Episode 28: Why The Masters Is Unlike Any Other Golf Tournament

The Masters Tournament is one of the most iconic events in golf, but there’s a lot more to it than just four days of competition.

In this episode of the Birdie Board Podcast, Corey breaks down everything you need to know about the Masters, from its history and traditions to how the tournament actually works. Played every year at Augusta National, the Masters is unlike any other major, with unique rules, traditions, and an atmosphere that sets it apart from the rest of the golf world.

Corey walks through the origins of Augusta National, the story behind the green jacket, and how the tournament evolved into what it is today. From the early days when members had to chip in to pay the winner, to modern prize pools in the millions, the growth of the Masters reflects the evolution of the game itself.

The episode also covers some of the most interesting traditions, including the Champions Dinner, honorary tee shots, and the unique way fans experience the tournament as “patrons.” You’ll also hear about how players qualify, what makes winning the Masters so significant, and the long-term benefits that come with it.

To help you get the most out of watching this year’s tournament, Corey also highlights key tee times, notable groups, and storylines to follow, including Rory McIlroy defending his title and the presence of rising amateur talent.

Whether you’re a longtime golf fan or just getting into the sport, this episode gives you a simple, engaging way to understand what makes the Masters so special.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_01 0:00

The Birdie Board Podcast is brought to you by the Birdie Board app, the easiest way to track matches, scores, and handicaps with friends. Now, here's your host, Corey, with another episode of the Birdie Board Podcast.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Welcome to episode 28 of the Birdie Board Podcast. This is a pretty exciting week. This is the first major of the year, the Masters Tournament, which starts tomorrow. Usually I do these podcasts on Monday, but I was traveling for Easter weekend, so I'm recording today on Wednesday, just a couple of days after, but it works out well because it really kicks off the next four days, which is going to be the Masters Tournament. And I was thinking about like what type of episode should I do to kick off this Masters Tournament. And there are endless episodes, I think, that talk about the matchups and who's playing and things like that. And I I thought, yeah, let's touch on that. Um, but I thought what would be also interesting is to talk about uh just the Masters tournament in general, um, things like when is it, what's the history of it, uh who when are the some of the key tea times happening, things like that, just to try to differentiate this podcast a little bit from like reading a sports article on ESPN. So, what I did is I pulled up a bunch of information about the Masters tournament. I've read about it, I've kind of learned about it myself, and I'm just gonna try to share, you know, as much as I can about it to try to fit into this episode. Um, so let's talk about just some of the logistics of the Masters tournament. So, if you don't know, the Masters Tournament is the first major of the year. Um, it's always this time of the year, and it's always played at a course called Augusta National, and we'll get more into the history of that in a little bit. Uh, like other golf tournaments in the PGA, it has the same structure where it starts on Thursday uh and goes through Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. Uh, if you're looking to watch the Masters, this is really unique. So you can actually either watch the Masters at Masters.com or download the Masters app. Compared to other tournaments and even other majors, this is unique where um a lot of the other uh tournaments are blocked behind like streaming services or TV packages or something like that. You don't need any of that to watch the Masters. I'm not sure if you knew that or not. You can just watch it on Masters.com or download the Masters app. There's a if you keep up with like a golf Reddit, there's always a recurring joke that it's like that time of the year. Because what people typically do is they download the Masters app for these next four days and then they delete it afterwards. Um so that's kind of where you can get caught up on it. Uh, the actual prize money for the tournament isn't announced until during the tournament, so we can kind of try to guess what it might have might be based off of last year's numbers. So last year the whole prize bucket was $21 million. Uh the winner, who was Rory McElroy last year, uh, earned $4.2 million as the winner. Rory McEroy is probably the biggest storyline going into the Masters Week because he is the previous winner. And he his win last year was a little bit more significant. And why it was is because it was his career grand slam. A career grand slam in golf is when you've won each of the four majors. So that was the only major that Rory McEroy was missing to complete his grand slam. So he completed that last year. So the question is, well, can he do it again? That's one of the top storylines. So, what what is the history of the Masters Tournament? So the Masters Tournament um has pretty much always been played at the Augusta National course. Unlike other majors throughout the PGA, the Masters Tournament uh happens in Augusta, Georgia at the Augusta National Golf Club every single year. The length of the course is about 7,500 yards, which is significantly more than what it was even like 20 or 30 years ago. It's always played in April of every year. Uh it is one of the um more southern major tournaments typically, and I mean southern