Transcripts - Episode 28: Why The Masters Is Unlike Any Other Golf Tournament

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Now, here's your host, Corey, with another episode of the Birdie Board podcast.

Welcome to episode 28 of the Birdie Board podcast.

This is a pretty exciting week.

This is the first major of the year, the Masters Tournament, which starts tomorrow.

Usually, I do these podcasts on Monday, but I was traveling for Easter weekend, so I'm

recording today on Wednesday, just a couple of days after, but it works out well because

it really kicks off the next four days, which is going to be the Masters Tournament.

I was thinking about what type of episode should I do to kick off this Masters Tournament.

There are endless episodes, I think, that talk about the matchups and who's playing

and things like that.

I thought, yeah, let's touch on that.

I thought what would be also interesting is to talk about just the Masters Tournament

in general, things like when is it, what's the history of it, when are some of the key

tea times happening, things like that, just to try to differentiate this podcast a little

bit from reading a sports article on ESPN.

What I did is I pulled up a bunch of information about the Masters Tournament.

I've read about it, I've learned about it myself.

I'm just going to try to share as much as I can about it to try to fit into this episode.

Let's talk about just some of the logistics of the Masters Tournament.

If you don't know, the Masters Tournament is the first major of the year.

It's always this time of the year, and it's always played out of course, called Augusta

National, and we'll get more into the history of that in a little bit.

Like other golf tournaments in the PGA, it has the same structure where it starts on Thursday

and goes to Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

If you're looking to watch the Masters, this is really unique.

So you can actually either watch the Masters at Masters.com or download the Masters app.

Compared to other tournaments and even other majors, this is unique where a lot of the

other tournaments are blocked behind streaming services or TV packages or something like that.

You don't need any of that to watch the Masters.

I'm not sure if you knew that or not.

You can just watch it on Masters.com or download the Masters app.

If you keep up with like a golf Reddit, there's always a reoccurring joke that it's like

that time of the year.

What people typically do is they download the Masters app for these next four days and then

they delete it afterwards.

So that's kind of where you can get caught up on it.

The actual prize money for the tournament isn't announced until during the tournament.

So we can kind of try to guess what it might be based off of last year's numbers.

So last year, the whole prize bucket was $21 million.

The winner who was Rory McRoy last year earned $4.2 million as the winner.

Rory McRoy is probably the biggest storyline going into the Masters week because he is

the previous winner.

And his win last year was a little bit more significant.

And why it was is because it was his career grand slam.

A career grand slam in golf is when you've won each of the four majors.

So that was the only major that Rory McRoy was missing to complete his grand slam.

So he completed that last year.

So the question is, well, can he do it again?

That's one of the top storylines.

So what is the history of the Masters tournament?

So the Masters tournament has pretty much always been played at the Augusta National

course.

Unlike other majors throughout the PGA, the Masters tournament happens in Augusta, Georgia

at the Augusta National Golf Club every single year.

The length of the course is about 7,500 yards, which is significantly more than what it was

even like 20 or 30 years ago.

All right, it's always played in April of every year.

It is one of the more southern major tournaments typically.

And I mean southern as in like southern continental United States in the history

behind that is because of the heat that like as we get further along in the summer,

these tournaments tend to be played more north because if they're played too far

or these majors are tend to play more north because if they're played too far south,

it just ends up getting a little hot.

The Augusta National Golf Club was originated by a guy named Bobby Jones who

wanted to build a golf course after his retirement from the game.

So Bobby Jones was actually a PGA golfer and a pretty decent one of that.

It was born in 1902 in the Georgia area and he died at the age of 69 in 1971.

So he was a professional golfer.

He had a career grand slam himself.

And he's kind of one of the originators of the Augusta National Golf Club.

So the in Augusta, Georgia, there was a plant nursery and Jones said he was

looking to find a place like that and convert it into a golf course.

So he did that and he hired Alistair Mackenzie to help design the course and

the work began in 1931.

It formally opened in 1933, but unfortunately the course designer died

before the first Masters tournament was played.

It took a little bit before the course was actually used in the PGA.

So there was a petition that for the USGA to hold the US open at this new golf

course in 1934, but USGA originally declined it, noting that it was too hot

in the Georgia summers.

And if you know the US Open has always played a little later in the year.

So this kind of goes back to what I was talking about earlier is it's one of

the more southern courses played.

So US Open in that year was played in August, August summer in Georgia is brutal,

as I'm sure a lot of you know, so they initially declined it.

