Is Augusta National good for the game?

[Keith Doleshel]

I'm not talking about the Masters.  I think we can all agree that it is one of the great tournaments in the world.  I am speaking about their role in the game of golf.  Some of their initiatives, and recent decisions, make me wonder if the club is really good for the sport.  The issues I have issue with or question the power of Augusta are below.  Curious to know where others stand.

1. Having such a big role in the anchoring debate.  Should Billy Payne and the powers at be at ANGC really have that much power over a potentially huge decision which could affect the landscape of golf?

2. I realize it's an invitational, but having players of questionable credentials at the professional or even amateur level in the field over more credible players.  Maybe I'm the one that's not looking big picture, but having a 14 year old in the field at a major is something I would expect at an LPGA event, not at one of the world's most prestigious tournaments.

3. The Chip, Putt, and Drive contest.  While a nice and cute thought, it seems to be overly cheesy to me.  It reeks of "look at us, we are trying to grow the game."  How much does ANGC really care about junior golf?  Once again, maybe I'm being overly cynical.  It just seems to be a publicity stunt to improve their image, especially in the wake of the female member controversy which they are just getting over.

4. I know it's been discussed over and over on here, but the "Augusta syndrome" of lush conditions that is demanded among many golfers across the country.  Most of us here realize that a little brown on a golf course isn't a big deal, and firm and fast is more interesting than the overwatered alternative.  I can't help but think that if ANGC embraced the concept, that golf course operators would follow suit. 

5. The overall stuffiness of the Masters.  Nothing says "golf is a rich, white person's sport" more than watching the tournament.  I admit, I am looking forward to Thursday.  It is the start of the four of the best days of the year for any golf fan.  But I feel like ANGC takes it a bit too far.  Everything is just a little over the top, from the broadcasters on CBS to the rules which the club has for the players and fans.

Once again, just wanted to get some other thoughts from you guys.  Just of the opinion that Augusta National might not be as good for the game as the fawning media may think (or are forced to say, especially in the case of CBS.)

[Patrick_Mucci]

ANGC isn't good for the game, it's great for the game.

Try studying ANGC from inception to current date, it might give you a different perspective

[Ben Sims]

Keith,

I think that you--like many a good GCAer--think Masters Week is a good time for pushback and reckoning for the issues perceived to be faced by golf at the hands of the evil empire.  So I may sound as if I'm defending the corporation and taking you to task.  Really, I'm just trying to inject a bit of realism into the "evil Augusta" syndrome.

1). Show me where Billy Payne has a role in the anchoring debate.  Expressing his--and by default the club's--opinion is nothing more than exercising his first amendment rights.  Yes, he is the Chairman at ANGC.  But nothing more.

2).  Pretty smart business to include yet another media frenzy at The Masters don't you think?  I'm of the opinion that its a genius move for expanding golf in emerging markets.  The Masters has for along time now tried very hard to be much more international.  

3).  Name one thing bad about this competition.  One.  I'll wait.  It's a great way to attract young folks to the game through competition, without enduring competitive rounds of golf amongst 8 year olds.  

4).  I'm so sick and tired of Augusta syndrome.  The traveling carnival in the mall parking lot isn't trying to be Disneyland.  Why aren't reasonable and smart individuals keen enough to understand that they can't or shouldn't compare themselves to Augusta. In central Georgia in April, Mother Nature is at the height of her agronomic skill.  Combine that with at Augusta year round, Marsh Benson and Brad Owen are at the height of their substantial agronomic power with enormous weapons to bring to the fight.  They earn those conditions.  Why can't folks marvel at it and move on.  Sheesh this argument is old and busted.

5).  That stuffiness you thumb your nose at is directly responsible for, bar none, the greatest spectator event in sports.  You should attend sometime.  It'll change how you view the stuffiness.  

[Mark Chaplin]

Keith the 14 year old qualified by winning Asia's biggest amateur tournament, he's their by right.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Ben,

Something is terribly wrong .

I agree with everything you stated

[Jim Nugent]

5. The overall stuffiness of the Masters.  Nothing says "golf is a rich, white person's sport" more than watching the tournament. 

The club itself is mostly though not entirely for rich (ultra-powerful) white people.  But the tournament is a different matter.  The players include the best in the world, from all walks of life.  Black players, white players, players from Europe, Asia, South America, Australia and Africa play each year.  In 2013 the field includes that 14 year old from China -- far from a "rich white person."  (Though the odds are heavily against it, will be incredible if he makes the cut.) 

Far from being stuffy, I think the tournament turns playing at the course into a dream for most golfers.  The single most desired tee time in golf.  In 1991 I was paired with a guy at Pelican Hill in Newport Beach CA.  Somewhere around hole six or seven, he announced that he was a member of ANGC.  I later learned this was true.  The rest of the round I was hoping he would invite me to play.  I would have hopped on a plane in a New York minute. 

