A few hours from now, about 7 p.m., the men who have won the Masters and are still around to enjoy it will gather in the Augusta National clubhouse, wearing their green jackets and the satisfaction that comes from being a member of what may be the most exclusive club in golf.
What Ben Hogan started 71 years ago when he proposed the Champions Dinner to club chairman Clifford Roberts is as cherished as it is exclusive.
The only ways to earn a seat at the table are to win the Masters or be the club’s chairman, a role that belongs now to Fred Ridley, who is invited by the players and annually shares the head table with Ben Crenshaw, who steers the conversation, and the defending champion, in this case Scottie Scheffler.
This year, Scheffler’s menu includes cheeseburger sliders, firecracker shrimp, tortilla soup, Texas ribeye steak or blackened redfish as an entree, and a warm chocolate chip skillet cookie for dessert.
Two long tables stretch off opposite ends of the head table and the past champions know almost instinctively where to sit though there is no seating chart. From Nicklaus to Player, Woods to Mickelson and Woosnam to Singh, they come back if they can. Jackie Burke Jr., who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, hasn’t attended in many years.
After pre-dinner cocktails on the veranda, the group gathers as part of a tradition that stands out at a place where tradition is revered. By 9 p.m., the evening is usually over but the memories remain.
“It may be the most exclusive club in golf, originally called the Masters club,” said Adam Scott, the 2013 champion.
“It’s an incredible honor to be in there with all of those great champions and a tradition that is very powerful.”
When Hogan suggested the idea of bringing the past champions together for the first time in 1952, Roberts took Hogan up on his suggestion (Hogan paid for the dinner himself) and the chairman made just one request: Winners would wear their green jackets.
For the first seven years, the dinner was held on Friday evening of tournament week before moving to Tuesday.
Until the early 1980s, the club picked the menu, usually offering chicken, steak or fish. Now, the defending champion picks the menu, and each winner adds his own distinctive touch, though everyone has the option of ordering off Augusta National’s main menu.
This year, Scheffler’s menu includes cheeseburger sliders, firecracker shrimp, tortilla soup, Texas ribeye steak or blackened redfish as an entree, and a warm chocolate chip skillet cookie for dessert.
Others have been more provocative. Scot Sandy Lyle served haggis. Dustin Johnson started with pigs in a blanket, Bernhard Langer served wiener schnitzel, and Sergio García served a Spanish lobster rice dish called arroz caldoso de bogavante.
Bubba Watson, who hosted the dinner in 2013 and 2015, liked his original menu so much – Caesar salad, grilled chicken, green beans, mashed potatoes, corn, macaroni and cheese, cornbread and confetti cake with ice cream – he served it a second time.
The dinner could have a different feel this year with six attendees – Mickelson, Dustin Johnson, García, Charl Schwartzel, Patrick Reed and Watson – having abandoned the PGA Tour for LIV Golf’s guaranteed riches. But at a place where manners and grace are second nature, any awkwardness is likely to be minimal.
“We as a whole need to honor Scottie. Scottie’s the winner, it’s his dinner,” Woods said earlier this year. “So making sure that Scottie gets honored correctly but also realizing the nature of what has transpired and the people that have left, just where our situations are either legally, emotionally, there’s a lot there.”
Being asked back in perpetuity is one of the everlasting benefits of having won the Masters, knowing there is a permanent dinner reservation at the club on Tuesday evening.
“I have no idea what’s going to happen, but, I mean, I can’t wait to go. Those that are not playing out here (on the PGA Tour) and are playing elsewhere that can sit at that table, I mean, they’ve earned that right. I don’t know what’s going to happen. I’m just saying they clearly earned that right,” said Zach Johnson.
Over the years, the past champions have developed their own seating arrangements. Jordan Spieth has compared it to school where even without designated seats, kids find their way to certain spots day after day.
Spieth likes to sit near Mickelson, to hear the stories he tells. Trevor Immelman sits beside Scott who sits on the same side near Schwartzel and Mike Weir, among others.
Nicklaus sits about midway down on the left side.
“Jack’s seat, I probably wouldn’t mess with that one,” Scott said. “A couple to either side of him are pretty set as well.”
The interesting moment is seeing where the previous year’s host – in this case Hideki Matsuyama – finds a seat.
Crenshaw inherited the unofficial master of ceremonies role from Byron Nelson after the 2004 dinner and Fred Couples is usually good for a story or two.
For the defending champion, particularly if it’s his first dinner, speaking to the legendary group can be more nerve-wracking than the tournament itself.
“I was a nervous wreck. I guess you’d say that in a way I didn’t feel like I belonged. I enjoyed it, don’t get me wrong, but I had that feeling,” Larry Mize said.
“That’s why what I have done to some of the guys I’ve known that have won, I’ve made sure that when they came back my two cents to them was, ‘Hey, you belong here just as much as everybody else. Enjoy the night; you belong.’”
Last year, Matsuyama didn’t speak long but he spoke in English rather than his native Japanese.
“It was so fantastic. It really endeared him to the room. He made an effort for everybody when just winning is an accomplishment enough,” Scott said.
“That was really appreciated by all, to hear from him something not translated. It was a big deal. Everyone appreciated that he understood what that room means.”
At some point, every past champion decides the golf course has become too much and he lets the Masters go on without him inside the ropes. Those past champions may not keep a tee time, but they do keep dinner open on Tuesday nights.
“I’ll look forward to going to that dinner forever,” Scott said.
To see tee times for first and second rounds, click HERE.