaping up to be a wide-open Masters. And to see if we can count the number of potential tournament contenders who actually still play the Par-3. This is also a dry run for Sunday's final round live chat, so join us thanks to Cover-It-Live's software.
Williams thinks Woods will contend for a fifth green jacket, though he concedes he could be a little underdone.
“In an ideal world, we’d have had one more tournament under our belts before the Masters,” he said. “But that’s in an ideal world. If you ask me is he ready, I’d say that I like what I’m seeing.”
If only we lived in an ideal world where Tiger could have played just one more week!
It's Masters Wednesday, which means this afternoon and evening while the Day Care Open is contested on the Par-3 course, the Augusta National maintenance staff will be doing whatever it is the committee deems necessary to make the course play much faster and firmer than it has during the practice rounds.
This rather childish backdoor trickery is beneath the folks at Augusta National, and believe it or not there was a time the chairman acknowledged it was unseemly.
I know most of you committed my story for Golf World's Masters preview issue to memory, but just in case...
I wrote about the conversion from Bermuda grass greens to bent thirty years ago this week. One of the complaints from players about Bermuda centered around the club lowering the cutting height starting Thursday. Here's what I wrote, with the quotes courtesy of the Augusta Chronicles' Robert Eubanks:
At the time, Watson said he liked how bent allowed the club to better control the speed of the greens, since pace varied widely with the over-seeded Bermuda from year to year and even day to day.
“Something I never liked about Augusta is they never have gotten the greens fast in the practice rounds so you don’t know what to expect on the first couple of rounds. That’s not fair.”
Hardin concurred. “We accept that as a proper criticism. They are right in expecting to practice under tournament conditions. Our plan is no cutting height changes beginning with Monday of practice rounds. That has not always been the case. There have been changes in cutting height as the week went on.”
“Maybe not so much anymore about the course, but you know when you go out there on Thursday that they’ll throw a trick or two at you,” he said. “Maybe they’ll leave the second cut long for the practice rounds and then they’ll shave it Thursday morning. It’s always something. You’ve really got to tip-toe your way around the course on Thursdays.”
Press conferences and the overnight storm were the main topic of conversation Tuesday as most of the top players prepare to sit out the Par-3 Contest (reminder, I'll be live blogging the first hour or so, mostly so we can kick around favorites and other longshots).
Tracey McManus with the bad news for area drug stores after last night's thunderstorm knocked out power at the local factory where they make the gastro-unfriendly grub.
Around lunchtime, only the concession stand near the patron corridor had any of the coveted sandwiches on their menu.
"We were in disbelief when we walked in and heard there were no sandwiches," said Reed Clevenger of Cary, N.C., who came to the tournament with a friend and both men's sons.
"We told (our sons) even if you don't like it, you have to try the pimento cheese at least once."
Luckily the group got to taste the peppery cheese when they found the lone concession stand selling the sandwiches.
"They'll probably be eating egg salad, pimento, clubs and everything else before we leave here," Clevenger said. "You can eat 20 sandwiches a day and spend just $20. The price is right."
As power was restored Tuesday, vendors expected enough pimento cheese to go around for the rest of the week.
The 1986 Masters was all about Jack Nicklaus and his heroic charge against an all-star leaderboard, and in recalling the event the CBS team has gotten its due for the brilliant commentating that day. Except Tom Weiskopf.
I've always felt that Weiskopf, sitting in Butler Cabin with Brent Musberger as a commentator, brought the necessary perspective of a former Nicklaus rival along with a wonderful sense of timing and wisdom to the broadcast. I recently spoke to him over the phone about that day. Weiskopf had just returned from China on golf course design business, but was more than happy to talk about the 1986 Masters.
GS: When was the last time you saw the entire telecast?
TW: I never have seen it. (Laughs). I’ve seen segments of it. I saw some of the highlight show the other night on Golf Channel.
GS: You were sitting in Butler Cabin with Brent Musberger. That has to be a tough place to weigh in from because you are sometimes on camera and you are not on the course with action right in front of you.
