Augusta National member tidbits

While "no spectators" is the mantra this week, I did read where members will be allowed on the grounds. If that's the case, Sunday around #18 could be like the first time you saw the Sgt. Peppers album cover and tried to identify who was who. Regardless, I would not anticipate a roar from the likes of Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Condaleesa Rice, Steve Spurrier, Meg Whitman, etc., but that could be an interesting side bar to the t.v. viewing experience.

The other thing I found interesting was Justin Thomas talking about John Rham's hole-in-one on 16 yesterday, and that when Thomas played 16 in a practice round his group decided not to do the skip thing b/c a) that's done mostly to entertain the fans(o.k., patrons), and b) there were members behind them on the 15th green and "we didn't want to hold them up". So if I read that correctly, in found that incredible the best golfers in the world on possibly the greatest course are out there the week of the tournament interspersed with the weekend hackers. Membership in this case definitely has its privileges.

That last paragraph seems a stretch. I’m guessing he doesn’t find it as fun to skip the hole when there aren’t any fans. Rahm’s shit obviously blew up twitter, so it’s still not a bad thing to do right now. I would bet the members behind JT would have had their phones out should he have tried the shot.

Not all the members are hackers. Jeff Knox, for example, is sought out by the pros because if his course knowledge and will frequently be paired with a pro if there is an odd number of players. A few years ago, when he was paired with Rory McIlroy in the opening round, Knox beat him.

Fayettenam said:

That last paragraph seems a stretch. I’m guessing he doesn’t find it as fun to skip the hole when there aren’t any fans. Rahm’s shit obviously blew up twitter, so it’s still not a bad thing to do right now. I would bet the members behind JT would have had their phones out should he have tried the shot.

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AUGUSTA, Ga. — It's a long-standing fan favorite for players to skip a ball across the pond at the par-3 16th during practice rounds. But what do you do if there are no fans?
Jon Rahm kept the tradition alive on Tuesday despite the empty course — and he made quite a memory. Rahm skipped a ball that hit water four times, jumped up on the green, rolled to the back of the green, took the break to the back-left pin location and — plunk — found the bottom of the cup for a hole-in-one.
Not everyone, however, is choosing to play to the non-patron crowd.
Justin Thomas played with a group that included Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth on Sunday.
"It's definitely for the fans," Thomas said Tuesday. "Sunday we were going to skip and we had a group of members behind us, and they were on the 15th green, so we didn't feel the need to hold them up.
"And then yesterday Tiger (Woods) and Freddy (Couples) didn't really want to and I kind of do whatever they say around this place, so I'm 0 for 2."

DownEastDeac said:

AUGUSTA, Ga. — It's a long-standing fan favorite for players to skip a ball across the pond at the par-3 16th during practice rounds. But what do you do if there are no fans?
Jon Rahm kept the tradition alive on Tuesday despite the empty course — and he made quite a memory. Rahm skipped a ball that hit water four times, jumped up on the green, rolled to the back of the green, took the break to the back-left pin location and — plunk — found the bottom of the cup for a hole-in-one.
Not everyone, however, is choosing to play to the non-patron crowd.
Justin Thomas played with a group that included Gary Woodland, Rickie Fowler and Jordan Spieth on Sunday.
"It's definitely for the fans," Thomas said Tuesday. "Sunday we were going to skip and we had a group of members behind us, and they were on the 15th green, so we didn't feel the need to hold them up.
"And then yesterday Tiger (Woods) and Freddy (Couples) didn't really want to and I kind of do whatever they say around this place, so I'm 0 for 2."

Click to expand...

Keep part of that story being "Sunday". Not quite tournament week yet. I'm not surprised there were members out there playing on Sunday, since there was probably less than half of the Masters field on site by then.

Pretty nice weather on Sunday too.