A signed ultrasound, a caddie’s son, interning at Augusta: Masters Memories

After sharing my own Masters memory in 2024, I heard from dozens of past patrons who had similar stories. This year, I wanted to help share those stories and the magic of the Masters with those who love this tournament.

The result? Almost 100 personal stories and photos in my inbox. I’ve been sharing them all week.

Thank you so much to everyone who submitted their memories from Augusta National. There really is nothing like the Masters.

A longtime Masters volunteer, his granddaughter and Arnold Palmer’s unique autograph

My dad, Bob, spent 32 years as a volunteer at the Masters and has been stationed at No. 12 in Amen Corner for the last 20. If you’ve ever been lucky enough to sit on No. 12 during Master week, there’s a good chance my dad was the one who found you a seat, handed your child a tee from a golfer or quietly made sure your day there felt like everything you’d hoped it would be.

That was his thing. Not the golf. The people.

He saw thousands of faces over those three decades. First-timers who couldn’t believe they were really there. Patrons who had saved for years to make the trip. And seasoned guests being helped to the front row for what they knew might be their last time. He noticed all of them. He remembered their stories. He showed up every single April not for the leaderboard, but for the look on someone’s face when the realization of where they were finally hit them.

Spending Masters week in Augusta with my dad has always been my favorite place to be.

On April 5, 2011, my dad was at Calverts, a restaurant in Augusta for his annual Tuesday night dinner with his closest friend Lance. I was at home in Mississippi, packing my hospital bag as our first child, Emma Claire, was scheduled to arrive the next morning.

It was my dad’s first grandchild, so you can imagine the excitement he felt. But I didn’t ask him to come home. I couldn’t. Not because I didn’t want him there, but because I knew what Augusta meant to him. And truthfully, I knew what he meant to Augusta. Thirty-one years of showing up. Thirty-one years of making it special for everyone else. I wasn’t going to be the reason that ended.

Lance, being the kind of friend my dad deserved, came prepared. He had visited my blog, printed out the 3D ultrasound pictures and maternity photos, and brought them to dinner with a Sharpie and the quiet hope that Arnold Palmer might walk in that night. He sometimes did, after the Champions Dinner, slipping in for a drink.

That night, fate was on my dad’s side because Mr. Palmer made his appearance.

My dad approached his table, apologized for the interruption, and asked Mr. Palmer if he had a daughter named Amy and if he was a grandfather. He said yes to both. My dad told him that his daughter’s name was Amy, too, and that the very next morning, he would become a grandfather as well. Then he handed Mr. Palmer one of the pieces of paper and asked if he would sign it.

Mr. Palmer held it up. Turned it one way, then another. Looked back at my dad and said, “Bob, what the hell is this?”

My dad told him it was an ultrasound of his granddaughter, Emma Claire, who would be delivered the next morning.

The table erupted with congratulations for my dad. Mr. Palmer smiled and said he had signed many things over the years, but never an ultrasound.

The next morning, Par 3 Wednesday, the volunteers and patrons on No. 12 wore pink shirts in honor of the day. My dad made trip after trip to the phone bank near the tee box. When he finally got the news, he walked back to his post and joyfully announced the arrival of Miss Emma Claire Louise Martin. A cheer went up from the gallery.

The following April, Emma Claire celebrated her first birthday on the ropes of hole 12, proudly shown off by her Boppy to everyone who had worn pink in her honor the year before. That year, 2012, after 32 years as a gallery guard and 20 years on hole 12, my dad decided it was time to sit on the other side of the ropes.

My daughter is 15 now, and someday she will tell this story to her own children. About the grandpa who loved her before he ever held her, who announced her arrival to a gallery full of strangers who cheered like they knew her too, and who spent 20 years making sure that everyone who ever sat on No. 12 left with a memory worth keeping. These days, he watches his granddaughters experience the Masters for themselves, and if you ask him, that view beats any he ever had from inside the ropes.

I attached a picture of Emma Claire with my dad in 2012 on her first birthday, a picture of the autographed ultrasound and a picture of our family at The Masters last year. – Amy Martin

Getting a job at the Masters

I was scrolling through Twitter one day and saw a post about applying to work the 2019 Masters. It was something along the lines of ‘haha, Augusta National is accepting applications’ with a link to the hiring site. I thought, why not apply? Well, I got a call back. I live in Clearwater, Fla. and at the time I was a produce clerk at Publix. They sent me an interview notice, and I got the time off work and went to Augusta for the weekend in November of 2018. I had a college buddy who worked at Enterprise so I used his family and friends discount to rent a car and drive up. I couldn’t run the risk of my old Subaru breaking down. Just being in the town was cool enough for a Masters dork like me. I remember driving by Magnolia Lane very dangerously because I was trying to get a video on my phone of the main entrance. I interviewed off site across the street and later I went to a flea market where the Hooters used to be and talked with a guy who had Masters merchandise in his booth. He ended up giving me a postcard and ANGC score card after talking with him. Even if I didn’t get the job it was worth it just from that.

