Ex-Augusta National grounds crew volunteer spills Masters preparation secrets
They say the Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday. But preparations for the tournament never seem to end.
In the lead up to the big week, scores of superintendents from across the country and overseas flock to Augusta National to volunteer their services, helping the club’s already robust maintenance staff create the most famously manicured playing conditions in the game. As unpaid golf gigs go, it doesn’t get more prestigious.
But how does one land the job? And, what, exactly, does it entail? One former longtime member of the crew agreed to speak with GOLF.com about his experience under the condition that we protected his identity. Check out our interview in the video above, or keep reading below for his firsthand scoop.
1. You start on the ‘bench’
Like any great team, Augusta’s maintenance staff has a deep bench — i.e., a waiting list of volunteers. Just getting on it requires years of industry experience and references from trusted sources. If a spot opens up, the club taps you to join the starting roster, which totals anywhere from 160-170 agronomy experts.
Secrets of the Augusta National grounds crew: What it takes to get the course Masters-ready
2. The days are long
Up for before sunrise, out well past dark. Work days usually run 12 to 14 hours, starting as early as 3:30 a.m and ending as late as 10 p.m., with a break for lunch and rest in between. “Your body is tested like never before,” the superintendent says.
3. You work in groups
With so many volunteers and so much to do, the workforce is often broken into groups of 6 to 10, assigned to different tasks. Group A, say, might start by raking bunkers on holes 1 through 6, while Group B handles holes 7 through 12, rotating through the day to break up the repetition. Volunteers rarely handle mowing. They tend to take care of fine-tune touchups instead. Sometimes, volunteers are assigned a single task throughout the day — like whisking sand from a green. On every hole, there are supervisors making sure that not a single grain or blade is out of place.
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4. Unmatched machinery and manpower
“It’s the most of the most, and the best of the best,” the superintendent says. Name the task. Augusta has experts assigned to it. Name the machine. Augusta has it in multiples. It’s not just any club that can unleash an armada of 18 fairway mowers onto a single hole, grooming grass in a flying-V formation that Augusta has employed for decades.
The playability of any course depends on how it’s maintained. Among other practices, the superintendent says, Augusta likes to have the grain against the golfer in the fairways and with the golfer in the rough.
“For Masters week, it is ramped up a little bit,” he says. “But for just daily member play, all of those things are done in the same form and fashion.”
5. Blemishes are repaired in an eye blink
And not just footprints in the bunkers and ball marks on the greens. During tournament week, Augusta has a divot-repair team of 16 to 18 agronomists who tend to the entire grounds after every round, equipped with hex pluggers and cutters of myriad shapes and sizes.
The club also has an on-site sod nursery with turf that’s every bit as perfect as the grass on the course. By day’s end, every damaged patch is replaced. If you see divot taken Thursday, try to find it Friday. You won’t. Not the faintest trace gets left behind.
6. Emergency systems are in place
Every mower has a tennis ball dangling on a string from its roof. If a mower operator sees a problem, they throw the ball in front of other mowers as a warning. That’s a sign for everyone to stop and pull up their blades.
One year, this system came in handy when maintenance equipment on the 3rd hole suffered a hydraulic leak, producing a stream of turf-scorching oil roughly 50-feet long and two inches wide. A tennis ball was tossed and the repair work began. This was early in the morning. Groups were teeing off on the first hole. Within 15 minutes, the superintendent says, the entire stretch of damaged turf had been re-sodded and smoothed over with squeegees and push brooms. The rapid repair work drew a roar from the patrons. By the time the first players arrived, there was no evidence that anything had ever been amiss.
7. You get to play the course
Though you don’t paid, you do get compensated. And it’s hard to put price on what you receive. Once a year, after the tournament, Augusta National holds “Appreciation Day,” when tournament volunteers get to play the course.
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