TW: I would say it is. Because, on the course you are more in tune with the play because you’ve watched a lot of players play in front of you and so you are more into what the course is playing like. You can also get up and relax when they go to commercial or whatever, so you’re in a much more concentrated atmosphere that is still relaxed. When you are in Butler Cabin, you have two monitors in front of you but there are a lot of people moving around all the time. They’re bringing in a lot of information to Brent Musberger, who is not really a golfer. As Frank Chirkinian said to me, your job is to babysit Brent Musberger. That was the definition of my duties. He was there because they’re justifying an enormous salary to an individual who could care less, in all honesty, about the game of golf. He didn’t know the difference between a chip and a pitch.
GS: Really?
TW: I had to explain that to him. A pitch is when a ball travels further in the air than the ground. A chip is when it goes further on the ground than the air. He called Ben Crenshaw, Bob Crenshaw. The worst was a real windy day one year and Tom Watson was in contention, he starts out by saying, “well gee whiz this will really affect Tom Watson with these high winds today, what are his chances?” And I simply said, which was easy to say, well, I guess winning five British Opens doesn’t give him a lot of knowledge or experience in this type of situation Brent. I said it sarcastically and on the air, but it was a very frustrating time for me to be down there because I’m trying to concentrate and it just wasn’t a relaxed atmosphere.
GS: How did it work when you wanted to chime in?
TW: You had two buttons. You had the cough button and then you had another one that you could hit that would go to Chirkinian and then he would come back to you. It wouldn’t go to anyone else, it’d just go to Frank and he’d come on and say, “what in the hell do you want?” Usually it was for times when someone could make a comment that could help the telecast, say if you were down at 13 and noticed the wind was changing. But I was always afraid to hit the button!
GS: So Sunday Jack is making his charge and there is the exchange we all remember, when he’s getting ready to hit his shot, backs off and Jim Nantz sets you up perfectly.
TW: Jack had played that hole so well and with that pin placement it was accessible and he was the type of player where, with his background and playing against him, I knew that had to be situation that he had to take advantage of. That was the tournament for him in my mind for him with three holes remaining because I thought that was probably the easiest of the three remaining holes to birdie and because he had played it so well in the past.
He’s such a versatile shotmaker and he was never really given credit for that, especially under pressure when he had to. And that was an accessible hole location. Jack was a very percentage type of player that rarely gambled, but when he did take a chance, he seemed like he always hit the right shot in that situation and got the reward. He just knew how to play a shot and a hole under those conditions whether it was the first round or the last round, better than anyone else. That’s why he won 18 majors.
Anyway, my mind was moving fast, but I didn’t push a button and instigate that. The comment was a little bit tongue in cheek, a little bit of a sarcastic comment that really defined me. I don't even remember the exact words I said, but basically I said if I thought like that guy, I would have won this tournament. Anyone could have said that. But it just popped in my head. Well you know he’s trying to make up his mind what type of shot he’s going to play. He wasn’t set. He never hit a shot unless he was prepared to play it. He backed off a lot. He just took an enormous amount of time in his preparation. He never got ahead of himself. He probably played a high soft cut I imagine. He’s playing it against the slope of the bank that will bring the ball down to the hole. And he just looked at it for a moment and then just bent down to pick up his tee because he knew how good it was going to be.
Here’s a clip of the moment. My favorite thing about Weiskopf’s commentary is how he takes it right up to the moment Nicklaus hits the shot. Normally, it’s an annoyance to hear an announcer chattering at Augusta when the silence there is so powerful, but here Weiskopf just heightens the drama that much more by setting it up right to the moment Jack pulls the trigger.
GS: So now he comes to 17 at -8 while Seve is making a mess of 15.
TW: On 17 he was a little bit fortunate on the drive but he gave himself the best angle. He’s playing up the left side, a guy who never drove the ball like a Ben Hogan type of driver that had three fairways in mind: the left side the middle and the right. He’s going to play up the left side now and when he does that you know he’s got the confidence, he’s got control of the golf tournament in his hands. It gave him a perfect angle from the left side. Which is gone, by the way with the trees they’ve planted. But a perfect angle and he played a perfect shot to the left of the hole and then he makes an unbelievable putt.
GS: Now a moment that rarely gets talked about in all the fuss over Verne Lundquist’s call is the exchange you and Verne had watching the replay.
TW: I don’t remember even being involved in 17!