So a little later they had their first tournament called the Augusta National

Invitational Tournament as the Masters was originally known.

So the original name of the tournament was that and it began on March 22nd, 1934.

So right around this time of the year and the first winner was a man named

Horton Smith and he took a prize pool of $1,500 as the winner of the first

Masters tournament.

Funny enough, this is contrary to how we think about the club today.

They couldn't afford to pay the $1,500 to the winner.

So the club kind of got the 17 Augusta National members together and they

personally chipped in to pay the winners prize.

The tournament didn't even have chairs at the time.

They borrowed chairs from two local funeral homes and they printed programs

out for all the patrons that attended the tournament.

The tournament passed that year in 1934 and the cost $2 and the front nine

in the back nine, also known as the first nine and back nine or first nine

and second nine are actually reversed in the in the beginning days.

As a result though of this first tournament, the Augusta National Golf

course gained about 20 new members and this was really what helped the course

start to take some shape and actually gain some traction.

The present name, the Masters Tournament was adopted officially in 1939 and it

had been used in the first tournament and sometimes even called by newspapers

as the Masters Open, which isn't really the case anymore.

Open implies that it's just open to anyone.

We see that in like the US Open, but that's not the case anymore with the

Masters Tournament.

It's invite only.

So in the through the 1950s to 60s, the Masters still wasn't very heavily

attended yet, but it was more of a known golf tournament.

So people could buy tickets to the tournament the day of each round and that's

kind of how it worked early on during this span that we saw a lot of popularity

increases. This is when we saw people like Arnold Palmer playing Gary

Player and Jack Nicholas.

They really dominated the Masters between the 1960s and the late 1970s and this

really helped propel the Masters Tournament even further along.

So then we get to like the 1980s through the 2000s and we all know what

starts to happen near the end of 1990s.

That's when when Tiger Woods started to come into the picture.

By 1993, a four day badge was raised up to $100.

So we're really starting to raise up in price.

And this really is showing how popular the tournament has become by 2001, just

less than 10 years later, rose to $125.

And then by 2009, we're starting to see these prices of these crazy Masters

tournament tickets that are like 200, 250 by 2012, 300 by 2015.

In 2023, it was reported that a four day badge was $450.

And then the recent reports for this year is there are 525.

And that's just like the lowest number.

And this is important to note is like a unique part of the Masters tournament.

So if you wanted to get a ticket to the Masters tournament, it's not as easy as

it would be another PGA event.

You actually have to get invited.

It's it always makes me laugh when there's set ups like this is like you're

invited to pay me money.

And that's basically what the Masters tournament is is you, you're put on a list

and you just hope your name gets drawn.

And if it does, and you can go ahead and purchase tickets.

It's one of the hardest majors to get a ticket to every year.

So there's a lot of traditions that surround the Masters tournament.

The first one is the Augusta National Women's Amateur final rounds or the

Friday and Saturday before the actual Masters tournament.

On Sunday, there's a drive chip and putt contest.

So the Sunday before the Masters tournament.

And this was really important because in 2020, 2013, there was a big push for

promoting the sport among the youth.

And I think that was so important.

And so so critical to our game of golf.

So they dedicate a whole day just to the youth for drive chip and putt.

Monday is what's called an amateur dinner, but Monday is also when the pros

start doing their practice rounds.

Tuesday is a really, really unique one.

It's called a champions there.

And what it is, is a tradition that was started by Ben Hogan.

And the champion dinner is hosted by the previous year's champion.

So this year's champion dinner was hosted by Rory McRoy.

Um, and they published the out there menu for the dinner and previous winners of

the tournament are invited.

And then also a couple of the executives of the Augusta National Golf course are

also able to attend on Wednesday.

There's a part three contest and then finally Thursday, Friday, Saturday and

Sundays when you're going to see your actual Masters tournament.

Um, I thought it was pretty cool to hear that Ben Hogan was the one who, uh,

first hosted a dinner in 1952.

If you haven't read Ben Hogan's book, it's a really cool book about how to swing

the golf club.

Um, and it's crazy that you read that book and there's so many topics and ideas

from the 1950s and sixties or whenever he published it.

That are still applicable today.

Um, it's been one of my favorite golf books.

I, I definitely would have recommended it.

The actual tournament has a tradition of an opening tee shot.

It's usually an honorary person.

Um, some of the more legendary players that have done it are like Arnold Palmer,

Jack Nicholas, Gary player.