as in like southern continental United States. The history behind that is because of the heat that like as we get further along in the summer, these tournaments tend to be played more north because if they're played too far, or these majors are tend to play more north, because if they're played too far south, it just ends up getting a little hot. The Augusta National Golf Club was originated by a guy named Bobby Jones who wanted to build a golf course um after his retirement from the game. So Bobby Jones was actually a PGA golfer and a pretty decent one of that. He was born in 1902 uh in the Georgia area, and he died at the age of 69 in 1971. So he was a um professional golfer, he had a career grand slam himself, and he's kind of one of the originators of the Augusta National Golf Club. Uh, so the in Augusta, Georgia, there was a plant nursery, and Jones said he was looking to find a place like that and convert it into a golf course. Um, so he did that and he hired Alistair McKenzie to help design the course, and the work began in 1931. It formally opened in 1933, um, but unfortunately the course designer died before the first master's tournament was played. It took a little bit before the course was actually used in the PGA. So there was a petition that for the USGA to oh to hold the US Open at this new golf course in 1934, but USGA originally declined it, noting that it was too hot in the Georgia summers. And if you know, the US Open is always played a little later in the year, so this kind of goes back to what I was talking about earlier, is it's one of the more southern courses played. So US Open in that year was played in August. August summer in Georgia is brutal, as I'm sure a lot of you know. Uh so they initially declined it. Um a little later, uh they had their first tournament um called the Augusta National Invitational Tournament. Uh, as the Masters was originally known. So the original name of the tournament was that. And it began on March 22nd, 1934. So right around this time of the year. Um, and the first winner was a man named Horton Smith, and he took a prize pool of $1,500 uh as the winner of the first Masters tournament. Uh funny enough, this is contrary to how we think about the club today, uh, they couldn't afford to pay the $1,500 uh to the winner. So the the club kind of got the 17 Augusta National members together and they personally chipped in to pay the winner's prize. Uh the tournament didn't even have chairs at the time. They borrowed chairs from two local funeral homes uh and they printed programs out for all the patrons that attended the tournament. Uh the tournament passed that year in 1934 and only cost $2. Um, and the front nine and the back nine, uh also known as the first nine and the back nine, is or first nine and second nine are actually reversed uh in the in the beginning days. As a result though of this first tournament, the Augusta National Golf Course gained about 20 new members, and this was really what helped the course start to take um some shape and actually gain some traction. The present name, the Masters Tournament, was adopted officially in 1939, and it had been used in the first tournament and sometimes even called uh by newspapers uh as the Masters Open, which isn't really the case anymore. Open implies that it's just open to anyone. We see that in like the US Open, uh, but that's not the case anymore with the Masters tournament, it had it's invite only. So in the through the 1950s to 60s, uh the Masters still wasn't very heavily attended yet, um, but it was more of a known golf tournament. So people could buy tickets to the tournament the day of each round, and that's kind of how it worked early on. During this span, though, we saw a lot of popularity increases. This is when we saw people like Arnold Palmer playing, Gary Player and Jack Nicholas. They really dominated the Masters between the 1960s and the late 1970s, and this really helped propel the Masters tournament even further along. Uh, so then we get to like the 1980s through the 2000s, and we we all know what starts to happen near the end of the 1990s. That's when Tiger Woods started to come into the picture. Uh, by 1993, a four-day badge was raised up to $100. Uh, so we're really starting to raise up in price, and this really is showing how popular the tournament has become. By 2001, just less than 10 years later, it rose to $125, and then by 2009, we're starting to see these prices of these crazy Masters tournament tickets that are like 200, 250 by 2012, 300 by 2015. Um, in in 2023, it was reported that a four-day badge was $450, and then the recent reports for this year is they're $525, and that's just like the lowest number. Uh, and this is important to note is like uh a unique part of the masters tournament. So if you wanted to get a ticket to the master's tournament, it's not as easy as it would be another PGA event. You actually have to get invited. It's it always makes me laugh when there's uh setups like this, is like you're invited to pay me money. And that's basically what the the master's tournament is you you're put on a list and you just hope your name gets drawn, and if it does, then you can go ahead and purchase tickets. Uh, it's one of the hardest majors to get a ticket to um every year. So there's a lot of traditions that surround the master's tournament. Um, the first one is the Augusta National Women's Amateur uh final rounds, or the Friday and Saturday before the actual Masters Tournament. On Sunday, uh there's a drive, chip, and putt contest, so the Sunday before the Masters Tournament. And this was really uh important because in 2020 2013 there was a big push for promoting the sport among the youth, and I think that was so important and so so critical to our game of golf. Um, so they dedicate a