A Tradition Unlike Any Other

It is early April. The cold is behind us, the spring is here, Easter season, and The Masters. For many, The Masters is the Holy Grail of the PGA Tour. For others, it represents the beginning of the season. While there has been plenty of good golf already played this season, there is no denying that the viewership this weekend will be the high-water mark thus far for 2026.

What makes The Masters so special is the venue. Augusta National Golf Club is held in such high regard for its relentless pursuit of perfection that they only allow broadcasters to call it by its full name on air rather than “the country club” or “the course.”

Of course, they only reserve the right to dictate a laundry list of strict rules for broadcasters because they sell the most coveted TV rights in all of golf for just pennies. They do not need the money at Augusta National, not with their member list of high powered and wealthy individuals paying their dues.

Augusta National cares so little about profiting off of this weekend that they have been selling their concessions to patrons (not “fans,” that is another one of their broadcast rules) at well below fair market prices for decades. They also refuse to embrace the internet shopping world. If you want a Masters polo or hat, you need to be there to buy it. Plenty of people make that pilgrimage though as they ring up roughly $1,000,000 in merchandise sales every hour for the week.

Another easy money-grab that Augusta National avoids is sponsorships. Broadcasters are not allowed to mention the names of any of the PGA Tour sponsors because it would take away from the serenity of the most pristine tournament of the season. When watching The Masters, patrons are supposed to be engulfed by the atmosphere created by Bobby Trent Jones’s greatest design masterpiece.

As somebody who has never been, and maybe never will, I cannot help but appreciate the great lengths that everybody at Augusta National goes to in making this tournament as special as it is, even on TV. The elite grounds crew keeps the course perfectly lush and green and uniform all weekend, the management staff shelters the massive money-making potential from corporate greed, CBS puts their best foot forward in the broadcasting, and the players embrace the challenge of it all with memorable shots, gritty performances through Amen Corner, and a wildly competitive week of golf.