It’s a tradition unlike any other – going to Augusta National Golf Club in the months leading up to the Masters on a scouting trip or for a buddies’ get together or maybe a member invites you along and who could say no to that? It’s become an annual social media rite the last few years to track Tiger’s private plane to see if he’s dipping in to test the legs on Augusta’s slopey hills.
Playing in the Masters is to check a box in the lifetime achievements category as a touring pro but to have the ability to simply go play the course as an invited guest in the lead up to the Masters when there are no patrons or ropes or a Green Jacket on the line is a thrill in its own right.
We asked competitors past and present to share their favorite story from some of those trips that didn’t happen during Masters week and the pros didn’t let us down.