Loop Links, no. 11
Masters Recovery
It’s a short week for me after returning from a trip to the Monday practice round at Augusta National. I imagine if I didn’t get a newsletter out this week, you all simply wouldn’t have anything to read, let alone any material relating to the Masters. So I’ll share with you some of my thoughts on taking in Augusta as a fan patron for the 3rd time (2017, 2019, 2024). I know this is world’s smallest violin material, but after the joy of the first trip, and getting to bring some other first-timers on my second trip, the third trip made me wonder if the best fan experience in sports could possibly be even better.
Oh, and stick around to the end for the shortest, maybe most unsubstantiated rumor to date.
Practice rounds
Having now witnessed two Mondays and a Tuesday at Augusta, my thoughts on the practice round experience at the Masters are starting to crystalize. I don’t have any quantitative analysis to back this up, but my theory is that the ticket lottery system at the Masters provides greater odds at winning practice round tickets than tournament round tickets, so most first-timers at the event will be attending a practice round.
On your first trip, your goal is to see every inch of the course. Hitting up the merch shop is a high priority, along with purchasing a minimum of one of everything from the concessions, but the real purpose for you being there is to see the course that you’ve watched on TV all of your life. If you see some of your favorite players, great, but it’s not a complete letdown to simply sit at Amen Corner without any golfers coming through.
On your second trip, you will want to take in some of the traditions, with ball skipping at the 16th hole being highest on the list. Perhaps you sit at the 15th for awhile, or maybe you try to set a chair down behind the 12th tee. Or maybe you try to follow some of your favorite players.
By the third trip, it’s fairly clear. The whole system - from tee times being posted on just a few small boards that are updated manually, to not knowing if players intend on playing only 9 or 18, to not having phones to receive updates, to groups not having walkers with them indicating who is playing in the group - is one of the few aspects of the Masters experience that is not fan friendly.
If you want to follow a certain player, you have to commit to sticking with them for at least 9 holes. Once you walk away from that board posting tee times, you won’t have a clue who is on the other holes around you, or how many other groups are on the course. If you want to sit at one hole and watch players come through, you will need your binoculars. The only way you will know who is standing on the tee or walking up the fairway, other than recognizing the player (a difficult task, in my opinion, as so many of the players look exactly like each other these days) is to get a glimpse of the name on the caddie’s back or the name on the bag.
I’m sure there is an element of tradition and “it’s always been done this way” to the system, but I can confirm that when attending with someone who doesn’t follow golf much (and following golf much less myself these days), they struggle with the experience of not having much of a grasp of what is happening and who is playing. Since I don’t think phones will be introduced any time soon, and players will always be able to pick and choose when, where, and how much they practice, the best solution to me is for Augusta to make it easier to identify groups on the course. Walkers with each group, and use of the large scoreboards to update group positions would go a long ways.
Merch
Between my first trip in 2017 and this year’s trip, it’s hard to keep track of how many golf shop locations have been added throughout the course. There is the main shop next to the 1st fairway, and another large shop behind the 5th green, which was added sometime between 2017 and 2019. Another shop, I believe, was added this year between the 8th and 18th holes. And there are multiple mini-shops located throughout the course. Somehow it’s still not enough to meet demand. Perhaps due to the number of people buying thousands of dollars of merch and then pawning it on eBay?
The lines for every location are jam packed in the morning. The common advice is that the lines go down in the afternoon, which perhaps is true during tournament rounds. On a Monday, the difference was only slightly noticeable. A trip at around 12:30 for us this year resulted in about a 20-30 minute wait.
Inside, there was a clear emphasis this year (not sure about the past few years) on the large letter, slightly G-Fore-style hats. There were a lot of clever variations: PIMENTO, SKIP IT, CADDIE, PATRON, AZALEA, etc. All of these looked like fun items to wear around the grounds, but I couldn’t see myself wearing a peach-colored PIMENTO hat to say, pick up my son at school in Michigan. I went with a more straightforward Masters hat.
Somehow I also missed the Masters-themed Goodr sunglasses, a major disappointment for me.
This year I kept my luggage to the bare minimum, so I knew I would be shipping my haul. Like most things at Augusta, I had assumed that shipping would be at a very optimized, low cost, or possibly even free. It was optimized, in the sense that it only took about 3 minutes to pack it up and be on the way with my tracking number. But it was also $40. That’s more than it cost to bring my golf clubs with me on the airplane. I’ve also heard that one alternative, checking your merch to pick up later, is nice so that you don’t have to carry it, but the downside is that there is a crush of people at the end of the day trying to pick it up before leaving.
