Certain Masters Tournament traditions have stood the test of time.
Others, such as the Wednesday long-drive contest, have ceased.
Then, there are certain behind-the-scenes moments reserved only for club members and tournament players.
Here’s a look at five lesser known facts about Augusta National.
To go, please
Dustin Johnson’s menu at the 2021 Champions Dinner featured a main course of filet mignon or marinated sea bass.
The dessert? A choice of peach cobbler or apple pie with vanilla ice cream.
“We’re finishing the meal,” 1982 winner Craig Stadler said. “Then I start seeing people getting bottles of wine to go.”
Stadler — a supper attendee since 1983 — had never seen it done.
But there it was. An Augusta National waiter bringing bottles for the road.
“I thought, ‘These would be a great addition to my wine collection,’” Stadler said.
The Walrus, seizing an opportunity to hike DJ’s tab, ordered a bottle of white and red. Then, for good measure, had the host sign the bottles in gold Sharpie.
Fishing at DeSoto Springs Pond
It’s been 50 years since Jerry Pate entered the bag room inside Augusta National’s golf shop.
Stacked tall in one corner were golf bags. In another were fishing poles and a tackle box, belonging to caddie master Freddie Bennett.
Pate, competing as an amateur in 1975, dispensed a top-water lure, hooked it tight, then paced towards the Par 3 Course.
“I’d fish at Augusta every year,” said Pate, now 71. “I caught a lot of bass on the upper pond.”
Pate qualified for the Masters seven times between 1975 and 1982, and each year — upon completing a practice round — he’d venture to DeSoto Springs Pond.
The Alabama native was often joined by Andy Bean, Dave Stockton and his brother-in-law, Bruce Lietzke. But the most notable fishermen were Julius Boros and Sam Snead.
“You wouldn’t believe the bass we caught,” Pate said. “But we’d always throw them back. I never took one to get fried up.”
Fishing at Augusta National lasted at least 30 years, with Pate continuing through 1982, and Snead being seen on the pond as early as 1953.
But Snead's most memorable catch occurred on April 6, 1970. According to journalist Dick Schaap, chairman Clifford Roberts was sitting in the club’s barber shop when Snead walked inside holding a smallmouth weighing eight ...
