The Masters: Golf, Money, and Power in Augusta, Georgia

By Curt Sampson

Book Overview

The Masters golf tournament weaves a hypnotic spell. It is the toughest ticket in sports, with black-market tickets selling for $10,000 and more. Success at Augusta National breeds legends, while failure can overshadow even the most brilliant of careers. But as Curt Sampson, author of the bestselling Hogan, reveals in The Masters, a cold heart beats behind the warm antebellum fa ade of this famous Augusta course. And that heart belongs to the man who killed himself on the grounds two decades ago. Club and tournament founder Clifford Roberts, a New York stockbroker, still seems to run the place from his grave. An elusive and reclusive figure, Roberts pulled the strings that made the Masters the greatest golf tournament in the world. His story--including his relationship with presidents, power brokers, and every golf champion from Bobby Jones to Arnold Palmer to Jack Nicklaus--has never been told. Until now.

The Masters is an amazing slice of history, taking us inside the presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, Augusta's most famous member. It is a look at how the new South coexists with the old South: the relationships between blacks and whites, between Southerners and Northerners, between rich and poor--with such characters as James Brown, the Godfather of Soul; the great boxer Beau Jack; and Frank Stranahan, the playboy golfer and the only white pro ever banned from the tournament. The Masters is a spellbinding portrait of a tournament unlike any other.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0375753370
• ISBN13: 9780375753374
• Release Date: March 1999
• Publisher: Villard Books
• Length: 304 Pages
• Weight: 0.59 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.3" x 8.0"

Customer Reviews

Provocative Insights into The Club and Tournamet

If Sampson's probe is anywhere near the truth, it surely smudges the high place we give to Augusta and The Masters.Certainly, it still revolves around Jones, and it always has. The legend of this amateur and supposed gentleman is tarnished by his association with Roberts and his seizure of power and control of what has become golfing legend.Without the champion's name and backing and tournament, The Masters and Augusta would be just another club and tour stop. But from the outset it was Bobby who kept it together. Then the illness and pulling away, and the inroads of Cliff and the rest is history, here well documented by one of the great golf writers. Sampson again weaves his literary magic with different piercing vignettes of the personalities and events which have led to Augusta lore and legend.Story upon story from various facets permeate this fluid read--from club caddie to townfolk to neglected member and player -- one is given much to contemplate.The tales are superb, sampling but a few: the caddie deliberately overclubbing Robert's opponent on a Par 3 course contest; Dave Marr's respone to Arnie that even his divot cleared Rae's Creek on 15; the asst. pro's wife being offered big money for the rope marker that only quandred off souvenir sales.Augusta appears to be the premier "ole boys" club. If you want scoop about it's past and insights possibly into its present, this read will begin that path.

Easily the best book ever on The Masters

Curt Sampson is the best golf writer around, and this book is an excellent followup to that best of all golf biographies, Hogan. Some reviewers have criticized him for casting a cold eye on Clifford Roberts, the fanatical creator of the Masters, but I'm glad he's dug out the truth--it's much more fascinating, by the way. And his look at how the club has affected the area and town around it is quite interesting. His writing, though, is what I love--wonderfully crafted sentences by a fine writer. This is an excellent look at America's most prestigious tournament, and the personalities that have made it what it is. Highly recommended.

Great book for any golf fan or a wannabe

Read it for the history-but put your name in for the lottery if you want to get into "the hallowed grounds". Proud to say I won last year's lottery and although the hotel accomodations were horrible, I entered again this year and won another set of tickets for another day of practice rounds--for a native Georgian to get onto the grounds is a victory indeed!!!

The dark side just got lighter.

This book would make an excellent movie. I wish I had read it prior to my attendance at the 1996 Thursday round. My visit would have been even more inspiring. Curt really did his homework. He should be commended for his patience in digging out the detailed information. He did a great job in writing about key individuals, but steered clear of portraying anyone in a negative manner. His book just strengthens the admiration I have for Augusta National.

Excellent book - fascinating!

I enjoyed this book very much. I have been to a practice round at Augusta National, in 1997. I wish I had read this book before I had the chance to attend. I would have been looking for many of the things described. The book is fascinating in that it brings to light many of the people who made the tradition of Augusta National what it is today. Read it!