It is official…my Masters Countdown has started. There’s only 25 days until our first major and I kicked off my Masters Countdown by grabbing a copy of The Masters Journal yesterday and as any true Masters fan knows you have to have a copy of The Journal to get the ball rolling, so to speak.
As usual the Green Jackets of Augusta National have got it right. The back cover alone is worth the ten bucks.
Eighty years ago Gene Sarazen hit one of the most famous shots in golf, his miraculous double eagle on Augusta’s par 5 fifteenth hole. The back cover is a tribute to “The Squire” and his shot heard ‘round the world.
There’s a picture of the 15th green as it was in ’35, a few photographs of a dapper Sarazen and the actual persimmon 4-wood and Wilson Staff ball that he used to bring the Augusta National Invitational Tournament into the spotlight.
The Masters wasn’t quite The Masters back then. The club had struggled to survive shortly after it opened and some say without Sarazen’s famed double eagle it would have taken much longer for the tournament to earn a significant place in professional golf.
Also included in The Journal is a new feature, making its first appearance in the official program, a recap of last year’s inaugural Drive, Chip & Putt contest.
Last year the plans of The USGA, The PGA of America and Augusta National came to fruition when 88 youngsters teed it up at Augusta for what we hope will be a long time tradition in the making, the Drive, Chip & Putt Finals.
2014 Drive Chip & Putt Winners
It was a magical day, not just for the contestants but for everyone there and all of us watching it from our couches.
There have never been that many smiles, laughs, high fives, fist pumps and tears on any single day at Augusta National. It came off better than anyone, including Augusta Chairman, Billy Payne could have imagined.
We hope that this year is just as successful.
Hey, there’s only twenty one days until the Drive, Chip & Putt Finals. Open your copy of The Masters Journal and let the countdown begin.
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