The Week of The Masters

Amen Corner - 12th Hole at Augusta National

For one weekend every April, the sports world slows down.  Everybody turns to a sport that they probably rarely watch but attempt to play every once in a great while.  The sports world turns to the game of golf and perhaps the most prestigious tournament on the PGA Tour’s yearly schedule, The Masters. 

In a culture that seems to be more drawn to the action of the National Football League and mixed martial arts, the game of golf often seems to get lost in the mix.  Many watch and nod off quickly.  Others watch and claim that anybody can play the game.  “All you have to do is put the ball in the hole, it is that simple” is a statement that is often thrown around when talking about the game of golf.  Yet when many attempt to play and are met with failure, their shortcoming is followed by something along the lines of, “this game is stupid anyway”.  They just don’t understand.

For one weekend every April, people are reminded of golf’s difficulty and sheer beauty.  The professionals that play the game make the game look smooth.  They make it look easy.  But for this one weekend, people don’t throw around the same ignorant statements.  Everybody sits back and enjoys the game of golf.  They enjoy the history.  They enjoy the simple thrill of the round-by-round, hole-by-hole, shot-by-shot competition. 

As the week in Augusta, Georgia rolls on and the four days of competition draw closer and closer, mainstream media will try to spin The Masters into what they want it to be.  They want it to be Tiger’s return to greatness and the top of the PGA Tour’s majors.  They want it to be Tiger chasing down the Golden Bear’s place in history.  They want it to be Lefty and Tiger and Rory versus the field. 

However, that is not The Masters.  The Masters is a celebration, a celebration of the game of golf and its long history.  The Masters is a symbol, a symbol of the beauty of the game of golf.  The Masters is an embodiment, an embodiment of both the simplicity and sophisticated nuances of the game of golf.  The green jacket is much more than a green jacket.  This is The Masters.  This is what people come to see.  Sure the stories that the mainstream media decide to talk about are enthralling, but what the people really come for is much bigger, much deeper than the media leads us to believe.  People come to see what sports are really all about.  

The Masters is a very interesting sport business case study.  Saying that membership at Augusta National is exclusive may be a bit of an understatement.  The private course only has about 300 members and we aren’t talking about any old Georgia resident.  We are talking Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and T. Boone Pickens just to name a few.  Aside from being a big name in the world, membership at Augusta National has one other defining characteristic: There are no woman members.  Sure women can golf as guests of members, but they are not members themselves.  There is some controversy this year swirling around Augusta National and IBM’s new CEO Virginia Rometty.  Virginia Rometty is a woman.  Augusta National, historically, offers membership to IBM’s CEO.  We shall see how the historic course handles the situation and possible controversy. 

When it comes to Augusta National and corporate sponsorship for The Masters, sponsorship presence is minimal except for a few accepted areas.  Due to the high profile membership base of the course and high ticket prices for the prestigious event, they bring in more money than they could imagine spending in a given year.  This allows the course minimize commercialization of the tournament.  In this day and age when over-commercialization in sports has become the expected norm, The Masters and Augusta National give a breath of fresh air when it comes to sponsorship suffocation, however short it may seem. 

When The Masters is airing throughout the week, tune in and take a quick look.  The Masters is the essence of sports and competition.  Take a step back from your action-packed, trying-to-be-something-that-it’s-not sports and check out a sport that is what it is.  Plain and simple, the game of golf is an every-man-for-himself competition that is beautiful for its simplicity and beautiful for its difficulty.  Do yourself a favor this weekend and turn on The Masters to see what sports are really all about.