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Newsletter April 2016
Spring is in full bloom in Augusta, Georgia for the 80th Masters Tournament this week. The Augusta National Golf Club invites 90 world class golfers for a week of camaraderie, fun, and exciting drama mixed with the pressure to win on its perfectly manicured golf course and grounds. Every hole is named after a flower, tree, or shrub on the property. The bridges also have names with the most famous being the Hogan Bridge crossing Rae's Creek at the par-3 12th. The tournament has become a "must see" event for fans and non-golfers. The Masters is the season's first major and considered to be the start of the year's golf season.
"Bobby" Jones was the most successful amateur golfer to ever compete against the world's best amateur and professional golfers. Jones is the only golfer to win the Grand Slam in one year which consisted of two pro events and two amateur events. After completing his Grand Slam at age 28, Jones retired from competition in 1930 saying, "It is something like a cage. First you are expected to get into it and then you are expected to stay there, nobody can stay there."
Jones founded and helped design the Augusta National Golf Club and the "Augusta National Invitation Tournament" as it was known for the first five years. Tournament co-founder Cliff Roberts convinced Jones to come out of retirement to play in the first Masters in 1934 on an exhibition basis. Along with non-winner Jones, are ten of the best Tour players in the world who also haven't won. They are; Lee Trevino, Ernie Els, Greg Norman, Johnny Miller, Hale Irwin, Tom Kite, Julius Boros, Lloyd Mangrum, Nick Price, and Tom Weiskopf.
The Golf Scientist
Bryson DeChambeau is the current reigning individual NCAA and U.S. Amateur champion and only the fifth player to win both titles. He earned his invitation to this year's Masters when he won the 2015 U.S. Amateur championship. Because of NCAA sanctions that would have kept him from postseason play and defending his titles, DeChambeau didn't return to Southern Methodist University for his senior year. He has played in seven pro events and made the cut in six of them. He finished second at the Australian Masters.
DeChambeau has made it his goal to be the first amateur to win the Masters. "I can't give enough thanks to Mr. Jones for what he's done to this golf club and to the golfing world," he said. "It really is an honor to be able to play as an amateur out here."
Bryson DeChambeau has been dubbed "The Golf Scientist." He is a 22-year-old physics major and math whiz who believes that the golf posture and swing can be improved by playing with irons and wedges that are all the same length. Working with the club fitting team at Edel Golf he plays with single-length irons and wedges all measuring 37.5 inches with 6-iron shafts, head weights of 280 grams and oversized grips. He is an innovator who plans to revolutionize the game of golf with a single length shaft to make a more simplified swing with repeatable and consistent center face contacts.
On one of his ten rounds of preparation at Augusta National, DeChambeau said, "I went into the trophy room my first time here to have some breakfast, and I looked over. But when I actually got to go up to that case and I looked in, I went, 'Oh my goodness, they all look really close to the same length.' It inspired me even more. It was gratifying to our journey. As I went in, I looked to the left and I saw this set of golf clubs. I knew that they were Mr. Jones because they all looked relatively the same length, and it was a pretty special moment. Because we'd always heard that story but never verified it."
Regardless of whether DeChambeau wins this week to prove his theory, he has the game and will be turning pro next week at the RBC Heritage on his journey to change the game of golf in a different way. It is going to be fun to watch!
Play "in the zone" with Joan
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