The Masters: Golf, Money, and Power in Augusta, Georgia

What a gut check sports book. This portrait is so much more than a shrewd indictment of Augustan golf elitists. With an expose tone that takes to task the southern good old boy mentality behind the Masters mystique, this book outs all the wheeling and dealing of a Wall St. businessman's tournament that played favorites and treated outsiders who were different, unliked or unwanted as subject to inside power play influence. In other words, talent and luck weren't enough to wear a green jacket. The big wigs had to like you for you to get a fair shot or you had to shock the world. Take for instance a telling excerpt from the story of Gene Sarazen, who in a scene straight out of The Natural was visited at night by a mysterious lady Masters week. Who sent her and what was her mission? Was it perhaps to temp the little guy off of his golf game because he was not white enough for the local blue bloods to win? This brings to mind a statement of Johnny Miller who never won there and once said that guys like Rocco Mediate cleaned your pool and did not get their names on champion trophies. Were snobs who think like him gatekeepers of Augusta National? Eugenio Saraceni who put the Masters on the map in 1935 with his famous double eagle Shot Heard Around The World and was the first champ to win all 4 modern majors had to change his name because of guys like this. This along with many other interesting tidbits leaves you with the feeling this that this tournament was once run by hard, cold rogues with too many biases and prejudices. Today the event is too international in scope and global in scale to get away with that. But the history of its exclusionary evolution is as fascinating as any story in American sports lore. Must read.

I've watched the Masters on tv for over 40 years and this book details who were the real powers behind the scenes. This book tells the history of Augusta National and the leading characters that kept it the most sought after membership of any club in the world. If you like reading about tournament golf, which I do, you will love his book. I would recommend the book to a friend.

The author has written a compelling book about one of golf’s great golf courses and how it came to be what it is today. What strikes me is the irony of history past and the present status of people of color, when the subject of systematic racism is brought up. The author had no way of knowing that events of today so validate, the racism of the past, and all of the great black players that never got their chance. I highly recommend this book. A great read about the background stories.

Great book. Have read it twice now.

The Masters is an interesting read, but surely the first rule of writing books like these is to provide both points of view. The average person has no chance to find out what Augusta National is really like, so we need to rely on authors such as Curt Sampson to go behind the myth and reveal the truth. If you compare "The Masters" with "The Making of the Masters" by David Owen, you wouldn't believe the two authors are writing about the same golf club. Most likely the truth lies somewhere between the two books - Owen could be the chief cheerleader for Augusta National, while Sampson isn't likely to be on the Chairman's Christmas card list. I would recommend the book to the serious golf fan, but have an open mind when reading it.

There are whispers & dark corners in most every enterprise and Augusta National is no exception. Even this expose likely just scratches the surface - the marks seem to have drawn blood from the netherworld. Though achieving a great place in golf, the 'means' have not always been pretty. A good read on the event & some more recent Augusta history.

The title of this little book belies its contents.If you're hoping for a lengthy, detailed accounting of various shots and rounds, you'll be disappointed as that sort of narrative comprises perhaps 25% of the text. Rather, what you will get are extraordinary insights into the history of how Augusta National and the Masters came to be; the movers and shakers, the deals and back-stabbing. Read this book and you'll never think of the Master's in the same way again. A page-turner, beautifully written !!!

If you want to get the history and backstory of Augusta National & The Masters, this job does a terrific job of painting a very interesting background and weaving a very engaging story. Well worth the read - particularly for a lover of The Masters and golf and golf lore, but even for those mildly interested. Complelling read, worth the time. An easy read, too.

Me llego en tiempo record, excelente calidad, comparada con el precio, este libro no lo encontre en México

A great insight into the history of the Masters

This is part of a Birthday Present to a keen Golfer. Very happy with the order.

Not one of Curt Sampson' s best books, but an interesting read all the same. Clever integration of the establishment of Augusta National and the history of the local area. Fascinating to understand the complexity and character of Clifford Roberts.

Good stuff