Choosing a favorite Masters tradition can be a bit like choosing a favorite child.
Sammies with chili cheese? Par-3 contest? Skipping balls at 16? Great rituals everyone! For the fourth estate, however, there is a clear winner in the Masters Traditions Bracket Challenge: the media lottery during Masters week that offers a few lucky, ink-stained wretches, photographers and makers of all kinds the chance to play Augusta National on the Monday after the Masters. Breakfast in the clubhouse. Real estate in the Champions Locker Room. Reach session. Pin on Sunday. A triple out of 12. Stories for life.
So rest assured when an email from the Augusta National Communications office arrived in the inbox at approximately 1:15 PM ET on Thursday – with “Press Raffle” in the subject line – the communiqué enjoyed a high open rate.
Then came the curveball.
“In April,” the note began, “in addition to our traditional media raffle to play at Augusta National Golf Club on the Monday after the Masters, we are pleased to offer another raffle for the opportunity to play at Augusta Municipal Golf Course.”
A lottery to play a muni may sound oxymoronic – but AMGC is no run-of-the-mill muni. If you visit this site regularly, you know that Augusta National has poured millions into the beloved city property affectionately known as the Patch. Designers Tom Fazio and Beau Welling oversaw a new route and course beautification, and Tiger Woods contributed a nine-hole par-3 course. Other additions include a Trackman-equipped range, a putting course (coming soon!) and even a clever new logo featuring a cabbage head on a tee. “We lean on the nickname the Patch,” said Fred Ridley, president of Augusta National.
There is also a new (and newly positioned) clubhouse.
According to the Patch’s slick new website: “The most important decision came early in the project when the clubhouse was moved from its old location on the south side of Daniel Field’s 5/23 runway to the highest point of the property. … From this new vantage point, the golf course’s first tee and clubhouse provide fantastic views of the property’s 150-foot elevation change, providing stunning views of the course.”
Sounds a bit like another course in town, right?
That’s not to say anyone will mistake the new Patch for Augusta National, but, gosh, do they share some similarities, from wide playing corridors to pine needle beds lining the holes to blinding white bunker sand. Scroll through the course homepage and you’ll find another nod to ANGC: a Masters logo under ‘Project Partners’.
The course will be opened to the public on April 15, but two days before that the press will come by for a sneak preview.
Don’t worry, fellow writers! According to Thursday’s post, “Entering/winning the Patch Lottery does not render you ineligible to enter/win the Augusta National Lottery.”
Success!
#fun #Masters #tradition #boost