I got an email a little while later saying I got the job. That email is framed and hanging in my house now. The orientation was another weekend drive up and rental. I remember being on site and seeing the driving range and I was just geeking out inside. The funniest thing about the training was getting the uniform. I was getting Masters merchandise for free! Three polos and a pullover all with the logo on it and everything. Seeing the operations side of everything was insane. They have little elevators inside the building. You’d never know the building is like five floors, all with merchandise and runners to get what’s out on the main floor and put in on the elevator for others to grab and put out. Just an insanely efficient operation. 

I was the person you’d walk up to at the counter and you tell me the number of polo you wanted and I’d turn around and grab it. I’m still amazed at how busy it was. Nancy Lopez got a polo from me! Just a living legend walking up to me at the most famous golf tournament in the world.

I stayed in an Econo Lodge in Thomson, Ga., about 30 minutes away from the course. I’d wake up at 5 a.m., get there at 6, get home by maybe 7:30, grab dinner and head to bed at 8:00. Just pure exhaustion, but totally worth it.

We got $10 to eat everyday, as well as an hour break and two 15-minute breaks. I always ate on the shorter breaks and walked the course on the hour-long break.

The coolest part of walking the course was just the emotion I felt. Like holy smokes, I’m really here! It was a few weeks before my 13th birthday and I couldn’t help but reflect on my life while I was out on the course. I thought of my sister’s dad who got me into golf. I called him on the land lines on the course. I thought of my mom, who dropped me off at the course when I was a kid. I thought about my friends and family who told me how cool it was that I was getting to do what I was doing. Walking the course and seeing it all in person made me more emotional than I had expected.

I grew up a huge Tiger fan, so Sunday was a whirlwind. On break I walked the course just to try to get a glimpse of him in red at Augusta National. I ended up seeing him on the twelfth tee. I was in the crowd when Molinari dunked it. Back at the merchandise shop, I was so nervous hoping he would win. I must’ve gone to the bathroom 50 times just to catch a glimpse at the television in an office to see where he stood. 

We had a chance to shop before we left for the day, and I spent hundreds on hats, polos and more. The whole week was just a surreal experience. – Ethan Sadler, Clearwater, Florida

My hat, a conversation starter at Augusta National

We attended the 2016 Masters and were fortunate enough to attend Berckmans Place on Thursday. From the food to the shops to the replica putting greens, it was so special and fun to feel like VIPs for the day. We also got to meet and have an excellent conversation with Condoleezza Rice, who takes lessons from our family friend.

I was wearing a College of William and Mary golf hat, which was where I was about to start my freshman year and play on the golf team. No less than 10 people came up to us to have a conversation about their ties to the school and wishing me luck, which speaks to the character of the people who attend the Masters and have connections to William and Mary. My dad introduced me to golf when I was just five years old and we have bonded over golf my whole life. To spend an entire day in our idea of heaven together was so special and truly one of the best days of my life.  –Jordan Michalak

The ACL injury that didn’t stop my Masters trip

When I was a senior at the University of Florida, I met a girl who half-mentioned once that her dad has had Masters badges dating back generations. Naturally, as a diehard sports fan, I stored that bit of information and one day casually asked for his number and then reached out to grab a bite. At the time, I was a radio play-by-play broadcaster for a few sports at UF and was able to bond with (let’s call him) Mr. Y over this, as he was a lifelong Gators fan. 

I am from Miami, and we are a very blunt species. So I did not beat around the bush and mentioned how incredible it would be to take my dad to the Masters one day, proposing that if for any reason Mr. Y could not use his badges one year, to keep me in mind.

That final semester of college is always going to be bittersweet, but my bitterness came in the form of an ACL tear in late January. The sweetness came when I received a call from Mr. Y while in class in February. He asked if I was free to go to Augusta the Friday of the Masters and receive a badge handoff for the weekend. I brought my dad to tears when I revealed that we were going to the Masters in less than two months time. 

