AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | How long has it been since you’ve looked at your cellphone or made a call?
How many times today have you checked your e-mail or glanced at Twitter or done whatever else you might do with your phone?
For all I know, you may be reading this on your phone.
But not at the Masters.
If you’ve attended the Masters, you understand that the no-cellphone policy isn’t a suggestion. It’s a mandate. The law of the land. The unforgivable sin.
It’s the definition of zero tolerance.
And, it’s a beautiful thing.
“It’s nice, isn’t it?” Tiger Woods said Tuesday.
Surprisingly nice, once your hands stop shaking and your heartbeat slows and you realize you haven’t lost your phone, just given it some space.
If you’ve not been to the Masters, it’s probably difficult to fully appreciate how unbending but ultimately liberating Augusta National’s cellphone policy is. It’s not as simple as prohibiting phone conversations on the course. It means you can’t bring your phone on the property. Period. Exclamation point. Do not pass go. Do not collect $200.
Unless you’re wearing a green jacket, your phone stays in your car or wherever you’re staying. It’s as black and white as Oreos.
Sneak a phone in – that’s a serious challenge – and if you get caught, well, let’s hope you enjoyed your time at the Masters.
It flies in the face of everything we’ve become as a society but it has an amazing effect. It makes people talk to each other. Human interaction, it turns out, is a pretty cool thing.
You’re at the Masters. It’s worth surrendering your cellphone for the afternoon.
Recently, new Arizona Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury revealed he will give players a cellphone break every 25 minutes or so during meeting time because otherwise their minds will wander to what they may be missing on Instagram. Somewhere, Bill Belichick is chuckling.
With no cellphones, patrons are free to watch the golf rather than watch the screen on their phone to make sure the video they’re taking will be framed properly when they show it to their friends.
At the Masters, there are no cellphone breaks, no talk zones away from play and, best of all, no one walking around using their phone like an intercom.
It’s a selfie-free zone.
This is not entirely stress free. If you’re planning to meet someone, it requires advance planning, not moment-by-moment texting. Set a time and a place and, in case something comes up, a secondary plan.
It can be done. In fact, it had been done for centuries, until recently.
With no cellphones, patrons are free to watch the golf rather than watch the screen on their phone to make sure the video they’re taking will be framed properly when they show it to their friends.
The phone calls can wait. Twitter isn’t going anywhere.
Stepping inside the gates of Augusta National has always had the feeling of leaving one dimension and entering another. The outside world can wait for a little while.
“Wonderful, isn’t it?” Rory McIlroy said.
CHIP SHOTS
• When the weather decides to play through, even Augusta National can’t do anything about it.
The first two days of Masters week have been a washout, one storm after another soaking the property, ruining practice plans, patrons’ plans and plenty of shoes.
The wet conditions also have changed how the course will play. The course’s SubAir system has been whirring away since Monday, pulling water out of the greens even as more rain has fallen. The good news is that the forecast has improved but firm and fast conditions aren’t coming back any time soon. A long golf course is going to play even longer. The challenge for shorter hitters just got tougher.
• Anthony Kim may have disappeared from professional golf but his name remains in the Masters record book from the Friday 10 years ago when Kim made 11 birdies in a second-round 65.
Kim was playing with McIlroy that Friday.
“I miss Anthony Kim,” McIlroy said. “The tour was a better place with him in it.”
• Of course the redesigned par-4 fifth hole looks as if nothing has changed since last year when, in fact, it has been completely rebuilt tee to green. It now measures 495 yards (40 yards were added) and requires a 310-yard carry to cover the fairway bunkers on the left.
Perhaps equally impactful is the reshaping of the fifth green, adding a back-left pin position and softening some of the severity on the rear portion of green. There’s still a big mound in the front portion of the green that can dictate much of what happens. Though other holes get more love, the fourth and fifth holes may now be the toughest two-hole stretch on the course.
• Even by Augusta National’s high standards, the inaugural Women’s Amateur last weekend was a smashing success.
It hit all the right notes and produced a Saturday afternoon that had the look and feel of something extraordinary. The tournament was, in part, a celebration of women’s golf and it was worth celebrating.
• On Tuesday, Woods took his logo game to a new level. He wore a black shirt with a logo representing Frank, his driver headcover.
It was strangely cool.
• So what’s the best concession stand treat at the Masters, aside from $4 beers?
The caramel-covered, pecan-laced popcorn. Downright decadent.