I play the tape for Weiskopf. Here it is, starting with the original putt and eventually, the exchange where he reacts to the replay and Lundquist's question:
TW: I don’t remember that at all!
GS: Do you know what it is you say quietly after we see the putt goes in? I abhor you? I adore you? I implore you?
TW: (Laughs) I don’t. I'm pretty sure it wasn't "adore you!"
He had a tendency when wouldn’t putt well to lift his head. We talked about that when we played occasionally. And you know when the putt goes in, I think everyone in the world, maybe for the first time in Jack Nicklaus’ life, wanted him to win that golf tournament. Everybody! Even people who weren’t Nicklaus fans had to root for him. It’s just one of the great moments in sports. Here’s a guy 46 years of age and five or six years since he’d won his last major and it just defined him. I remember one time I was sitting in the back of the room one year when he was giving his interview to the press and they asked if he ever remembered missing a putt to lose a major tournament and he paused not very long and said, "Not to my recollection." It’s just like if he had to hit a good wedge shot, but you wouldn’t bet against him if he had to do it.
He just could pull all of that stuff together. That’s how strong of an individual he was.
GS: Do you miss announcing there?
TW: Well, that’s the thing that’s so exciting about being involved in a major championship telecast. They’re so exciting and they’re part of history and usually some very unusual things happen. But I don’t know the young guys well enough. I could pick it up pretty quick, but Nicklaus was 46 and I was 43, so I was still current with everybody that was out there.
GS: What do you make of the telecasts today?
TW: I love to listen to these telecasts and there are some guys that don’t get their just due who do some fantastic work. Golf is still the most difficult sport to announce simply because there are so many things happening all at the same time in so many places. And these producers always want to get the live shot so that then you get the spontaneity. They don’t like to show something taped. But I still don’t think they cover it correctly.
GS: How so?
TW: I’m a big NFL fan and the thing about the NFL is the fact that these pre-game shows, there’s so much time given to the players. They really humanize these players as to their abilities and their talents and they really make you aware of the game. I wish golf did a little more of that. I thoroughly enjoyed the recent Golf Channel “State of the Game” show. I think if they did more of that, especially if they did that before each round at the majors, and summarized what you might see today, it’s just too many shots all the time. There’s not a lot of analytical stuff.
GS: What about all of the instruction analysis?
TW: Forget the golf swing. That’s nonsense. Good God, if the camera is not in the perfect position, it’s tough for a good analyst to analyze the swing if the angle isn’t right. And of course you always know the result before you start the analyzing, so it’s easy to come up with a bunch of nonsense. But I don’t see how that helps the average guy. Here’s the trouble: they never give the analysts enough time to set up the shot. To really talk about it. Fewer words are always better. That’s what made Summerall. If you had that extra 5 to 10 seconds it would help so much.
It was those extra few seconds that gave Weiskopf a chance to weigh in and only add to the greatest tournament and most riveting telecast the game has ever seen.
Plenty of great reads from an eventful Masters Monday, and while many writers were traveling, it appears the club shocked some (and left little room for kneejerk analysis) with its announcement of a new ticket selling policy.
The yearly application process for existing series badge holders will also move to the Internet. More details will be announced later this year. With the new system comes an increase in cost. Ticket prices for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds will cost $50 each, up from $36 for Monday and Tuesday and $41 for Wednesday. Tournament round tickets are $75 each; currently, a series badge good for all four days costs $200.
Still the greatest bargain in all of sports.
Players
Kevin Garside on Lee Westwood and Ross Fisher suffering a scare when a cockpit fire broke out in the private jet shuttling them from Houston, causing an emergency landing. He includes photos from Westwood's tweets.
“We were a couple of minutes out of the airport,” Westwood said. “It was a bit scary. It never looks good when you can smell smoke and you turn round and see the pilots have put the masks on.
He does not need to leave town April 10 with a fifth green jacket to quiet the doubters, but if he does not have a competitive performance, such as a top-10 finish, the questions will become even more plentiful and certainly more pointed.
Elling: It's inexplicable, really. I was just eyeballing today's freshly minted world rankings. Europeans have five of the top six spots. Mickelson is the lone Yank in the six-pack. You have to figure it's going to happen soon. Luke Donald, anyone?