whole day just to the youth with for drive, chip, and putting Monday is what's called an amateur dinner, but Monday is also when the pros start doing their practice rounds. Tuesday is a really, really unique one. It's called a champion's dinner. And what it is is a tradition that was started by Ben Hogan, and the champion dinner is hosted by the previous year's champion. So this year's champion dinner was hosted by Rory McElroy, and they published the out their menu for the dinner, and previous winners of the tournament are invited, and then also a couple of the executives of the Augusta National Golf Course are also able to attend. On Wednesday, there's a part three contest, and then finally Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday is when you're gonna see your actual masters tournament. Um, I thought it was pretty cool to hear that Ben Hogan was the one who uh first hosted a dinner in 1952. If you haven't read Ben Hogan's book, it's a really cool book about how to swing the golf club. Um, and it's crazy that you read that book and there's so many topics and ideas from the 1950s and 60s or whenever he published it that are still applicable today. Um it's been one of my favorite golf books. I've I definitely would have recommended. The actual tournament has a tradition of an opening t-shot, it's usually an honorary person. Um, some of the more legendary players that have done it are like Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicholas, Gary Player. These are people who are just take the first t-shot and it really like kicks off the tournament. There's a tradition among the caddies. Caddies wear all right white jump suits. Sorry, that was a bit of a tongue twister, with a green hat and white shoes. The their player's name is always across their back, and that's just tradition. The defending champion gets a caddy number of one, and then uh they they that doesn't say their caddy is assigned to them, it just says that uh each caddy gets a number, and then after that, it's based off of when they arrive or when they register for the tournament. A unique aspect of winning the Masters tournament isn't that you get only a trophy. Now there are there is a trophy that is handed out to the winner, uh, but what's really unique is the green jacket. And there's some cool things that I learned about this green jacket as I was reading about the Masters Tournament. So this was formally awarded since 1949 and then informally awarded to champions prior to that year. So it's been around for quite a while. Uh, and it's the official tire tire worn by members of the Augusta National while on club grounds. Each winner of the Masters ends up becoming an honorary member, so it's kind of like here's a jacket, here's your initiation to our club. The recipient of the green jacket has to keep their jacket actually at the club, which I didn't know. Um, winners can take their jacket home after their victory, but then they need to return it back to the club whenever they are present on the club grounds. So I didn't know that. I didn't realize that it could only be removed by the reigning champion. That was pretty cool, and then it ends up getting returned back. There was once in 2017, there was a green jacket that was found in a thrift store uh in 1994, and it was sold for $139,000, which was uh interesting. So they do get trophies, as I mentioned, they kind of get a smaller trophy, the actual winner, but there's actual uh a real trophy, like a huge one that's kept on the masters grounds. So it's weighs 130 pounds and it sits on a four-foot-high base, and it's resides permanently at the Augusta National Clubhouse. When there's a winner, their name is engraved into this permanent trophy, but they also get a replica of it, and then along with the green um jacket. When you win a master's as a professional, you get a lot of perks for doing it. One of the biggest perks you get is called a player invitational. What a player invitational is, is basically uh a bunch of privileges the professional golfer gets for tournaments in the future. So master champions are automatically invited to play in other majors, so they automatically get invited to the US Open, the Opian Championship, and the PGA championship for the next five years. The only exception are is if there's an amateur winner, um, unless if they actually turn pro within the next five years. Also, every player earns a lifetime invitation to the masters. So there was a lot of discussion um this year is like Tiger Woods going to be playing in the Masters. The answer is no, based off of his recent car crash. But the questi the thought that probably went through a lot of players' minds is like he hasn't played golf for years. How is he even qualified? Well, he's qualified because he's won the masters recently, and that's how what you see with a lot of players like Phil Mickelson and otherwise. There is a tradition of honoring amateur golf, as we kind of alluded to with the youth golf. It's just an ongoing tradition. It's a really cool concept that's backed by the guests of a national golf course and then the masters tournament. So, what that means is the winner of the U.S. amateur tournament actually plays with the uh winner of the Masters from last year, so Roy McRoy. So, who is that gonna be this year? Well, his name is Mason Howe. He was born on June 28th, 2007, so he's just 18 years old. Uh, and he won the 2025 U.S. amateur tournament, and he became the third youngest winner in the history of the tournament to win. So he qualified to play the Masters tournament, and guess who he gets to play with? Rory McEroy. So that's a pretty cool opportunity for Mason Howe, if you ask me. Um there's a lot of just cool little things I would say too. The concessions are really unique. Uh, the prices