These are people who are just take the first tee shot and it really like kicks

off the tournament.

There's a tradition among the caddies.

Caddies where all white jumpsuits, sorry, that was a bit of a tongue twister with

a green hat and white shoes.

The, their players name is always across their back and that's just tradition.

The defending champion gets a caddy number of one and then, uh, they, they,

that doesn't say their caddy is assigned to them.

It just says that, uh, each caddy gets a number.

And then after that, it's based off of when they arrive or when they register

for the tournament.

A unique aspect of winning the master's tournament.

Isn't that you get only a trophy?

Now there are, there's a trophy that is handed out to the winner.

Uh, but what's really unique is the green jacket and there's some cool things

that I learned about this green jacket as I was reading about the master's tournament.

So this was formerly awarded since 1949 and then informally awarded to champions

prior to that year.

So it's been around for quite a while.

Uh, and it's the official tire, tire worn by members of the Augusta National

while on club grounds.

Each winner of the master's ends up becoming an honorary member.

So it's kind of like, here's a jacket.

Here's your initiation to our club.

The recipient of the green jacket has to keep their jacket actually at the club,

which I didn't know.

Um, winners can take their jacket home after their victory,

but then they need to return it back to the club whenever they are present on the club grounds.

So I didn't know that.

I didn't realize that it could only be removed by the reigning champion.

That was pretty cool.

And then it ends up getting returned back.

There was once in 2017, there was a green jacket that was found in a thrift store,

uh, in 1994 and it was sold for $139,000, which was interesting.

So they do get trophies.

As I mentioned, they kind of get a smaller trophy, the actual winner, but there's

actual, uh, a real trophy, like a huge one that's kept on the master's grounds.

So it's weighs 130 pounds, uh, and it sits on a four foot high base and it resides

permanently at the Augusta National clubhouse.

When there's a winner, their name is engraved into this permanent trophy, but they also

get a replica of it and then along with the green, um, jacket.

When you win a master's as a professional, you get a lot of perks for doing it.

One of the biggest perks you get is called a player invitational.

What a player, player, invitational is, is basically a bunch of privileges.

The professional golfer gets for, for tournaments in the future.

So master champions are automatically invited to play in other major.

So they automatically get invited to the US Open, the Opians

Championship and the PGA Championship for the next five years.

The only exception are is if there's an amateur winner, um, unless

that they actually turn pro within the next five years.

Also, every player earns a lifetime invitation to the master.

So there was a lot of discussion, um, this year is like Tiger Woods going to

be playing in the master's answers.

No, based off of his recent car crash, but the quite the thought that probably

went through a lot of players minds is like he hasn't played golf for years.

How is he even qualified?

Well, he's qualified because he's won the master's recently.

And that's how what you see with a lot of players, like Phil Mickelson, um, and

otherwise there is a tradition of honoring amateur golf as we kind of alluded to

with the youth golf.

It's just an ongoing tradition.

And it's a really cool concept of that's backed by the guests of a national golf course.

And then the master's tournament.

So what that means is the winner of the US amateur tournament actually plays with

the, uh, winner of the master's from last year.

So Roy Mackerelle.

So who's that going to be this year?

Well, his name is Mason Howl.

He was born on June 20th, 2007.

So he's just 18 years old.

Uh, and he won the 2025 US amateur tournament and he became the third youngest

winner in the history of the tournament to win.

So he qualified to play the master's tournament and guess who he gets to play

with.

Rory McElroy.

So that's a pretty cool opportunity for Mason Howl.

If you ask me, um, there's a lot of just cool little things.

I would say to the concessions are really unique.

Uh, the prices they keep below on like other sporting events.

So that's cool to see.

Uh, there's also some unsaid rules.

For example, they're not called fans at Augusta.

They're called patrons.

That's a rule that like the broadcasters follow.

So that's a lot of just the cool stuff and logistics and history around the

master's tournament.

Hopefully you guys like that.

Um, I cut another cool status here is like the length of the course.

I kind of alluded to that earlier in 2022.

The length was about 7,500 yards.

Uh, if you go back to the 1940s, it was 6,800.

I think that just shows how much longer the drives have gotten on and how the

course has adjusted to that.

All right.

So let's talk about some of the key, uh, T times.

Um, maybe you're looking for a particular golfer.

So I'm just going to go over the first round T times, um, call out a couple

kick offers in case of your interest in and watching.

So on Thursday, the earliest T time is 7 40 AM.