It’s a little disappointing, to be honest. Were I shipping my gear on my own, I don’t think I would ever get duped into paying that much. I’m one of those people that has a hard time walking away from a transaction, however, feeling like it is somehow rude on my part. I’ll keep working on that skill.
Concessions
Unlike the merch lines, the concessions are quick and perfect every time. At this point I’ve tried pretty much everything, and my advice is… try everything! We made our first stop at around 9:45 this year, just in time to snatch a breakfast sandwich before the 10am cutoff. Highly recommend.
The only thing I haven’t done is put the pimento on the chicken sandwich. And what happened to the Azalea cocktail? Wasn’t that available in the past? I didn’t see them this year, and we patronized no less than 6 different stands. So if you are planning on consuming some alcohol on the grounds, your choices are Stella, Miller Lite, and Blue Moon. The Crow’s Nest/Blue Moon cup might be my favorite. Don’t forget to grab a lemonade or blue powerade every once in awhile to stay hydrated.
The Course
Having all seen the course in the past, we made more of an effort to find locations to sit this year. Apart from getting an upper corner seat on either side of the 15th green, I found that any other area in the left side stands on 15 were my favorite location to watch. We couldn’t see the players on 16 hitting tee shots or skipping it, but we could see the green and the results of each shot, following the cues of the crowd noise from 16 on when to look. It’s also great for practice rounds, because you will see most players go for the green from the top of the hill, and then stop and practice a wedge shot or two from their preferred lay-up location.
Another favorite is the stands near the 14th tee, where you can watch tee shots on 14 as well as play on the 13th hole. Without knowing who is coming through and when, the stands behind the 12th tee is actually one that I wouldn’t recommend. It’s nearly impossible to see who is playing, or where tee shots from the 12th end up. Save that location for the end when players are off the course, and just sit and soak in the most peaceful spot anywhere.
Phones and Cameras
Cameras are allowed at practice rounds. But since we all have basically 48 megapixel cameras in our pockets at all times, fewer of us have legit cameras that are allowed on the course. It didn’t dawn on us to check Amazon prior to traveling (they have 44 megapixel cameras that are $30-$40), so we were limited to an 8 megapixel that I’ve had probably since the first iPhone came out. I feel like I made the most of what I had, but it’s still funny to me to think about how few of us seem to have good standalone cameras these days due to the quality of our phones.
And that brings me to the no phones policy. I’ve settled on that it is both nice and annoying at the same time. It’s nice to be left alone with no notifications for 8 or more hours. It’s fun to have debates about things that we would normally settle by an immediate Google search. For example, our group couldn’t decide from our vantage point on the 15th if the pins were plain yellow, or if they had the Masters logo on them (I won). It’s annoying to not be able to separate without a meeting plan in place, or know what is going on anywhere else on the course without those tiny boards.
The Eclipse
I’m afraid to say, upon learning that Augusta was going to be distributing Masters-themed eclipse glasses at the gate, all of our first thoughts were of paying off our mortgage with a one-of-a-kind souvenir. Perhaps that would be the case if the zone of totality came near Augusta, and darkness temporarily halted practice rounds. But even with what appeared to be about 80% coverage of the sun, the amount of light on the course and the temperature in the air hardly wavered.
And the folks who posted their eclipse glasses on eBay with photos taken from their car in the parking lot seem to be having trouble generating enough interest to garner even $250 for their free souvenir. The market for such an item appears to peak at no more than about $50. We still tried (and succeeded, in my case) to get our glasses home without folding or creasing them, but the ideal place for such an item will almost certainly be in a frame, alongside Monday’s ticket and a picture of our group in front of the 18th green and scoreboard.
Rumor Time
From the superintendent at Arcadia Bluffs:
Allow me to reiterate, this is the superintendent at Arcadia Bluffs, posting the phrase, “building a new course”.
Those are the only solid details I’ve found. Other details I’ve seen but not confirmed: 12 holes (par 4’s and par 3’s), a mile or so North, with new cottages (per twitter user @shutfacegolf).
A short course at Arcadia feels inevitable. A mile or more North, however, feels inconvenient. Will monitor the situation.