So I don't think the Masters itself is mostly about stuffiness.  It's about ultimate achievement -- in the course, the players and the tournament.  Something everyone can at least aspire to. 

[Keith Doleshel]

Mark,
I know the kid won the Asian Amateur, but where are the top amateurs from the rest of the world?  

Ben,
I respect your opinion on each of your points. I would love to attend one day. Perhaps then, I would come to the same conclusion as you.

[Matthew Rose]

From my perspective as a rather ordinary journeyman golfer, the ANGC represents a sort of mystical place that few people pass through. People like me are never going to play it. Of course I would if I had the opportunity, but I also understand that it is not meant to be played by everyone.

In almost every other circumstance, I would be totally turned off by this sort of exclusivity and elitism and all of the odd rules.

For whatever reason, the ANGC can get away with all these things and do so unashamedly, and yet it doesn't bother me. I guess if it didn't have all these eccentricities, then it wouldn't be special.

I enjoy the fact that it doesn't change, and doesn't want to change. It's comfortable, it's familiar, and while the world around it and the world around us evolves at a lightning pace, the Masters is one of those things you can count on delivering year after year.

I give it a free pass because it really is the most compelling sports event on my personal calendar.

[David_Elvins]

Mark,
I know the kid won the Asian Amateur, but where are the top amateurs from the rest of the world?  

Now this is getting silly.

Are you disappointed that there is no representative from the African amatuer championship or the Antarctic amateur championship? Seriously?

The Masters is great for golf because it makes me and 100s of 1000s of people like me want to go out a play golf.  What greater gift to the game can it give?

[Tim_Weiman]

Keith,

I've attended the Masters five times and have never felt the event was stuffy. It is a very well run, classy event and I have always found the people I met very friendly.

Honestly, it sounds like you are hung up on the stereotype or perhaps the way things are presented on television.

As for Augusta National itself, I have long been disappointed they haven't moved to adopt a tournament ball.

[Connor Dougherty]

Mark,
I know the kid won the Asian Amateur, but where are the top amateurs from the rest of the world?  

Now this is getting silly.

Are you disappointed that there is no representative from the African amatuer championship or the Antarctic amateur championship? Seriously?

The Masters is great for golf because it makes me and 100s of 1000s of people like me want to go out a play golf.  What greater gift to the game can it give?

It's funny you mention the "African amateur Championship." I can't think of one, but the way golf is growing in South Africa (and the wealth of players coming out of there) WHY NOT include the "African Amateur champion?!?!." Heck, three different South Africans have won a major in the last 3 years (Els, Schwartzel, and Oosthuizen), and the South Africans have won 2 of the last 5 Masters (Immelman and Schwartzel).

If your beef is with guys winning tournaments without the best amateurs, then why on earth are there no complaints about the US PubLinks champ and the US Mid-Am Champ making the tournament?

We're all acting like this kid has no golfing ability and doesn't belong at all. Not once has it been mentioned that he shot rounds of 66, 64, 72, and 71 to win the Asian Amateur.  But perhaps this quote, from ESPN after he won it, sums it all up:

Australian teenager Oliver Goss, who started the round two strokes back, finished third after a final-round 72 while Japan's Hideki Matsuyama, Asia's No. 1-ranked amateur, was fourth. Matsuyama was the two-time defending champion of the event and made the cut in each of his Masters appearances.

Keith also wanted to make this thread about the club and not the championship, and this topic of conversation is directly tied to the Masters. The problem is the Masters is inextricably tied to ANGC, and almost everything we analyze about the club and how it affects golf has to include the Masters.

I couldn't argue with people over whether ANGC is good for the game or not because I couldn't come up with enough evidence to support either side of the argument. But what I will say is that ANGC opens its doors to the public for 1 week a year so that some of the "Masters" of the game can play it and we can all watch. That's much more than what many of the other private, exclusive clubs do.

For this reason, I will spend this week glued to my television (much to my roommates' chagrin, who couldn't think of a worse way to spend one of the few sunny weeks here in Eugene) learning everything I can about that golf course. And the odds are, if an when someone like Bubba, Phil, or Tiger hit an incredible shot that gets played over and over and over again on SportsCenter, someone will decide to give the game a try.

EDIT: I accidentally wrote that the South Africans won the last 5 masters. This is clearly not the case.

[Terry Lavin]

Overall, I'd say it would be hard to argue any other course in the States that has a more beneficial effect on the game than ANGC. There are significant detractors to this suggestion and I wouldn't downplay the significance of the shortcomings of either the course or the club, but the positives tip the scale in a big way.

[Jim Nugent]

Keith also wanted to make this thread about the club and not the championship, and this topic of conversation is directly tied to the Masters.

He said this.  But then nearly all the points he made were about the tournament. 

[Mark McKeever]

Can westerners play in the Asia Amateur?