Due to my ACL injury, I had to rent a wheelchair for my time at the Masters. It prevented me from really exploring the course, but allowed us to sit in the handicap sections of the course. The year was 2017 and I’ll never forget the image of Sergio Garcia winning his first major in a playoff.

Fast forward a few years. I was working at Purdue University, broadcasting women’s volleyball and I got a text from Mr. Y. I hadn’t heard from him since 2017. He explained how he’d been closely following my broadcast career and then sent the text of a lifetime. ‘Would you want to take my badges for all four days?’ His ski accident was my chance to truly experience the Augusta National. 

I was able to pay it forward and allow my closest childhood friend to take his dad on Thursday and Friday. Then I was able to fully experience the course with my pops on a beautiful Saturday at the course. I’ll never forget seeing this young excited amateur draped in Oklahoma State garb. Turns out it was Viktor Hovland. Later, we sat at an Augusta restaurant, where one television replayed the round while the other displayed a menacing storm approaching.

For the first time ever, the Masters decided to send out threesomes on Sunday and groups teed off both No. 1 and No. 10. We decided to fully send it, arriving at 4:30 a.m. and briskly walking our chairs to Amen Corner and the sixteenth green. 

One highlight from this unforgettable Sunday featured a scrawny science-loving kid’s first (and still lone hole-in-one) on No. 16 while we sat in the bleachers at the right place and time. He wound up putting on 50 pounds of muscle the next year and become the Bryson DeChambeau we know now. 

The main event was when we planted ourselves in our second-row chairs behind the tee on 12, just in time for the parade of perilous shots in the water and behind the green, leading the way for Tiger Woods to stick it and for us to roar. Then Molinari hits the tree on 15 and splashes, ahead of Tiger’s near ace on 16 that sealed his miraculous comeback story. 

We beat the rain and headed back to Florida, buzzing the entire drive. A lifetime of memories in a weekend. The Masters. – Daniel Gillman, Miami, Fla.

Scoring at the Masters

I’ve been to the Masters a number of times, mostly as an employee on the scoring team. I took my uncle in 2015. He lives in Wisconsin and flew down to Jacksonville, Florida on a Tuesday and slept on the floor of my 450-square foot apartment. We woke up at 4:30 on Wednesday morning to drive to Augusta. When we got there, we did all of the bucket list stuff – walked the course, ate concessions and went to the merch tent. From there, we headed to the Par 3 Contest. We drove back to Jacksonville that night and he flew out the next day. He still talks about it. As do I!

Back in 2008, part of my role was to input scores from the groups as they came through No. 9.  That year, I’m fairly certain, Jack, Arnie, and Gary all played together.  I had their scorecard and got to input their scores. It’s crazy to think about.  

The Masters is a place that means so much to me, not because of the place, but to what it stands for. If everyone did what’s right in this world — what is expected, then the entire world could be like Augusta National. You can buy a chair, put it on hole 15 in the morning, and it will be there un-touched when you get to it after lunch. Concessions are reasonably priced, because everyone needs to eat and drink. They make up for it in the merchandise store, because not everyone needs a polo shirt. They improve the experience every year. No cell phone? No problem, here is a bank of free phones to call anywhere in the world. Have at it. Each restroom attendant attends to each stall constantly. The thoughtfulness of the grab-and-go lines to keep things moving for concessions. The parking, the hospitality from the staff.  Everything has been thought of, and it feels so right. When I’m able to go, I feel as if I’m walking up to take communion — I’m somber, excited, overly respectful of where I am, what I’m doing and how lucky I am. 

Now being a father, I hope to share that with my son, daughter and wife.  Something so pure, so perfect, with the storylines, the weather, the smells, the roars from the leaderboard flips on Saturday afternoon. There is nothing like it. To experience it from multiple angles — as a first-time patron, a seasoned staffer/vendor, through the lens of broadcast and spending time in the press building — it’s truly magical to me. I’ve been lucky enough to go to most major sporting events around the world, and nothing compares to Augusta National and the Masters. – Erich Geisler, Jacksonville, Fla.

Relaying Tiger’s round updates to patrons as an intern

I attended the 2019 Masters with my great friend Brandon. We had an internship through University of South Carolina to work the tournament for the week. We both worked in merchandise. We worked the entire week in the warehouse that is connected to the pro shop, stocking shelves with polos, pullovers, etc. You name it. During the week, we had to have an earpiece and radio hooked on, so we could talk with the crew about when we needed refills on the floor for more polos and quarter zips. On my lunch break, I would walk the course and see a few holes, and I would always see people look at me like I was some super official member of Augusta National with my earpiece and walkie on my hip. I felt fancy, but I was actually just a poor college student.

