The Fall of The Masters

by Mark Filler

The Cast 10 November 2020

It sounds so weird.  It FEELS weird.  It is always in April.  A tradition no like other.  Hello, friends.  NFL Football and The Masters will be watched on the SAME day in the Fall season?  This year has thrown us some curveballs to say the least.  And now we get one more.

But this is a different type of curveball.  This is special and demands to have your full attention.  We still achieved getting The Masters in the calendar year, pandemic or not.  Now, true, you fans during the early NFL games will need to make a big choice (THANK you, Steelers, for being the late afternoon game, as it makes me in the clear and free of guilt), and let me lay out a little more detail, some personal and some mainstream, that make this a tougher decision than you think.

Getting a ticket to The Masters is a lottery, and very tough to win, even with a group of people trying.  I got lucky, and was invited to a practice round day by a fraternity brother.  You might counter by saying it was ONLY a practice round day (those other during-round days are still near the top of the bucket list for me of course).  I would argue the following.  Any day at Augusta is a treasure, there were less crowds on practice round days, walking more freely was permissible, stars were easier to get closer to, the Par 3 competition occurs, and you can carry a CAMERA on those days (no phones OR cameras on the other days and they are strict).  Actually, players aren’t even allowed to have their own phones on the course during practice rounds. But of course, things are a little less strict with them (assuming how we got the feature orange tree pic). Practice rounds are also the only time I will snag a picture like below, of four professional golfers trying to skip the ball onto the green in synchronization on Hole 16.

Let me dig in more for you.  The Masters is the only Major that is played on the same course every single year.  The other Majors rotate.   Therefore, it is an annual meeting place of the greatest in golf with incredible history that stays consistent.  And past winners are always welcomed back, so rankings don’t dislodge the very special club.  Oddly, the town of Augusta is a rundown place filled with pawn shops, shady motels, Waffle Houses, and laundry and dry cleaner combos.  It is NOT a quaint, pretty town outside a masterpiece.  The golf course is a gem stuck inside a scrapyard.  Actually, if my recollection is correct, there is a pawn shop in a strip mall located RIGHT outside of Amen Corner.  It is basically the first thing on the other side of the fence.  The Masters Inn has probably its own natural lottery of which rooms have bed bugs.  And I got to sleep on the floor during my trip.  We found John Daly at the Hooters down the street, and assume he probably just lives there during the week.  The town actually suits him just fine, and I assume a Waffle House trip occurs before or after his charitable autograph signing. 

The course?   The course is absolutely magical.  You get chills when you walk onto the course (not lying in the least bit).  The landscapers must be superheroes in their field.  The grass is the greenest, most beautiful thing you have ever seen. 

Wait.  I like the way I said it back in 2018 after my trip in my blog at the time.  The birds chirped louder.  The flowers were more colorful.  The grass was greener.  It was the farthest thing from just a golf course I had ever seen.  It was something that if you just painted it, it would be sought out for much money.  But, it was real.  It IS real.  People actually play GOLF on this portrait.  I can’t wait to go back.

OK.  Back to the course.  Wait.  More, and also I like how I said this in 2018.  You know the phrase “kid in a candy store?”  Of course, you do.  We all use it to this day.  And somewhere inside all of our heads is that wish that we could actually FEEL like that kid in a candy store again even though we were adults.  We wish we could bottle up that goose-bumped feeling that was innocent, pure, exciting, and beyond our wildest dreams.  THAT is The Masters.