Huggan: It does. Because for those 11 years they have had to beat both Tiger and Phil on a course that suits -- or suited -- both of them. Plus, never underestimate the home-court advantage Uncle Sam's nephews get in three of the four majors every year.
Elling: I agree only to a point on the last part. Yeah, the fans were pulling against Seve in 1986, but they get behind the foreign players, too. Although I am not sure Westwood would agree after the ride he took last year alongside Phil. With all that Phil had going on in his life personally, he was a massive sentimental favorite.
"At the minute I am going through a normalising period, trying to adjust to everything that goes with being a top player in the world, from the media to fan interaction," he says. "My priorities are back to playing golf and setting my targets. I'm determined not to be one of those guys who wins one major and then disappears. I want to win more and the Masters would be a good place to start."
It is not a revelation that winning tournaments is directly linked to how you putt, but this is particularly so with the treacherous nature of Augusta’s greens. If you get a 30-foot putt slightly wrong the chances are you are going to be 15 feet away from the hole for your next. Therefore leaving yourself on the right side of the pin cannot be overvalued.
Which raises a further question, of how you get your ball to stop on the correct, or uphill, side of the pin? The same gentleman who impressed Woods so much last year has changed the make-up of his bag to be able to stop his ball on the “right side” of the pin. This year KJ will carry hybrid clubs as high up the bag as six-iron. This is a common feature for lady golfers, but most unusual for competing male golfers.
KJ thinks it could give him the edge. The hybrid will fly the same distance as the iron but should stop more quickly due to its higher trajectory.
I don't have many superstitions, but I don't buy stuff before the event. I mean, you can play badly or something happens, you get sick -- now you have all this stuff that reminds you of missing the cut or withdrawing. Not that I've won that much -- I've won only three times -- but after I win, I just go order a bunch of stuff and give it all away to my friends.
Jim McCabe files notes on an array of fun topics but leads with Rickie Fowler having been asked to turn his hat around by Augusta National member Ron Townsend, complying on the second request.
I also think Woodland might surprise in his first Masters showing. The Transitions Championship winner hits it long and putts it well -- perfect combinations at Augusta -- but he still has a learning curve after giving up college basketball just eight years ago.
Arnold Palmer Invitational winner Laird also hits it a long way, so he could contend for a while. Jason Day is another rookie who may play well this week, but he has another piece of history going against him besides his first-year status: No Australian has ever won the Masters.
Richard Gillis reports that Butch Harmon has ruled out a win for Rory McIlroy and isn't too keen on Lee Westwood's chance because he lacks imagination around the greens.
“To win at Augusta you have to have enormous creativity and imagination.
“When you look at who has been successful historically, (Jack)Nicklaus won six and (Arnold) Palmer won four times, both were great putters.
“You come forward to the modern era and players like (Seve) Ballesteros and Jose Maria Olazabal who won two each, Tiger has won four and Phil has won three. These players all have truly great short games.”
"I can quote exactly what Phil said to me," Bones said. "It was one of those moments."
They quickly went through the scenarios. Bones wanted to make sure the stance would be OK; that Mickelson pulled enough club; with K.J. Choi making 5 up ahead, he reminded Lefty that he led the tournament by one stroke.
"So I said, 'Phil, do you still want to go here?'" Bones recalled.
"He said, 'Listen, if I'm going to win this tournament today, at some point I'm going to have to hit a really good shot under a lot of pressure. I'm going to do it right now.'"
Mackay said, "You get out of the way at that point."
Chris Gay profiles Kathryn Murphy, who was Clifford Roberts' executive secretary for almost four decades. It's not often you get to read Brad Faxon and Gene Sarazen mentioned in the same sentence. It also means Ms. Murphy worked for a long time!
It wasn't uncommon for Murphy to fill ticket requests for Masters participants. Some golfers, such as Ben Crenshaw, Fred Couples, Brad Faxon and Gene Sarazen, were nicer than others.
"Ben Hogan was the best. He'd never ask for tickets," she said. "Some of them you just couldn't accommodate. Some of them you had to say no to."
Murphy never was able to watch much tournament action herself. She kept up with the Masters on a TV in her office.
