masters golf travel Tag

Arnold Palmer is perhaps the most recognizable golf name in the history of the sport and one of the greatest golfers of all time. I recently watched In Depth with Graham Bensinger’s tribute to Arnold Palmer and I was inspired by Arnold’s lifetime of career achievements, his dedication to his community, and the passion of his fans forever known as “Arnie’s Army”.

The episode of In Depth is a must-see for golf fans highlighting Arnie’s incredible career, all the wins on the Tour, and the iconic Masters Tournament moments. It also defines how he is the grandfather of modern sports marketing and golf fandom. Sure there were passionate golf fans before Arnold Palmer. But did anyone have his own Army of fans?

Unbelievably, Arnie never personally founded Arnie’s Army.

In 1959, television was becoming a part of every American household and golf was being broadcasted more than it ever had been before. The tickets to the Masters that year were sold for $5 a piece,

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It’s tough to avoid Augusta National, especially when you are here every year working the event. A lot of the people that work with me in this industry camp out at our hospitality clubs, shuttle people back and forth between hotels, and distribute Masters Tickets to all our customers, working tirelessly throughout the whole week. We stuff ourselves on the endless buffets starting on Monday. By Thursday we are looking for looser fitting pants. By Sunday we can’t even look at the dessert tray, except maybe for one last key lime mousse. Yes, I’m working in Augusta during The Masters. But some of us, make that almost of all of us, haven’t seen the course in years. Augusta National is just down the street. We can sometimes hear the cheers from the galleries. Our customers return from the course sunburned and smiling, telling us about how Rory was swinging or how Phil looked on 7. Sure, the neighbors back home are jealous of us. We are lucky to be here. It’s exciting being in this small city during such a prestigious event. But….

This Thursday the PGA will host the fourth and final major of the 2011 season at the Atlanta Athletic Club-Highlands Course.  The 93rd running of this annual event is full of excitement and intrigue.  All the buzz around this tournament comes from a few different angles, but they all seem to center around Tiger Woods.  I could write a short novel on Tiger's shortcomings but I will leave El Tigre alone for a moment.  Although, it is hard to ignore the impact Tiger has on golf whether he is playing golf/playing well or not.

And so comes that time of year again here in Chicago when I get into my car and realize that my window has a fresh coat of frost on it and I have no idea what happened to my scraper. It's nearly November and darn it, winter is coming!

When I got to the office this morning I started reviewing the Masters video that we just completed here at Sports Traveler. And ahhhhh, Augusta National. Just saying those words brings a smile to my face. It's so green, beautiful, with the manicured fairways, and the great golf! Remembering my days that I've spent walking that course just makes me feel happy. It's a special place to me. My first trip there I was supposed to go out on the course for 2 hours and come back to meet with some people. Instead I disappeared into the galleries for the entire day. I came out 9 hours later, sunburned, with a big smile on my face having witnessed some of the best golf I've ever seen in my life and also with the strongest desire to go to a driving range to try and replicate

From San Antonio to Dallas/Ft. Worth, to Augusta the first weekend in April is full of super sporting events for Sports Traveler. Our staff and our clients have fanned out across the country for some of the greatest sporting events of the year. This weekend is special for us at Sports Traveler - and busy! We have the triple header of The Final Four, Texas 500 and The Masters kicking off, all at the same time!

I'm reporting to you from Augusta, Georgia tonight after a nice long delayed-filled day of flying. I'm tired but I'm here and ready for another great Masters Week. The town is ready to go. The flowers are in bloom and the grass is really green. And I found a great place to catch a true southern meal with excellent food - be sure to check out Sconyers Bar-B-Que, 2250 Sconyers Way, Augusta, GA 30906, Phone: (706) 790-5411. This place has been around since 1956 and is only open 3 days a week (Thursday, Friday, Sat.) It's so good, President Carter used to have this sauce flown