When it is said that the Masters is the most classic tournament in the world, it is done in the most literal way possible. The annual meeting of the National Golf Club maintains the essence that gave it Bobby Jones in 1934 and its current rectors have no interest in changing it. They know that they have in their hands a jewel of design, a dream championship, a money-making machine and a club envied by golfers around the world. And so it will continue to be for ever and ever.
The barely 400 members of the club have to overcome some tough screenings to belong to a cast that includes big businessmen and politicians (in the past the most famous
was President Eisenhower). And, although they are proud to open their garden to the world for two weeks a year, they want to make it clear that whoever comes to see it must comply with the rules they set.
Fashions and technologies are not changes to the liking of the green jackets, which is why one of the hallmarks of the club is tranquility and silence. In this way, no matter how many people attend each year, these maxims are always maintained… and beware of those who do not comply with them. Even though getting tickets is almost impossible and subscriptions are passed from parents to children, viewers are aware that breaking the rules of courtesy implies automatic expulsion from the venue. The writer of this witnessed this harsh sanction against a fan who refused to turn his cap upside down, which had the visor backwards, contrary to secular golfing routine.
A challenge for a few
It is such a peculiar tournament that not even the number one in the world has the right to play it. As it is a private event, its rectors invite whomever they want each season; They respect numerous sporting factors so that the best always attend, but always at their discretion and without any obligation. This means that getting to step on its immaculate streets be a challenge within the reach of very few golfers in the world, whether they are professionals or amateurs. And that those who get to do it keep that moment in their memory forever.
During the week that the National opens its doors, barely two hundred lucky people will be able to attack its mythical yellow flags, most of them stars in their respective circuits. Nacho Garrido, winner of the Ryder Cup in 1997, made his debut in Georgia the following year and still remembers the sensations he experienced then. “What impressed me the most was the maintenance of the field and that we in Spain have Valderrama, where I have seen how teams of gardeners pull out the weeds with a fork, one by one,” says the man from Madrid. «Well, everything falls short with what you see in Augusta. When you tee off at hole 1 you are almost afraid of damaging it at the end of the movement with the toe of your shoe and I don’t say anything when you get to a par 3 and have to take a tee shot. You have the feeling of being in an immaculate place that you are almost afraid to touch it.
That stage fright took hold of him in such a profound way that it accompanied him from his first hit to his last. «In my first shot of the tournament in number 1 I took a cutlet with the driver because I hit it a little behind. The ball went to my right and I went quickly for it without looking back, because I thought they were going to kick me out of there for having spoiled their garden.
Already in closer times (between 2009 and 2012) Alvaro Quiros He was a regular at the green tournament, of which the impression that “the deathly silence that exists in any part of the field” produced on him still stands out. “The funny thing is that in thirty seconds it turns into a loud celebration for an eagle or a birdie from any player and then the most absolute silence I’ve ever heard on a golf course returns. This is Augusta, “summarizes the Cadiz.
From farm to store
your compadre Gonzalo Fernandez Castano he took over and played the tournament between 2012 and 2014. «What most caught my attention about Augusta was the immensity of the estate. I was lucky enough to arrive on a Sunday, when it was not yet open to the public, and I was impressed by the spaciousness of the place, the space between street and street and all that », he comments. «I always say that it is like when they tell you a very good movie and they play it so well that you suppose that when you go to see it you will be a little disappointed. Well, in Augusta the opposite happens; You arrive and far exceed all your expectations.
From a more prosaic perspective, there are those who prefer to go first to the most visited place of the week, the souvenir shop. It is the case of English Tyrrell Hatton, who acknowledges going at the beginning of his stay to “buy T-shirts and mugs, especially. Everyone asks me to bring them a gift and so I have everything bought from the beginning. The same idea is developed by the American Bubba Watson. «Like every year I go to the champions dinner, they always order flags signed by the previous winners. So I take the opportunity to go buy them as soon as possible and on Tuesday I give them to my colleagues to sign », he affirms.
If for professionals it is quite an achievement to play in Augusta, for amateurs it is almost a miracle. With the incorporation of ANWA to the calendar, the best females have been able to do it at least once in their lives. “It was an incredible experience, proof that perfection exists and I never thought it could happen to me,” says Valencian Marta Pérez.
As far as the men are concerned, some of the privileged may be invited by the former winners, as happened to Iván Ballesteros. «Seve invited me twice, once together with Michael Robinson and another with my brother Raúl”, he says proudly. Or, be graced by the goddess Fortune, like the journalist Hugo Costa. «I signed up for a raffle and I got a place. And I did it so well that I never wanted to try it again so as not to spoil the experience », he recalls.
In the case of the eldest son of Miguel Ángel Jiménez, of the same name, what surprised him the most was not being able to cheer on his father’s good blows. «If you show yourself very effusive in the celebration or you hit a shout, they throw you out; You have to be very careful”,