Though the tournament lasts just one week a year, Murphy remained busy the rest of the time the club was open. For 38 years, she enjoyed it all.
"It was very interesting," she said. "There was always something going on. It was never boring."
Ben Crenshaw, who is playing in his 40th Masters, played as an amateur in 1972 and 1973.
"These are different times and I can't answer for them (the current pros who didn't play as amateurs), but I can just tell this: My two amateur years were incredible because I got to stay on the grounds," Crenshaw said.
He stayed in the Crow's Nest his first year, along with most of the other amateurs that year.
"I think we had eight," Crenshaw remembered. "We amateurs were a team. I had just started traveling to some national amateur tournaments. We just couldn't believe we were here in the first place.
"The second year, I stayed on top of the old tournament headquarters over by the golf shop with Vinny Giles," Crenshaw said. "We ate every meal here at the club. It was special. I loved it."
Seeing the Greens of Charlotte, Ron and Ron Jr., talented writers both, in the press room typing shoulder to shoulder. Absent friends who were there every spring with me, such as British photographer Phil Sheldon. Wishing my Dad, lover of azaleas and, in his last years, golf, would have gotten to see the place just once.
Scraping frost off the rental-car's windshield and wearing gloves and a ski cap in 2007. The awful smell of whatever-that-was the year it rained so much.
Sitting once not too far from Herbert Warren Wind in the observation stand at the 12th hole in one of his last trips to the Masters, thinking about all the golf he had seen and how much he cared about his craft.
Meanwhile, I already have my Jenkins question planned for Sunday. Still want to see if he's a BCS guy after his Horned Frogs didn't get a chance to play for the top spot. Though by Sunday, hopefully there will be a lot more to talk about than TCU football.
Hate to start the week off on such a dark note but here goes...
I've read this CBS press release about their tournament coverage five times and still no mention of...Bobby Clampett.
What will Masters online be without his book plugs and other assorted ramblings about his favorite topic, himself?
PHIL MICKELSON LOOKS FOR FOURTH GREEN JACKET AS HE DEFENDS 2010 MASTERS® VICTORY
CBS SPORTS BROADCASTS MASTERS® FOR 56th CONSECUTIVE YEAR
Masters® Is Longest-Running Sporting Event Broadcast on One Network
The Masters®, the most renowned tournament in golf, will be broadcast on CBS for the 56th consecutive year from the majestic setting of Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Ga. This year marks the 75th Masters Tournament, one of the most highly-anticipated sporting events of the year. Last year, Phil Mickelson won his third Green Jacket with a three-shot victory over Lee Westwood, becoming only the eighth player to win three Masters titles.
CBS Sports will bring viewers all the color, artistry and drama inherent to the world's most prestigious golf tournament and first major of the year with live third-round coverage of the Masters on Saturday, April 9 (3:30-7:00 PM, ET). Final-round 18-hole coverage is scheduled for Sunday, April 10 (2:00-7:00 PM, ET). Highlights of early-round play will be presented by CBS Sports on Thursday, April 7 and Friday, April 8 (11:35-11:50 PM, ET; both nights).
For the 26th consecutive year Jim Nantz will cover the Masters for CBS (his 24th year as host). He also handles coverage of the Highlight Shows, originating from Butler Cabin on the grounds of Augusta National. Three-time Masters champion Sir Nick Faldo joins Nantz in the 18th hole tower as lead analyst. Peter Oosterhuis will describe the action at the 17th hole; Verne Lundquist, the 16th hole; David Feherty, the 15th hole and Highlight Shows; Bill Macatee, the 14th hole; Peter Kostis, the 13th hole; and Ian Baker-Finch will tell the story at the 11th and 12th holes. Ian Eagle and Matt Gogel return to call the live streaming video action for Amen Corner , along with Jerry Foltz and Billy Ray Brown for 15 & 16 and Andrew Catalon and Billy Kratzert for Featured Group.
Here's the plan for GeoffShackelford.com 2011 Masters Coverage coming to you live from...Santa Monica:
- Wednesday, my Daily Racing Form inspired breakdown of the top names heading into the tournament.
