Masters Musings and a Green that Makes Augusta Look Tame

Welcome to the Two Down Press golf newsletter!

We made it! It’s officially the start of the 89th Masters Tournament. This year’s field of 95 will be the tournament’s largest since 2015. A big field could portend a surprise winner, but recent history points to a big name slipping on the green jacket come Sunday. Several of the world’s best have shown strong early season form, making the event challenging to handicap. Couple these factors with a great weekend weather forecast, and I say we’re in for an exciting tournament.

My pick: it doesn’t align with my rooting interests, but I have a feeling the prickly Collin Morikawa is going to play well this week.

This week’s 2DP features a Masters-themed Q&A with Charlotte-based golf writer Ron Green Jr., who has been covering the Masters for over 40 years. We also heap praise on an amazing local golf facility and, as always, share some Carolinas tournament updates. Enjoy the golf.

TWO DOWN PRESS Q&A

Ron Green Jr. on the Masters, Augusta National, and his 40+ Years Covering the Event

Ron Green Jr. is currently a Senior Writer for Global Golf Post. A Charlotte native and son of legendary golf writer Ron Green Sr., Green Jr. has covered a multitude of sports for several publications during his storied career. Prior to his stint at GGP, he spent 23 years writing for the Charlotte Observer, covering basketball, football, NASCAR, and golf. In 2023, he received the Lifetime Achievement Award in Journalism from the PGA of America, an award his father also received in 2006.

I sat down with Ron recently to discuss his family history with the Masters, his first visit to Augusta National, and the unique details that make it his favorite tournament to cover. This conversation has been edited for brevity and readability. 

2DP: What are some of your first Masters memories from growing up?

RG: The Masters was always a big thing for my dad. He covered 60 Masters - all the way back to when they had parades to sell tickets. He always had great stories from the event. I remember him telling me about hopping in the car with Byron Nelson to ride over to the golf course. In 1958 on Saturday night, he had drinks with [Arnold] Palmer at the hotel where they were staying, then had breakfast with him the next morning before Arnie went out and won the Masters that day. I grew up hearing these stories and I always wanted to go.

2DP: Tell me about the first time you were able to go to the tournament?

RG: Well I never got to go as a spectator! In 1979, the year Fuzzy [Zoeller] won, I was working for the Chapel Hill newspaper and somehow managed to get a credential. My reaction was probably similar to anyone who goes for the first time. I was overwhelmed by how green everything was, by the hills, and by seeing the golf course I’d seen so many times on TV right there in front of my face. I loved it.

I missed a few years after that first visit, but since 1983 I’ve been to every one. [2025] will be my 42nd Masters as they recognize it. Once you cover 40 Masters, you get your own parking spot and your name in bronze letters on the wall in the media center - they call it the Masters Major Achievement Award. There are only 25 to 30 names on it, so that’s really cool.

2DP: You’ve seen the Masters evolve from a smaller event to a global phenomenon. Why do you think this tournament resonates with so many people?

RG: I think it’s several factors combined - it’s the golf course, the time of year, how it looks and feels, and what it means. When you walk in from Washington Road, it’s like walking into an entirely different dimension. It’s just not like anywhere else - it’s spellbinding.

I’ve been going for 6 or 7 days every year for 42 years, and I still stand at the top of the hill and look out at the course in awe of my surroundings. I think everybody feels that.

I love the no cell-phone policy - it’s fantastic. It makes people talk, and they aren’t focused on filming the golf tournament they should be watching. I also love the manual scoreboards - that moment where a blank space appears and you don’t know what it means.

While [Augusta National] is private and exclusive, they’ve made a huge leap forward in the way they’ve opened themselves up to the world through things like the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, the Drive, Chip, and Putt, the Latin American and Asia-Pacific Amateur events, and the things they’ve done for charity.

2DP: What’s your usual routine during tournament week?

RG: I go to the usual places. On Wednesday afternoons, I try to walk the golf course and just look at it, feel it. One of the things that’s so great about the Masters is the anticipation and the way you build up to it. It’s like Christmas Eve - Christmas Eve with azaleas. You just imagine what’s going to happen and have a moment to appreciate everything before the tournament starts.

I’ll also walk down Amen Corner a lot - the only problem is that you have to walk back up. You have a sort of happy fatigue at the end of the days down there.

2DP: Who’s your pick for this year?

RG: The secret to success at Augusta is hitting greens - you need to be in the top 5 in greens hit to be able to win. I think Rory has as good of a chance as ever, but so does Scottie Scheffler.

But, I’m picking Ludvig Åberg. He had a close call last year and now he knows what not to do. His game is quick, simple, and efficient - the game is not as easy as he makes it look.

LOCAL RECS

Doc’s Hill: Charlotte Golf’s Most Thrilling Half-Acre

I had a golf experience last weekend that broadened and shifted my perspective on the game, and it occurred in a location you might not expect. I wasn’t walking the fairways of a fancy new design or behind the gates of an exclusive private club. I wasn’t playing a regulation golf course at all. To even my surprise, my most recent golf epiphany took place on a half-acre putting green abutting a car dealership in south Charlotte.

The green in question is known as Doc’s Hill, a putting course built in honor of Doc Wagner, father of PGA Tour player turned Golf Channel commentator Johnson Wagner. Doc passed away in 2020, and his obituary called friends and family to make donations to the First Tee - Greater Charlotte in lieu of flowers. Those funds, plus others that flowed in after Wagner’s death, were used to hire King-Collins Golf to create a rollicking putting facility on the property of the First Tee - Greater Charlotte Learning Center in Pineville (aka The Pine).

The green is set in a brilliant natural amphitheater and sits slightly above the facility’s driving range in the back corner of the property (the only drawback being the lack of visibility from the parking lot). It’s “slow” by modern standards, but the slopes are severe enough that the downhillers require touch and even short putts tend to break significantly. Pictures don’t do justice to the heaving contours at Doc’s Hill - during my visit, the memorable 9th hole required a putt over a head-high knob and broke roughly 20 feet right-to-left.

This combination of green speed (or lack thereof) and slope were the source of my a-ha moment. Putting in this form emphasizes different skills, notably the center strike, which are often a nice-to-have on greens rolling like pool tables. As I made several loops around Doc’s, it hit me that this is what putting could look like if we let our collective standards for speed slip or if we simply weren’t so darn good at growing grass.

Philosophical ramblings aside, this place is a ton of fun for all ages and skill levels, a great home for First Tee programming, and an amazing place for an event! I had a blast last Saturday night courtesy of the First Tee - Greater Charlotte Young Professionals and Twilight Golf Club and look forward to a return to the Pine and Doc’s Hill.

STORIES TO TRACK

45th Carolinas Mid-Amateur Starts Friday at Waynesville Inn & Golf Club: Defending champion Davis Womble is notably absent from this weekend’s field, leaving the door open for a strong group of contenders.

• The field: Notables include past champions John Eades, Cyrus Stewart, and Stephen Woodard, former North Carolina Mid-Am Champions Nic Brown and Matt Kilgo, and 6-time Charlotte City Am Champion Joe Jaspers.

• Live scoring?: Follow along here

Qualifying Dates Set for 2025 Charlotte City Amateur: The city tournament will again host two 18-hole qualifiers on July 7th and 15th at Pine Island Country Club. This news was posted on the event’s website shortly after last week’s announcement that the final round will be held at Quail Hollow Club. Details on registration and host sites for rounds 1 and 2 are still to come.

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