On Sunday when word started to spread that Tiger Woods was really going to win, we were given the green light by our supervisors to go watch. So I walked down to the eighteenth green to watch Tiger. He was on No. 14 at the time, so I knew I would be waiting a while with the other patrons. A dad and son walked up to me and asked if I knew how Tiger was playing. I gave him a puzzled look for a second but quickly remembered my ear piece and radio. ‘This guy must think I’m in the loop’ I thought. So I was happy to help. That was the whole reason I was there for the week! Make the patrons’ time at Augusta National their best day ever. 

I quickly radioed to the guys back in the warehouse that were watching on and iPad. ‘Lemon Jelly (last name was Lemongue, so he got that nickname for the week), what’s Tiger doing?’ ‘Birdie on 15.’ After I told the dad, I looked around and saw a few other patrons walking over eagerly. This continued for the next 25 minutes and after a while I had a group of 15 people around me waiting for Tiger updates as we heard the roars in the distance. I started to laugh to myself because I was thinking ‘these guys really think I’m in the know and work here, but I’m just a poor college kid radioing to the guys in the warehouse’. I’m sure they didn’t care either way. Tiger eventually made his way up No. 18 and we all watched one of the greatest moments in sports history. Gave several high fives so hard my hands throbbed.

It meant a lot to me to be able to provide those updates for those patrons on Tiger. I was their only source of knowledge as he came down the stretch. Looking back, I laugh, but what an awesome moment radioing back and forth to the guys in the merchandise shop and keeping everyone informed. – Carter Wells, Columbia, S.C.

A Masters Sunday birthday comes full circle

I was born on Masters Sunday in 2003, the day Mike Weir won. When I went to the 2016 Masters with my dad, we spotted Weir during the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday. When he was signing my flag, I mentioned that I was born the day he had won. He went out of his way to stop and find my dad in the crowd so that we could take a photo together. He was so kind and thoughtful during that interaction and it really made the experience unforgettable and was a highlight of the week. 

The experience means even more to me now because I can fully appreciate how rare and meaningful that moment was. At the time, it just felt like a fun moment meeting a professional golfer, but now being older and looking back, I realize how much the moment meant. Because Mr. Weir took the time to make the interaction personal, it really made me feel seen and respected as a patron. As a young girl, that kindness made a real impact and helped me fall in love with the tournament and the sport. It turned a brief interaction into something my dad and I will carry with us forever and was a fun little full-circle moment from the day I was born! – Maddie Simon, Minnesota

Three generations of women at the Masters

I live about five miles from Augusta National, just down Washington Road. I’ve attended the Masters just about every year since 2007, and have been lucky enough to experience it with people from all walks of my life. But my most special trips were going with my grandmother, Liz Lively, and my mother, Julie Lively Bedgood. I was able to go thanks to the Junior Patron Pass. That was where I truly learned the course. The club treats Junior Patrons even better than the rest!

Having three generations of women in my family together at the Masters meant the world to me. My grandmother and mom would pick a grandstand they wanted to sit in that day and I could get food, walk around and learn where things were as a kid and early teenager. I didn’t realize until much later how special that was.

Now that my grandmother has passed, I truly treasure those days. All the fun we had in the merchandise shop. Seeing family friends out at the course. Spotting celebrities and just the excitement of it all. My mom and I miss her, but we look back fondly on those days. We are going out together this year and I’m sure we will talk about how much fun the three of us had. I wish I had photos, but I have the memories and that’s more than enough for me! – Ashlyn Bedgood, Augusta, Georgia

My dad, a Masters caddie

My father, Joe Damiano (who I am named after) attended the Masters every year from 1997 to 2010 as a caddie. Mostly for Stuart Appleby but also for Robert Allenby. I personally attended as a young child in the early 2000s. I’ve heard so many one-of-a-kind stories from all the experiences my father had on the bag, and as I got older my passion for golf and the Masters grew. My dad caddied in Tiger Woods’ group in the final round in 2007. He didn’t go on to win, but I got to hear all about the experience from my dad’s perspective. I’m now an amateur golfer in my late 20s and I can trace my passion back to the 2012 Masters and watching Bubba Watson win with my dad. I’m so lucky to have absorbed so much intel and experience through my dad’s perspective. I know many passionate golf fans who would pay for something like that. Unfortunately now my father is at a stage in his health where he is not as sharp mentally or physically as he once was. I know my time is limited to share those April weekends together and hear the stories, laugh, tell the jokes and have a few beers. – Joe Damiano