Want merchandise?  There are many items in the shop that you can’t get online (like my vest).  There is a shipping place right next to each store so you don’t have to carry anything around, but can wear around your hard-to-get-item, kind-of-proclaiming-that-you-were-there-badge-of-honor-item when you get home.  The pimento cheese and chicken sandwiches are beyond legendary, and all food is cheap to buy.  Pennies on the dollar, and they are not looking to make serious money off of those items.  You got in?  You somehow got a ticket?  You get rewarded.  No name brands, but they taste good and have to be someone big.   For example, it just says “cola,” but it probably is Pepsi or Coke.  Augusta doesn’t need their silly ads.  They don’t care.  Have to go to the bathroom?  There is someone to wipe down the toilet seat the moment you are done.  And since the tournament doesn’t rotate and is so legendary, you already know the course upon your arrival from the television and folklore.  It is like putting the pieces of the most magical puzzle together instantaneously when you didn’t have the pieces previously.  I got to SEE why 12 is so hard to land, why you have to miss that tree on 15, and that incline on 18.  And know the reason why first timers have such a hard time at the event?  It is an event where green reading books are not allowed.  You either get an old school caddie, or have to learn on the fly.  It is also the reason Tiger and Phil are always more dangerous at the event.  Course knowledge through experience.  But, all of these are things you can ask anyone who has been there about, and they are just sort of facts.

But seriously.  They were the cleanest toilets I have ever seen out and about.

So, why should you watch THIS year?  Why is November so intriguing for this event?  Why is the pandemic year going to be different for The Masters?  Why should you watch over football (or at least have as a flipper) and what will be different?  What has 2020 done to the already perfect event?  Let’s see…

1. Let’s talk about the course.  Augusta closes over the summer, folks.  It actually closes in May.  The course was brown two months ago.  Literally.  It was on Google Earth.  It looked like a dark brown sandlot.  Except the greens.  They always take care of those, open or closed.  But, the bottom line is that the course personnel had the whole open season to master the landscaping before the typical April Masters.  In this case, it will be right after they open back up.  This is a much different timeline, and has to deal with cards up the sleeve for Mother Nature.  The landscapers in Augusta are having quite a 2020 summer too. 
2. But, we will see some master (no pun intended) landscaping regardless.
3. It is a different time of the year.  Some trees will be orange for fall (see featured image from the practice rounds this year), and some different flowers will be in and out of bloom.  The landscapers might try and cover up the differences, or might embrace the change of season.  Who knows?
4. Until someone runs and comes to pick up them, we MIGHT see a leaf or two on the ground because of the season.  Might, but probably not.
5. Rory thinks that chipping from fairway to green becomes harder and more interesting  because the Bermuda is different than in April.  He is probably right, and Jim will probably point out many more differences as we learn them.  It will be educational for the announcers too, as they don’t get the chance to play the course, and have only seen it in April in their lifetime.
6. Let’s talk tee times.  The fall days are shorter, Augusta is on the East Coast, and tee times will be earlier and play will end more quickly.  And they have to account for the shorter days in relation to the TV audience.
7. In fact, players will tee off 1 and 10 for the first two days.  This will be nuts, as players will hit Amen Corner one hole into their round.
8. And, on Sunday, since CBS has an obligation to the NFL for the later games, they will be DONE by then.
9. Will the cooler temperatures at night affect the earlier players?  Possibly.  We don’t fully know, folks.
10. The early forecast is for lots of rain.  Too early to tell, but weather might be more of a factor than other years.  We might get some combo Masters and British Open, friends.
11. There is no 10-shot rule this year.  Normally, this is the rule that help makes the cut on Saturday (10 stroke delta from leader), but it is 2020 and everything is different.
12. There are no crowds allowed.  The magic of the course is the close proximity of certain important holes, and the roars that echo across the course.  On Saturday, you know that someone is taking full advantage of Moving Day and coming for you, and on Sunday, you know that someone is trying to make history.  This lack of crowds will take some of the magic away, but also will be an intriguing silence.
13. Interestingly, Bubba Watson has two jackets WITH crowds, plays well typically at the course, but has publicly said that he doesn’t prefer big crowds at tournaments.  So, 2020 is basically playing into his wishes.  Hmmmm….
14. Qualifications were different this year.  There was very little ramp up period in general, and qualifications were stopped in March.  There are a few people who might typically be in the field who aren’t.
15. The next Masters is only five months away, if normalcy ever comes back.  That is nuts.
16. Bryson DeChambeau gained 40 pounds of muscle during quarantine, and extended his drive by at least 30 yards.  He just bullied around a US Open course meant to reward exactness and penalize mistakes.  He now plays a course that rewards length during a season that might reward him more.  I read a great article about the five traditional holes he will change.  Imagine hitting over the bunkers on Hole 1 and chipping into the flag.  Imagine catching the downslope on 13 and actually being able to go for the flag instead of the right green.  Imagine easily driving the 350-yard Par 4 Hole 3 (called Flowering Peach)…with a 3 wood.  I think someone will beat him, but I admit it is a lot tougher to make an argument against him.  You historically need to understand when to go for flag and when to go for other parts of the green at Augusta.  He might be able to go at some pins that others can’t.  Supposedly, he is also debuting a longer driver for even more length, adding insult to injury.
17. COVID disqualifications will probably happen.  Two already happened at press time (Tuesday morning), with one being Sergio (and former recent winner).  You hope no more occur, but it is 2020 during a pandemic.
18. Betting is legal in 2020 in most states, folks.  I am not saying to get into betting your rent money, but go online, throw $20 on five players at ridiculous odds, and have some guys to root for.
19. Brooks Koepka has had a bad 2020 due to the pandemic and injuries.  He is back at The Masters.  Will he just go back to starting people down at Majors and winning them all again?  Remember that he was a Tiger-storm away from another one last year in Augusta. 
20. You can hear about the merchandise they are selling online to ticketholders who couldn’t come due to the pandemic.  In the offerings, I do remember seeing a full pound of pimento cheese.
21. And whatever.  Augusta is sort of the second home of Tiger Woods.  Like him or hate him, and he the defending champion with diminishing years left for winning, especially with the new, young big hitters.  Anyone who knows me knows where my heart will be.  Here are some fun facts on his 2019 win.   https://www.espn.com/golf/story/_/id/30228624/the-12-things-know-tiger-woods-win-masters
22. And Tiger FEEDS off of crowds, and the crowds make other players fear the scoreboard and him.  It will be interesting not seeing that effect this year.  It will be interesting to see if he can get any momentum without his monstrous gallery.  Remember, Tiger only shot a -2 on Sunday in the last Masters, but the bombshell on 16 and deafening roars that followed basically destroyed any comebacks from the other players.

