The first Masters Charles Howell III attended was in 1987 when he changed into a year antique, and local Larry Mize chipped in to beat Greg Norman in a playoff. When he turned 10, Howell performed at Augusta National for the first time and broke eighty. In 2002, 12 months after being named PGA Tour Rookie of the Year, he changed into given an honorary membership to the membership, which he has been to so commonly he is aware of each hump and hole almost as well as he is aware of the names of nearly every worker in the region.
If there’s all and sundry who should experience driving down Magnolia Lane at home, it is Howell. While the 39-yr-antique Augusta, Ga., native, whose dad and mom nevertheless live down the road from the membership, tees it up at this year’s Masters, there might be a completely unprecedented amount of strain and uneasiness looming around each Loblolly pine and azalea bush. It has nothing to do with gambling in the tournament for the first time because of 2012. One of my challenges is getting relaxed around there,” Howell said. “It’s unlike another occasion which you play. It isn’t easy to get settled. It’s no longer even approximately understanding the golf route. It’s everything else that is going on there. You show up to head play a pleasing, quiet spherical on Monday, and it’s packed.
That’s the handiest the beginning. Related: Augusta National’s unwritten policies
While there are plenty of no-nos for the lovers (ahem, patrons)—no mobile phones, no going for walks, no laying down among them—in terms of players, it’s the unwritten guidelines, no longer to mention integrated logistics, which can make an already stressful week that much more so.
“Your behavior is something you think about more than everywhere else,” stated Webb Simpson. “They don’t have policies,” delivered every other participant. “They have customs and traditions.” The first time the above golfer performed around, he published a picture on his non-public Instagram account. The next day, he got a call from the membership informing him that they’d “admire” it if he eliminated it, noting that images had been a matter of personal keepsakes.
“It becomes one of these unwritten rules that you don’t know until you screw up,” the player stated. As accurately because the Masters is administered—and in the eyes of most we talked to, it’s for the little run event they play for myriad reasons—there are elements of the game and Augusta National that certainly make the Masters a chief unlike another. As one veteran of a handful of Masters tournaments positioned it: “The only aspect I don’t like is that I usually experience like I’m strolling around on eggshells. I’ve gotten more relaxed with it over time. However, I don’t recognize what I can and might do because you hear testimonies of what people get in trouble for.”Among them:
—In 2011, Rickie Fowler wore his hat back as he sat down for an interview inside the media middle. He was informed by using member Ron Townsend to show the cap around. Fowler explained he wore it in that manner so people could see his face. Townsend could have none of it and asked Fowler to turn the hat around again.
—That same year, Golf Channel analyst Charlie Rymer became booted from his belongings at some stage in the match for speakme on his cellular smartphone, which was out of doors in the media middle. Media members are only authorized to use inside the press building.
—On some other occasion, a participant was warming up in an inexperienced setting adjacent to the first tee. At the same time, he says he turned into informed with a Green Jacket’s aid that the earbuds he was taking note of had been an unwelcome sight.
—In 1997, Ken Green famously drank a lager while gambling a practice spherical with Arnold Palmer. He became fined by the PGA Tour but got the best rescinded by pronouncing the beer as non-alcoholic (it wasn’t).
Meanwhile, other gamers talked about being spoken to about forgetting to take their hat off while beneath a roof and being limited to how many humans a participant could have in their entourage while at the range (in short, a caddie plus one).
“I’d love to win that event a few days, and it would be high-quality to take my dad there to play around,” stated Marc Leishman, noting a privilege extended to past champions. “You don’t want to piss any individual off.” The club has its approaches, even among its own.
