Steven Polardi 
What makes The Masters so unique and special? Do you ever wonder why all the announcers speak in such hushed and reverent tones ?
It’s the only major to be held on the same course year after year. There is a ban on all advertising of any kind on the grounds. Sponsors who spend millions to advertise during the Masters are told they can have very limited commercial spots or go pound sand. They limit the tv sponsors to five only, with a waiting list hundreds of times larger. Some compare it to the Super Bowl, it is the complete opposite. Most folks in the stands aren’t rooting for the teams, they are there for the spectacle, the halftime show, and lots say it’s the commercials that draws them to the Super Bowl. The Masters doesn’t want any commercials but they relented to have a few many years ago when CBS showed up with a wheelbarrow of cash and national exposure. When you arrive at the course it’s like you’ve gone back in time. Not one single advertisement in sight anywhere, every fallen leaf is raked away, every pine needle is swept up for compost later. Think immaculate. Security will snap up any cell phone or camera that anyone tries to bring on the grounds, they are forbidden, as are any autographs once the tourney starts. Even the players understand the relevance of Augusta, normally their caps and shirts are adorned with sponsors logos and ads at other venues, try finding one of them at The Masters. Its just as different as night and day.
The course that Robert Trent (Bobby) Jones built used to be a nursery that was worked by slaves back in darker times. The horticulture still displays itself proudly throughout the course, it has stunning vistas everywhere that are 100% natural, no video enhancing is necessary or allowed.
The Grand Slam is every golfers dream. You must win the Masters to even be in that conversation for an entire year, it’s the first major as it should be. Unknowns play next to superstars and the history is so thick you can’t cut it with a knife. Bobby Jones, Sam Snead, Ben Hogan, Byron Nelson, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Ben Crenshaw, Nick Faldo, Tiger Woods and Hideki Matsuyama, the current champion, just to name a few. All of them have been awarded the coveted green jacket which is presented to the winner by the previous years winner at the conclusion of the tourney. They are allowed to keep their jacket for one year and then they must return it, and can then only wear it when they are on the grounds. It has been that way for decades, and is part of the nostalgia, not hype, that makes this so special.
Amen corner, Arnie’s bench, the par 3 contest, which includes skipping balls across the the lake and onto the green for fun, memorable matches between Arnold and Jack, Tiger and Phil. If you follow the Masters there are memories you can recall in an instant. For myself it’s a personal one. I used to be a car dealer and would be present when Ben Crenshaw and Tom Kite would hold court at a dealership on First Street in Austin. I learned about their mentor Harvey Penick, author of “The Little Red Book” which gives lessons in golf and in life. It’s the biggest selling book in the history of golf.
How to take 5 strokes off your game immediately
In Harvey’s book he guarantees he can take five strokes off everyone’s game in a week or two, tops. Change the way you practice. Spend two weeks and devote 90% of your practice time to chipping and putting and only 10% to a full swing. If you do this, you will drop five points off your handicap, he guaranteed it. No one has ever asked for their money back, not a single soul. Aiming at something with your practice swing teaches you to square the clubface, don’t ever take another practice swing without aiming it at something. He was a gem, and coached Tom Kite and Crenshaw to US open victories, Masters victories, tons of regular tourneys and all three are in the Golf Hall of Fame.
Ben Crenshaw had won a Masters and was struggling mightily with his game when he hit the magnolia lane in 1995. He got a call that Harvey had just passed away and he had a choice, be a pallbearer at Harvey’s funeral or risk losing a shot at his second green jacket. He rushed back to Austin to honor his friend and mentor, and afterwards felt compelled to go back to Augusta even though he couldn’t get in until late Wednesday night and would have no practice whatsoever before the tourney began. Against every odd he won his second Masters and his collapse into his caddy, crying and sobbing, is probably the most raw event of human emotion I have ever seen with the exception of combat missions.
Take a moment, (two minutes and thirty three seconds to be exact) and go to youtube.com and type in “written in the wind” which is a brief look at what transpired in one week of the Masters 27 years ago, and realize there are many other stories about this storied major that in this writers opinion is the greatest tournament in golf. Period.
Everyone Sia’s first look at The Masters will be out shortly, expect many more articles and enhanced Discord engagement as we celebrate this week in golf DFS, the week of The Masters.
As always, I hope to be with you on Sunday afternoon, in the money. You can also come and hang out in the Win Daily Sports Discord Chat to talk it out with everyone before the lock!