So, watch for the earlier mentioned magic that is annual.  Watch for the 2020 pandemic changes.  Watch for the different season.  Watch it because it is fall and 2020 gives us The Masters on a big NFL Sunday.  Watch it to see if Tiger has one more run in him.  Watch to see if Jordan Spieth suddenly finds his swing again.  Watch it to see if Rikki can finally make a run at a Major and be in the hunt on Sunday.  Watch it to see Fred Couples on the course, because that is awesome any day, any year.  Watch it to hear Jim Nantz’s legendary voice at the event.  Watch it because you have no idea what people mean by Amen Corner and finally need clarity in your life.  But know this.  Someone in contention will hit it in Rae’s Creek.  Someone in the hunt will find the water on 12.  Someone else will rise up.  And someone will make a birdie on 16 on Sunday to complete silence.  And it will be weird, different, but still demand your attention.  You should stop your day during one or all of the four days, and turn on the magic.  The Fall of The Masters is not anything tumbling to the ground and stumbling, like Hector in his fight with Achilles in Troy.  It is the farthest thing from anything negative. The Fall of The Masters is simply a different season for the greatest sporting event in the world. The pandemic has made us cherish different things in our lives in 2020. Let’s take four days and embrace fall at Augusta.

Below are some pics from my 2018 trip.  And here was the blog link if you wanted the 2018 blog version also.  http://www.thefillerbuster.com/bucket-1-a-c/

(I only focus on one topic these days, but UVA Hoops got one first place vote in the preseason AP Top 25, and I hope everyone is not too sad about not getting their shot at them during the pandemic year.  Reload complete.)