- Wednesday Par-3 Contest and Pre-Tournament Speculation Live Chat: We'll start this one a bit before ESPN signs on for the annual PGA Tour Day Care Open Par-3 Contest and since this will mostly be about the kids (that's about all ESPN shows in its promo). We'll spend some time bickering about who is going to win and then calling it a day after an hour or so. This will also be a fine opportunity to make sure the Cover It Live software is working for Sunday.
- Starting Tuesday morning and running through Monday, the much adored, carpel-tunnel inducing "Daily Clippings" of Masters must-reads of the morning. Typically posted by 3 am ET.
- Q&A with Tom Weiskopf about the 1986 Masters telecast. (Now, I just have to transcribe it and upload a few clips to YouTube, but I'm feeling like I can pull it off).
- Open comment threads Thursday, Friday and Saturday.
- Sunday, Final Round Live Chat. We'll get through this one together courtesy of Cover It Live. Get your laptop or ipad (I think it'll work) ready and starting 15 minutes before CBS comes on the air this will be the place to air your grievances, complain so your significant others don't have to hear it and when it's all over, cheer on the 2011 Masters champion.
- And of course, non-stop coverage in between all of the above. Hope you'll come back and come often.
The poll closed at midnight Sunday and Daniel Utley won the 1986 Masters Memory contest in a tight vote, but I'll be sending all the finalists something for their time and great stories, including the promised goodies (Golf World subscription, special DVD) for 2nd and 3rd ("Matt" and "Mark") while Daniel gets both along with a copy of John Boyette's 1986 Masters book.
Thanks to everyone for posting your memories and feelings about the '86 Masters, and if you hear a great "Where was I story?" please don't hesitate to encourage people to post.
Bob Harig with a real jaw dropper: a limited number of practice round and tournament badges will be offered through an application process online.
Golf fans will be allowed to submit their applications to both the tournament and for practice rounds via Masters.com. The club is moving all of its ticketing online, including ticket services for annual patrons.
"Moving the entire application process to our official tournament website is a safe and convenient way for those wishing to apply for daily practice round tickets," said Payne. "We are also pleased to provide a limited number of tickets for the individual tournament round days, which, up until now, have only been allocated to our series badge holders."
Daily tournament ticket applications must be submitted by June 30, with practice round applications allowed until July 30. Each allocation will have its own random selection process, with applicants notified by email within several weeks of the application deadline.
With Mackay, it started when he was a kid watching the caddies who got to share the space inside the ropes with his idols.
"I was a (Tom) Watson guy," he said. "This was 1980, and he was a great player, and the way he carried himself. So I thought (Watson's caddie) Bruce Edwards had the coolest job in the world, and that's what got me thinking about caddying."
Edwards was one of the first men who redefined the role of the professional tour caddie, but it was another old-school caddie who impressed Mackay.
"I'd go to tournaments and watch Bill Rogers, because he was this skinny Texan and I was skinny," Mackay said. "He had this caddie named Big Money Griff (John Griffin). At one point his caddie said, 'There's that kid again.' And he spoke to me and was nice to me, and that was really cool. That was another chapter with me falling in love with caddying, even though I'd never done it a day in my life."
While he played for Columbus (Ga.) College, Mackay worked at Green Island Country Club and befriended resident tour pro Larry Mize. Mackay often shagged range balls for the 1987 Masters champion.
A week before Mackay was supposed to start his career at Synovus Bank, Mize had broken up with his caddie after the 1989 season. Mackay begged for the chance to pick up the bag.
"I was really reluctant," Mize said, "because I said, 'You've got a good job here, Jim, and I don't know if you really want to do this caddie thing. Stay here and do that. But he was adamant about coming out and he talked me into it."
The opportunity changed Mackay's life.
"He gave me the greatest break I could ever have," Mackay said. "I knew nothing about caddying and had no idea what I was getting into or what it entailed. And it certainly entailed far, far more than I thought."
Geoff Shackelford
Geoff Shackelford is a Senior Writer for Golfweek magazine, a weekly contributor to Golf Channel's Morning Drive, is co-host of The Ringer's ShackHouse is the author of eleven books.
I didn't see much coverage of Gary Player's Masters presser last night and only today after a couple of emails and reading Bob Carney's post did I realize why: he sounded alarms no one wants to hear!