they keep below, unlike other sporting events, so that's cool to see. Uh, there's also some unsaid rules. For example, uh, they're not called fans at Augusta, they're called patrons. That's a rule that like the broadcasters follow. So that's a lot of just the cool stuff in logistics and history around the master's tournament. Hopefully, you guys like that. Um, another cool stat I see here is like the length of the course. I kind of alluded to that earlier. In 2022, the length was about 7,500 yards. Uh, if you go back to the 1940s, it was 6,800. I think that just shows how much longer the drives have gotten and how the course has adjusted to that. Alright, so let's talk about some of the key uh tea times. Um, maybe you're looking for a particular golfer. So I'm just gonna go over the first round tea times, um, call out a couple key golfers in case if you're interested in watching. So on Thursday, the earliest tea time is 7 40 a.m. Uh the biggest name I would say in the first let's see first maybe two hours, so up till 8 50 is Max Homa. He plays at the 7 50 uh tea time. Your next biggest name would probably be Bubba Watson, he plays at 9 02, and then your 919 has a pretty good uh group with Cameron Smith, Sam Burns, and Jake Knapp all playing pretty well. And nine thirty-one, you can watch Keegan Bradley. Uh and then nine forty-three is a fun one. Uh, we have Dustin Johnson, Shane Lowry, and then Jason Day all in the same group. You'll see a lot of your best tea times here right in the middle of the day, I think. Uh 955, you get Patrick Reed, Tommy Fleetwood, um, and then 1007, one of my favorite golfers, Bryson DeChambeau, and then Matt Fitzpatrick, uh, and then Xander Shaffle. Shoffle, I always say his last name wrong. 1019, Colin Morkawa plays, who had a really strong start, and then the big one, and definitely gonna end up being a featured group, is 1031, Roy McRoy and Cameron Young, and then our US champion, amateur champion Mason Howe. Uh, it's gonna be cool to see how the amateur plays. You always are rooting for the underdog like that. Uh, later in the day, we're at about 1127. We have Wyndham Clark. Uh Zach Johnson plays at 1139. Adam Scott plays at 12.03. Uh, and then we get a lot more names we don't recognize as much. Uh JJ Spawn plays at 1256. He's coming off of a big win last week. Uh John Rom, big name over in LiveGolf, uh expressed that he is not going anywhere, is playing at 108. And Chris Godarop, who has been playing really well, is also playing at 108. 120 has Jordan Spieth, Justin Rose, and Brooks Kepka. I think that's going to be a pretty popular group to watch. And I think that's probably about it for some of the key names. So hopefully some of those names uh stuck out to you. Oh, Justin Thomas, uh 132, and then the last tea time of the day is 156. Uh, so that's just round one. But you know, mark your calendars. Remember, you can watch it on um the master's website. You don't necessarily need to wait for it on ESPN or any other uh streaming service, you can just watch it right away. Round one starts at 8:30, round two starts at 8:30, round three on Saturday starts at 10 a.m. And then the final coverage also starts at 10 a.m. This is all the news in the golf world right now. If you go on any golf website, they're gonna be talking about the masters. Um, this podcast is no exception. So hopefully, the unique take of approaching the masters as I did on this podcast was Really interesting. It was really interesting to me to learn about things. I also recommend if you want to play golf this weekend, get your tea times early. They're gonna fill up really, really fast. I got a tea time for Saturday morning. I booked it with some friends, I want to say like late Monday, so almost almost a full week out. And there was only two time tea times available during the day at like a middle of the tier course. So they're gonna go fast. Um, but everyone's starting to get excited for golf. The first major of the year, it's obvious that people are gonna get excited. If you want to go ahead and try Birdie Board out this weekend, uh, it's great to host tournaments and uh just multi-weekend rounds, and even if you're just going out to play 18, it's really good for that too. I'm definitely gonna be using Birdie Board myself with my friends this weekend uh to help host a little bit of a game going on. I think I'm gonna try to suggest stable for as I said uh in some of the other podcasts, starting the season off with more forgiving play, uh, it really helps. And I still am very rusty, especially with my chipping. Um, so stable forward helps that because the worst you can do is zero points, whether you get a double bogey or a quadruple bogey. Really good for your score. Um, I did play last weekend and I kept score legitimately for the first time this year. Um, but I I still am trying to ease myself back into it. So I played off of the forward tease. So, you know, historically it's known as senior tease, but I'm trying to push the idea that T's should be placed off of your big played off of your handicap. Um, so I played the senior tease and I'll I enjoyed it. I shot well over a hundred. I shot, I scored it though, like I was playing on the PGA, assessing penalties, no redo shots. And honestly, the worst part of the whole day was just my chipping. I felt like I had like two chips around every hole and a lot of blades. Um, but as I talked about last week, chipping and a lot of shots that just require fuel. Uh, they are the slower shots to come at the beginning of the season as you're kind of getting back into it. So I definitely think I'm gonna be a lot better this next round. So that's it for this episode of the Birdie Board Podcast. Thanks for listening, everyone.

SPEAKER_01 24:26

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