The Private Club That Looks Out for the Public

By my best guess, around 200 souls were gathered in the Press Building Interview Room at Augusta National on Wednesday. Of that number, perhaps 85% were credentialed media and the rest were assorted "Green Coats" (our respectful slang for club members), staffers, and invited guests. There were relatively few Augustans – although perhaps more than I initially thought. 

It was the Chairman's annual press conference- the only event of Masters Week that I won't miss, come hell or high water. 

Because that is when the club speaks. 

Superstar golfers come and go, record-breaking rounds are chronicled and then viewed as context for future competitive runs, and even the dimensions of the course itself are occasionally altered to accommodate the evolution of the game.  

The only real constant at Augusta National is the club itself.  

From Clifford Roberts' first years as its (mostly) benevolent leader, it has been understood that the club would speak with one voice – the chairman’s - once a year at a Wednesday's press conference. That was it.  

Even after the club hired its very first communications director, Glenn Greenspan, in 1996, it was clear that quotes should not be attributed to anyone speaking for the club, unless it was the words of the current chairman. Weather advisories, gate schedules, tee times, and the like could come from Greenspan's office, but almost never in Greenspan's voice. That was by design. 

The current “voice of the club", Chairman Fred Ridley, threw the press corps a true curveball over the weekend when it was announced that an additional special press conference would be held Monday at 2 p.m. 

The gathered intelligentsia of international golf journalism speculated wild and woolly on what could possibly motivate such an unprecedented event. None of them were even close as to the news of the day. Nor should they have been, because indeed it was all local. 

In the moments before the chairman began, I spotted Augusta/Richmond County Board of Education President Shawnda Stovall and Acting Superintendent Malinda Cobb sitting in the front of the room. I knew it was about kids...and our kids at that. As I turned to share my brief moment of insight, I realized both out-of-town journalists sitting next to me wouldn't have a clue who those ladies were, or why they must be here. I tried to loudly whisper to my fellow WGAC staffer John Patrick about five seats down 

"Local school kids," I said. 

He didn't get what I meant. 

What followed was one of the single most meaningful announcements that Augusta National has made since the inception of the club, and the announcement of the tournament we now call The Masters. In partnership with five-time winner Tiger Woods and his TGR Foundation, Augusta National is bringing a TGR Learning Lab to the city of Augusta and the students of the CSRA. While I am sure there will be many articles to come on the specifics of the facility, slated to open in 2028, I can safely say that this is a project that will greatly enhance the lives of thousands of local children for untold years yet to come. As long as there is a Masters Tournament, that facility will be supported and backed by Augusta National, its members, its sponsors, and its philanthropic friends. It will be a year-round living, breathing benefit that will last as long as the tournament itself. 

Oh, and just for fun, Woods (via video message), and Chairman Ridley also revealed another great asset coming for the already announced ANGC backed refurbishment/rebuild of the Augusta Municipal Golf Course, aka "The Cabbage Patch". Woods’s course design firm – TGR Design – will also design a nine-hole, par-three course dubbed "The Loop at the Patch." All improvements will be made with an ongoing commitment to keep the Patch as affordable and accessible as it has always been. In and of itself, this would have been a tremendous announcement. Paired with the TGR Learning Lab, well, momentous is too weak a word. 

When Wednesday's usual press conference convened, there was no way Chairman Ridley could upstage himself. The weeks' rockets had already been launched. But in a tangential quote, while answering a question about the club's response and recovery to damage from Hurricane Helene, he shared an extemporaneous thought that I believe may be one of the most heartfelt and important messages ever shared by an Augusta National chairman. 

"Augusta, Georgia, has been very good to this club and to the Masters Tournament, and I look at our involvement with our community as being a relationship,” he said “It's not a transaction. It's not a series of transactions.” 

“I think if you look at it that way, it explains why we do what we do. We are a part of this community. I hope the people feel that we're an important and productive part." 

Indeed. 

The quiet nature of Augusta National, in terms of conducting business outside tournament week, overshadows its very real goodwill and generous philanthropy. Through its support of the Community Foundation of the CSRA, millions and millions of dollars have been earmarked to support health, education, and relief charities all over the region. That doesn’t include the $5 million dollars in donations made last September in direct support of Hurricane Helene recovery efforts. 

And Ridley admitted as much. 

"We have been supportive for many, many years,” he said. “Until recently, that was sort of done in a cloak of secrecy almost. I have felt that we can be more intentional and more outward facing in that support while still presenting the right tone...as to what (charitable work) we're doing.” 

“It's amazing once you start giving what happens and how many more opportunities are presented," he continued. “I mean, I could spend the next 30 or 40 minutes talking about things that we have in the pipeline that hopefully we'll be talking about over the next five years." 

More is coming! 

In the shadow of such amazing announcements could we dare be so audacious as to make a specific request, one longed for by Augustans yet sadly unrealized?  

Imagine it - a year-round Masters museum/education center, open to the public operated and curated by Augusta National. 

As a well-travelled sports tourist, I know all too well what fervent patrons crave and what they will travel to see. An Augusta National owned and operated attraction in Augusta, Georgia would be a monster hit from day one.  

In all my years watching and covering this tournament, none of the six previous chairmen publicly expressed the kinship or affection for this as eloquently and sincerely as Fred Ridley this week. I am one of only two currently credentialed media with more than 35 years covering the club and tournament who can call Augusta their hometown - Dave Westin is the other. I have never been prouder or more optimistic about the future relationship between club and community than I am this week. 

His Florida roots aside, we claim the chairman - and his fellow members collectively - as one of us.  

In terms of a sense of duty to support and grow our community, Ridley was clear. 

“It's a responsibility we have,” he said. “It's one that we accept and that we appreciate the opportunity to have, and we're going to continue to do more." 

Amen. (Corner)