ANYONE FOR TEE? A map of the legendary Augusta course shows the individual holes along with their par scores.
WHAT IT IS Golfing at one of the world’s most exclusive courses
WHY YOU WON’T DO IT Your handicap must be very small or your power and influence very great
Georgia’s Augusta National Golf Club has been the annual venue for the US Masters Tournament since 1934. As well as being one of the most beloved courses in the world, it is perhaps the most exclusive too. For many a Sunday golfer, simply to play a round there is the ultimate golfing dream.
With its finely manicured lawns and famous features such as Amen Corner and the Crow’s Nest, the club established in 1933 by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts is a place of legend and today has an exclusive membership of around 300. They number the great and the good of American corporate life (Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are both members) and the cream of Southern society.
Exact membership fees are a closely guarded secret. Because of the club’s prodigious revenue streams, not least from television rights for the Masters, the joining fees are believed to be relatively affordable, with the amount in ‘the low five figures’ according to an insider. Each member is presented with a prized green sports jacket with the club logo on the left breast. The winner of the Masters receives one too.
However, gaining membership is a Herculean challenge. There is no application process and you may join by invitation only, in the event of an existing membership place coming free. Don’t appear too keen either – it’s said Bill Gates’s membership took several years to go through after he dared to publicly state his desire to join. Women, meanwhile, were not admitted until 2012 (former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice was the first female member).
If you do get membership, you’ll need to maintain certain standards of etiquette. Your membership will certainly be under threat if you turn into Happy Gilmore once you hit the greens. If you’re not a member yourself, you could devote yourself to befriending a member in the hope that they eventually invite you down to play a round or two. But remember, what feels to you like a genuine attempt to establish a friendship might seem to someone else very much like stalking.
ANYONE FOR TEE? A map of the legendary Augusta course shows the individual holes along with their par scores.
With membership a distant prospect for most of us, and assuming you’re not expecting to get a call from Bill any time soon, how else might you get onto the course? The obvious answer is to earn a spot at the Masters. To qualify for that, you just need to be one of the world’s top 90 players (based on current rankings and past tournament success). All in all, if you’re serious about this option you should probably be out practising your swing rather than reading this book. And even winning the Masters only gets you limited perks – just one guest per year on the Sunday before the competition.
Alternatively, you could work for the club – employees are entitled to play the course once a year, but competition for jobs is predictably fierce. An outside company recruits caddies for the club – the application process is tough but caddies do get certain playing rights. At the Masters itself, competitors may bring their personal caddies, who can be either male or female. This is one of the only ways for a woman to get onto the course unless invited by a member. The club also employs some 400 volunteers who get the opportunity to play the course each May. Alas, the waiting list is massive, and rumour has it that it’s been closed completely.
You could also become a journalist or broadcaster in the world of golf – after the Masters, there is a draw among the media folk and a lucky 32 get to play a round.
If all else fails, you could always try joining the nearby (and moderately less exclusive) Augusta Country Club. It has been known for members of Augusta National to pop round in search of a player in the event of a last-minute dropout, so maybe you’ll find yourself in the right place at the right time.
And remember, if you do get a chance to play on the hallowed ground, be sure not to be overheard uttering that immortal quotation from Mark Twain about golf being ‘a good walk spoiled’.
