After a delayed start due to weather, the Masters got underway this morning with the ceremonial first tee shots hit by Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson and Gary Player. But the annual unofficial start to the Masters occurred a few minutes earlier on the range, when Player issued his latest flaming hot take (see previous: the Read more…
If Augusta National invited you to join its club, how much would you be willing to pay? This might seem like a fun, cheap thought exercise to us today, but back in the early 1930s, when the club was created, thousands around the country were offered that chance. MORE: Power rankings for the entire field Read more…
For the most part, I don’t bet on golf. The thought of me losing money because someone can’t make a five-footer when it matters doesn’t sit well with me. What’s more, knowing who is going to play well on any given week in professional golf, in my non-gambler opinion, is laughable. I know you have Read more…
Most golfers will never get to experience the numerous traditions that make the Masters so special, like the Champions Dinner, the Par-3 Contestoor, heck, Tiger Woods and Fred Couples playing a practice round together (like they did again on Tuesday at the 2024 Masters). One that they can try to replicate, however, is the practice-round Read more…
The prevailing narrative of Bobby Jones is that following his historic 1930 Grand Slam, winning all four of golf’s then-major championships, he retired from competitive golf and preserved his status as a lifelong amateur. However, that is a myth, says David Owen, Augusta National’s leading historian, who notes that not only did Bobby Jones compete Read more…
When Augusta National Golf Club calls and makes you an offer, what do you request in return? That is what longtime New Yorker and Golf Digest writer David Owen was faced with in the late-1990s when the club’s chairman, Jack Stephens, asked Owen to write a comprehensive history of the club, the Masters tournament and Read more…
By nearly every measure, the Masters has the greatest spectator experience of any sporting event. Affordable concessions, a sprawling merchandise building and Green Jackets abound to help guide you around the property. The Augusta National-mandated term “patrons” is not purely semantics—it reflects co-founder Clifford Roberts’ belief that the spectators are helping the club by attending Read more…
The inaugural Golf Digest Open, played last October at Omni PGA Frisco in Texas, came to a dramatic finish in the gross and net divisions. Battling chilly temperatures and a strong breeze, Scottsdale’s Bennett Blakeman and Cody Massa (top left) came to the final hole on the East course—slated to host the 2027 and 2034 Read more…
Take a moment and visualize Augusta National Golf Club. How many holes come clearly into view? A lot, right? Aside from your home track and a handful of other famed layouts, there might be no course that you are more familiar with than Augusta—and chances are you’ve never even played it! That familiarity comes from Read more…
The fascinating history of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters is also a story of what could have been given the ambitious initial plans for the club. In fact, considering its tumultuous early struggle to survive through the Great Depression and World War II, it’s a wonder the club exists at all today. That Read more…
To understand why green speeds fluctuate and why course superintendents can’t simply mow the greens as short as possible to achieve lightning-fast speeds, we caught up with Jason Meersman, the director of grounds at The Patterson Club in Fairfield, Connecticut.
Most of us are not blessed with the physical capabilities of the modern tour pro, but those limits don’t exist on the mental side. There is nothing preventing us from thinking like the best players in the world. Adopting an elite performance mentality takes practice and discipline. Before you dive in, you need to learn Read more…
Unlike the rest of us, tour pros aren’t worried about bunker shots—in fact, they often prefer them. Given that they can control the spin on short greenside bunker shots, they are often an easier shot than from the rough. The lone exception? When you get in that no man’s land, around 40 to 50 yards Read more…
Is your son or daughter hooked on the game and aspiring to play golf in college? Great! An exciting journey awaits, but the road to securing a spot on a college golf team can be overwhelming. Is my kid good enough to play D-I? D-III? When should they start reaching out to coaches? What tournaments Read more…
In 2022, the Old Course at St. Andrews hosted the 150th Open Championship, when Cameron Smith stormed past Rory McIlroy to win his first major championship. It was the 30th time that the oldest men’s major championship was played at the Home of Golf. The Old Course would be a must-play for its major championship Read more…
Golf Digest’s Luke Kerr-Dineen, a scratch golfer, has a confession: “I am one of those amateur golfers who sucks at aiming,” he tells me on the latest episode of the Golf IQ podcast. Seeing that Luke is my work superior, please note that I mentioned he is a stick before highlighting his relatable observation about Read more…
When Scott Fawcett was playing mini tours in the early 2000s, he was just like us, finishing his rounds and realizing that he should have shot a much better score. The frustration of making “dumb” mistakes prompted Fawcett to dive into Strokes Gained statistics to uncover a definitive strategy for how golfers should play. The Read more…
Australian Golf Digest