Mark

[Jud_T]

The issue isn't with the National, particularly now that they have members who pee sitting down.  The issue is with all the wanna-be courses, memberships and committees who try in vain to keep up with the Joneses (!) by lengthening and greening their courses till the cows come home and running everyday stimps of 11 or 12 with no economic or functional justification when the best tournament they'll ever get is a local qualifier, Junior Am or maybe if all the stars align a Ladies or Senior event.  Then all the social climbing members pat themselves on the back and wake up after the blessed event with a brutal hangover and a dues bill that could choke a horse.  Envy does indeed run green.

[Mike Hendren]

Somewhere I have a black-and-white photo of a crew-cut chubby third-grader wearing his Jim Brown jersey and a cast on his right arm with his first place Ford Punt, Pass and Kick medal drapped around his neck.  Good for the game?  Damned if I know, but I remember it as if it was yesterday.  I'll bet more than a few participants on this site look back fondly as well. 

Bogey

[Dan Herrmann]

Yes, it's good for the game.  Look at their new putt/chip/drive event.

[V. Kmetz]

JT is correct...Augusta National is only deleterious for certain Golf and GCA issues only when others think they can replicate or install a similar reputation (aesthetic, prestige, architectural) by fiat/design.

Tangentially, this context was in my answer to Martha Burk's protests 10 years ago...if leading, affluent females interested in Golf desire membership in a quality, reputable place, they are free to build and maintain and grow one.  It isn't, and wasn't easy.  Let Annika Sorenstam and a trusted lieutenant summon a resourced cadre of females to underwrite its founding and build a fascinating course upon which it is pleasurtable to watch the best Ladies' complete, let them construct a noteworthy Ladies' Tournament that captures the public and media's attention, let them innovate in terms of that tournament and modern outreaches, let them build a stature that can't come in a decade, but takes 30, 40, 50 years to build...

Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters tournament is not merely a good thing, but a fabulous thing.

cheers

vk

[Paul Jones]

I agree with Ben and most others that Augusta National is great for the game:

I especially like the technology put into the tournament and allowing people to view it from the internet, phones, slate devices, etc... 

Everyone is shocked on how low price all the concessions are.  When I lived in Atlanta, we would go to the BellSouth Classic the week before and buy a beer and sandwich/burger for $15, that same beer and sandwich at The Masters used to be $5. 

I would love for the club to release there maintenance budget/rounds per year so every other club can have the answer on why there local club is not as nice.

There are many more reasons why I think the club is good for the game.

[Sean_A]

I don't have a clue if ANGC is good or bad for golf or how that can possibly be measured.  I will say that if archies actually built courses in the ANGC mould then I would have no hesitation in saying it was good for the game.

Ciao

[C. Squier]

5. The overall stuffiness of the Masters.  Nothing says "golf is a rich, white person's sport" more than watching the tournament.  I admit, I am looking forward to Thursday.  It is the start of the four of the best days of the year for any golf fan.  But I feel like ANGC takes it a bit too far.  Everything is just a little over the top, from the broadcasters on CBS to the rules which the club has for the players and fans.

When did manners become a rich, white person's thing?  I'll take the patron's behavior any day over the Phoenix Open.  A person who can't be bothered by a little pomp and circumstance is limited, IMO. 

For the rest of my response, just see Ben S's post.  He nailed it.

[Bill Seitz]

Everyone is shocked on how low price all the concessions are.  When I lived in Atlanta, we would go to the BellSouth Classic the week before and buy a beer and sandwich/burger for $15, that same beer and sandwich at The Masters used to be $5. 

You can get a beer and a sandwich for $4.50, unless you want to upgrade to the pulled pork, in which case the combination will run you $6.  I l also loved the lack of branding on almost everything, save for the candy bars.  What kind of beer are they serving?  Who cares, you figure it out.  

I found the prices of the merchandise to be pretty much in line with what I expected.  Caps go for $18-$26 mostly.  You can get a nice shirt for $75, or a Bobby Jones shirt for double that.  Though the flags were pretty cheap.  $22 for a Masters flag, which is about half of what I paid for a souvenir flag at Ballyneal and Pasatiempo.  

[Chris Johnston]

The Masters is incredibly good for the game.  The event is very cool, steeped in tradition, and awakens the spring season.  Nobody comes close to doing a tournament better.

wrt Augusta National itself, and aside from The Masters, it's a private club for the enjoyment of their members and guests. 

[Tim_Weiman]

Bill Seltz,

Actually, I do have one complaint about the prices of food at the Masters: I want one of the price signs and they are not for sale.

Can't imagine a better souvenir, especially when you already have enough Augusta shirts!

[Thomas Dai]

Once upon a time I would have definitely said 'yes', but now I'm probably leaning the other way. Sorry ANGC fans but that's just how I see it these days.

All the best.