Uh, the biggest name I would say in the first, let's see.

First, maybe two hours.

So up till eight fifties max, Homa, he plays at the 750, uh, T time.

Your next biggest name would probably be Bubba Watson.

He plays that 902 and then your 919 has a pretty good, uh, group with

Cameron Smith, Sam Burns and Jake Knapp all playing pretty well.

And nine, nine 31, you can watch a Keegan Bradley.

Uh, and then 943 is a fun one.

Uh, we have Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry and the Jason

Day on the same group.

You'll see a lot of your best T times here right in the middle of the day, I

think, uh, 955, you get Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood.

Um, and then 1007, one of my favorite golfers, Bryce and D.

Chambault and the Matt's Fitzpatrick.

And then Xander Schofel, Schofle, I always say his last name wrong.

1019, Colin Moore, Colla plays who had a really strong start and then the big one

and definitely going to end up being a featured group is 1031, Roy

McRoy and Cameron Young.

And then our US champion, amateur champion Mason Howl.

Uh, it's going to be cool to see how the amateur plays.

You always are rooting for the underdog like that.

Uh, later in the day at about 1127, we have Wyndham Clark, uh, Zach Johnson

plays at 1139, Adam Scott plays at 1203.

Uh, and then we get a lot more names we don't recognize as much.

Uh, JJ spawn plays at 1256.

He's coming off of a big win last week.

Uh, John Rom, big name over in live golf and it's expressed that he is not going

anywhere.

He's playing at 108 and Chris Gauter up who's been playing really well.

I was also playing at 108.

Uh, one 20 has joined in speed.

Justin Rose and Brooks Kepka.

I think that's going to be a pretty popular, a group to watch.

And I think that's probably about it for some of the key names.

So hopefully some of those names, uh, stuck out to you.

Oh, Justin Thomas, uh, 132.

And then the last two time of the day is 156.

Uh, so that's just round one, but, you know, mark your calendars.

Remember, you can watch it on, um, the master's website.

You don't necessarily need to wait for it on ESPN or any other, uh,

streaming service.

You can just watch it right away.

Round one starts at 8 30.

Round two starts at 8 30, round three on Saturday starts at 10 a.m.

And then the final coverage also starts at 10 a.m.

This is all the news in the golf world right now.

If you go on any golf website, they're going to be talking about the masters.

Um, this podcast is no exception.

So hopefully the unique take of approaching the masters as I did on this

podcast was really interesting.

Uh, it was really interesting to me to learn about things.

I, I also recommend if you want to play golf this weekend, get your tea

times early, they're going to fill up really, really fast.

Uh, I got a tea time for Saturday morning.

I booked it with some friends.

I want to say like late Monday.

So almost, almost a full week out and there was only two time tea

times available during the day at like a middle of the tier course.

So they're going to go fast.

Um, but everyone's starting to get excited for golf.

First major of the year, it's obvious that people are going to get excited.

If you want to go ahead and try a burger board out this weekend, uh,

it's great to host tournaments and, uh, just multi weekend rounds.

And even if you're just going out to play 18, it's really good for that too.

I'm going to be using birdie board myself with my friends this weekend, uh,

to help host a little bit of a game going on.

I think I'm going to try to suggest stable for as I said, uh, in some of the

other podcasts starting the season off with more forgiving play.

Uh, it really helps.

And I still am very rusty, especially with my chipping.

Um, so stable for it helps that because the worst you can do is zero points,

whether you get a double bogey or quadruple bogey, really good for your score.

Um, I did play last weekend and I kept score legitimately for the first time this

year. Um, but I, I still am trying to ease myself back into it.

So I played off of the forward T's.

So, you know, historically it's known as senior T's, but I'm trying to push the

idea that T should be placed off your, played off of your handicap.

Um, so I played the senior T's and I'll, I enjoy it.

I shot well over a hundred.

I shot, I scored it though.

Like I was playing on the PGA, assessing penalties and the redo shots.

And honestly, the worst part of the whole day was just my chipping.

I felt like I had like two chips around every hole and a lot of blades.

Um, but as I talked about last week, chipping and a lot of shots that just

require fuel.

Uh, they are the slower shots to come at the beginning of the season as you're

kind of getting back into it.

So I definitely think I'm going to be a lot better this next round.

So that's it for this episode of the Birdieboard podcast.

Thanks for listening, everyone.

Thanks for tuning into the Birdieboard podcast.

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