Every golfer dreams of slipping into a green jacket on Masters Sunday.
Bert Yancey, a native son of Tallahassee, came tantalizingly close to doing it. That was no easy task playing during the era of Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, and Gary Player. However, Yancey channeled his love for Augusta into three top-5 finishes during a four year stretch from 1967 to 1970.
He remains the closest the Capital City has ever come to having a Masters Champion.
Yancey’s obsession with winning at Augusta was legendary. From a young age, his golf ambitions were solely focused on earning a Masters invitation and finding his way into Butler Cabin as the winner. He made his aim clear and even vowed to never attend the tournament until he earned a spot in the field.
PGA golfer Bert Yancey grew playing Capital City Country Club
Yancey grew up playing at Capital City Country Club when the course was still owned and managed by the City of Tallahassee as a municipal amenity. His father, Malcolm Yancey, was the Tallahassee City Manager from 1940 to 1952.
He attended the United States Military Academy at West Point and captained the golf team there until being discharged after his first bought with what would later be diagnosed as a manic depression. After a stint a club professional in Philadelphia, Yancey sought out a place on the PGA Tour, eventually earning his card in 1964.
The touring life began to pay off for Yancey in 1966 – winning three times that season and earning his first Masters invitation for the 1967 tournament. He prepared meticulously for the tournament consulting the likes of Byron Nelson and Ken Venturi during walks around the course. He studied the approach of Ben Hogan and developed a plan to play Augusta National Golf Club based on a combination of those inputs. All of which lead to a dazzling debut for the Masters rookie.
Yancey shot a blistering 67 in his first competitive round at the Masters and took a 3-shot lead of the tournament. He followed that stellar performance with solid rounds of 73 and 71, maintaining a tie for the lead going into Sunday. Unfortunately, Yancey carded a final round 73, losing the green jacket to Gay Brewer, who began the day 2 shots behind and shot a 67 to win the tournament. Yancey finished in solo 3rd four shots behind the winner.
Dispite coming up short in his debut, Yancey’s stellar week earned him an invitation to play again in 1968. He continued to study the Augusta National course as part of his preparations, going as far as to make clay models of each green to better understand the pin locations. The club is rumored to still have them in their archives.
Yancey’s 1968 Masters was in many ways the opposite of his debut the year before. He lingered near the top of the leaderboard all week with rounds of 71, 71, and 72 before catching fire on Sunday. Yancey birdied four of the last six holes to post a final round 65.
His blistering finish was good enough to place solo 3rd for the second straight year. Yancey wound up 2 shots behind eventual winner Bob Goalby, who took the green jacket after Argentinian Roberto De Vincenzo signed an incorrect scorecard, keeping him out of a playoff.
Strong showing at the Masters helps Bert Yancey win Atlanta Classic
In 1969, Yancey made another strong showing in Augusta finishing tied for 13th at the Masters. Despite being 7 shots from making the playoff between winner George Archer and Billy Casper, he was able to find his winning form on tour the following month. Yancey won the 1969 Atlanta Classic and was able to secure his spot again for the 1970 Masters.
1970 would ...
