The Masters: Top Golf Journalists Reflect On The Game's Opening Act

The Masters Invitational kicks off tomorrow and golfers the world over are getting ready. In celebration of this annual rite of spring, The A Position.com presents its own views of the tournament, from cherished memories to inside angles on the course and how to play Augusta National.

The new A List—a monthly compendium of expert golf and travel info—recalls moments of pain and pleasure. As spectators, reporters, disinterested observers, and even hackers lucky enough to challenge the fabled layout, The A Position’s writers present a variety of perspectives on this singular event. Favorite holes, advice for viewers, sage analysis, even contradictory (and somewhat heretical) opinions.

The A Position’s writers know every blade of grass and can taste the pimento-cheese sandwiches. They bring the flavor of Augusta and The Masters to readers looking for something new, exciting, and unique.

And unmistakably Masters. Excerpts from their comments follow:

• After hearing so many people describe how television flattens the course, I couldn’t wait to see Augusta National in 3-D for the first time in 2003…

• The first event that I covered as journalist that could be called a major historical event occurred April 13, 1997.  On that day, Tiger Woods won his first Masters at age 21…

• Here are a few observations about Augusta National, based on covering 24 Masters:  It’s the most exciting back nine in golf because it’s not at all out of the question to shoot a 30 or a 40…

• I have attended five Masters, always wearing the Barney Fife badge that is stamped “Media,” not the Wyatt Earp badge stamped “Working Media…”

• It was always a true privilege to talk golf shop with my late, great friend and mentor Paul Runyan.  Of the Masters, and its inaugural winner, Horton Smith, he said, "Finest putter I ever saw…”

• In 1996, despite the ongoing collapse, Greg Norman still had a puncher’s chance when he got to the 16th tee…

• My Masters wish is that the tournament would go away, or more realistically, become just another stop on the PGA Tour alongside the Quad City Classic and John Deere…

• Having learned to ski on the slopes of New England, Augusta National’s 10^th hole is immediately familiar…

• My first Masters was 1985, and more memorable than Bernhard Langer’s green jacket was my winning a spot in the media lottery to play the course the Monday after…

• While a Masters’ badge is often noted as one of the hardest sporting event stubs to get, there is still an even more difficult, yet far superior way to get on Augusta National during tournament week: as a volunteer…

• Redbud has nothing to do with Orson Welles and everything to do with the par-three 16th at Augusta National, normally about 170 yards…

• Surely Martha Burk is not alone in surveying the lush empire that is Augusta National Golf Club and thinking, “If only…”