Verne Lundquist is soaking up every moment as he makes his final appearance as a member of the CBS Sports broadcast team at the 2024 Masters.
With his wife Nancy by his side, Lundquist has been spending time with Augusta National Golf Club members who have become friends. He’s also been reminiscing with Sean McManus, the longtime CBS Sports chairman, who will depart when Lundquist does.
“It’s time. I’m not a spring chicken anymore. And my boss and I talked about it a couple of years ago. By the way, he is retiring at the same time,” Lundquist said during a recent fundraiser in Austin, Texas, for Ben Crenshaw’s Save Muny project.
“It’s emotional. I’m not going to deny that. We’ve gotten close to a lot of the members now and this is a very emotional week for us.”
Lundquist started on the Masters broadcasts in 1984 and has made the 16th hole his home since 2000. His legendary calls have been the stuff legends are made of.
“He’s just the voice,” said good friend and colleague Jim Nantz of Lundquist. “His calls are truly legendary. … Augusta’s a place that I feel like kind of comes to life every April. It’s not just because it’s a gathering of the greatest players in the world and there’s a golf competition, but it’s a week where history, where voices, they come back. We hear them again. We still kind of feel and have front of mind the legends of yesteryear. The Gene Sarazens, they make an earthly visit every year in April. Byron (Nelson), Ben (Hogan), Sam (Snead), of course Arnold (Palmer), there’s one week a year where they come back in our lives, back on our planet.”
But since nothing lasts forever, the question left after this year’s event is who will now man the booth on Redbud, the often-pivotal par 3, once Lundquist packs up for good on Sunday.
The veteran of 40 years insists he doesn’t know, either, but he’s vowed to find out before he vacates.
“I can’t wait to ask the people who are succeeding my boss, who are you going to put a 16?” he said. “I honestly don’t know. I’ve got a couple of pretty good ideas though.”
As for the hike up to the famous tower, whoever does succeed Lundquist will have fewer obstacles to making the calls.
“The climb up the tower. It’s easier now than it used to be, that’s for sure,” he said. “They used to go straight up. Thank god they don’t any longer.”