MASTERS MEMORIES

Masters week. A Tradition Unlike Any Other. I thought this would be a great time and place to share some of my favorite Masters traditions and moments.

My earliest tradition was to be sure to take a babysitting job during tournament week. We had a strict “lights out” at 9:30 p.m. at home, even into high school, so if I had a babysitting job, I could stay up to watch the late highlight show on CBS. The coolest part about that babysitting job: it was usually to watch over the kids of the assistant golf professional at McGregor Links. The couple knew how much I looked forward to those nights, and I’m pretty sure they found an excuse to go out at that time every year just so I could watch that short highlight show.

I attended the Masters for the first time in 1987 as a senior at Furman University. I was offered a ticket to the final round after winning our own tournament the day before. It was like Christmas Eve as a kid when you think you might get the gift that was on the top of your list for Santa. I barely slept! Security certainly wasn’t what it is today, because I drove to the Magnolia Lane entrance (now Gate 3) and presented my gold pin for being low amateur at the 1984 U.S. Women’s Open and my Curtis Cup players badge, and I was shown to a spot in Player Parking!

I walked every yard, including the Par 3 course, of the property with a college teammate and was standing in the 12th tee viewing area when Larry Mize chipped in for birdie and the Green Jacket on the 11th (2nd playoff hole) and tore Greg Norman’s heart out yet again at Augusta National.

My final favorite to share here: the walk to check my tower position at the 13th hole for the first time. In 2016, I became the first woman to call live television at the Masters. The enormity and opportunity of the moment was not lost on me. It was heavy and celebratory at the same time. I admittedly got a little teary climbing the ladder to the tower, but what a view! I’d be in that tower covering the 4th and 13th holes for four years before becoming the first on-course reporter in Masters history in 2020, a role I will have again this year.

And this Wednesday night, I know I won’t sleep much. It’s still like Christmas Eve knowing the next day is the opening round of the Masters.