This is a Masters Tournament first.
A noted author set out to reverse-engineer what makes the Masters exceptional. What he found is that the tournament shares something in common with the likes of …
Buc-ee’s, Ikea, In-N-Out Burger, Costco, Disney, Publix, Apple, the U.S. Marine Corps, Ritz-Carlton, Salesforce, the British Royal Family, the Atlanta Falcons and others.
Wait a minute! The Masters is the center of the golfing universe, a revered tournament whose tagline uttered by Jim Nantz—“A Tradition Unlike Any Other”—is trademarked. It’s where history and Amen Corner lore weave an almost religious blanket and is so embedded in the golf conscious that the Masters is practically a synonym for April. Or springtime.
And this annual ritual has something in common with In-N-Out Burger? The Marines? Even the silly grinning beaver that represents the Buc-ee’s convenience chain based in Lake Jackson, Texas?
That’s right. The similarities are detailed in John Sabino’s book, The Augusta Principles, a mix of behind-the-scenes Masters information that will entertain average golf fans and principles used by many of the most successful and popular corporations that will inform business readers and corporate types who may need a how-to refresher on getting ahead.
John Sabino
Sabino has written for a variety of golf and business magazines, maintains his own blog and as an avid player has checked off every course on the Top 100 list. Augusta National Golf Club has the most luster of any track on that list. Its tournament inspires devotion among golf fans, just as some top corporations do. (Does the Royal Family count as a corporation? Hmm. That may require a second opinion.)
Sabino pinpointed 10 principles used by Augusta National that can be applied to businesses of any size. No spoiler alert is necessary but here are a few of the big ones: Focus on the Details, Treat People with Respect, Adopt a Mindset of Continuous Improvement, Be Generous, and Respect Tradition and Honor the Past.
The ideas seem obvious. Then again, if you’ve waited an hour in a doctor’s office to see a physician or spent 45 minutes on hold with Blue Cross or any store’s internationally outsourced customer service line, you know that not everyone follows the advice.
Publix, for instance, gets it. Sabino writes that it has a 10-foot or 10-second rule in which every arriving customer must be greeted and if customers need help finding an item, Publix employees don’t supply an aisle number for a location—they’re trained to go get the item for the customer.
The Masters respects its patrons by offering reasonable concession prices, enthusiastic welcomes, free parking and, in a nod to when paper was still a thing, complimentary pairings sheets. The tournament respects its television viewers by airing far fewer commercials than any other sporting event.
Focus on the Details? The author examines how few entities do that more carefully than the Masters. For starters, no weed has ever been discovered on the immaculate grounds. (You can thank 35 groundskeepers for that.) The tournament has no visible trash. (Thanks to an army of paid clean-up crews.) Long lines for bathrooms? Not likely.
Even the iconic flower bed in the clubhouse drive circle with the yellow and red flowers to replicate the tournament’s logo is painstakingly maintained so fans can score photo opps—but during practice rounds only. Cameras aren’t allowed during tournament rounds and cell phones aren’t allowed at any time. Sabino learned that the flowers are maintained by gardeners who use a horizontal ladder so they can access the middle of the flower bed without having to risk stepping on or damaging the other flowers.
Sabino likens this mindset to Ritz-Carlton, the luxury hotel chain, where any employee is authorized to spend up to $2,000 without needed manager approval in order to satisfy a guest’s problem.
You’re probably curious what Buc-ee’s has in common with Augusta National. The convenience store chain brags that it has the cleanest restrooms in America, a claim backed up at its 58 outlets. It’s one reason the store has a cult-like following and why a Forbes magazine survey listed Buc-ee’s at No. 1 in customer popularity—not just over every other gas station or convenience chain, over every other corporate brand, period.
Here’s how the Masters stacks up, according to Sabino: “The buildings are made of pine, which is an artful design because it helps to overpower the foul with the fragrant. And there are jovial attendants who keep the lines moving inside the building and out. ‘Welcome to the men’s room!’ is not a greeting one hears at even the fanciest hotel or restaurant. In addition, the attendants clean the stalls after each use.”
More details: The club has 33 rules for the CBS broadcasts and requisite precise language, such as referring to spectators as “patrons,” not fans; “first nine and second nine,” not front nine and back nine; and “bunkers,” not sand traps.
As for Sabino’s principle about respecting tradition and honoring the past, that’s a well-known core of the course’s existence. Past champions are hailed an annual Tuesday night dinner and Thursday morning’s honorary starter tradition is such that, well, Sabino points out, the game’s legends will practically crawl to the tee if need be. Fred McLeod, Gene Sarazen and Sam Snead each died within a month of their last ceremonial appearances at the Masters. They were 94, 97 and 89, respectively. Arnold Palmer, 87, left us five months after his last visit. “The Masters is so special, these legends don’t want to, and can’t admit, that it will end someday,” Sabino writes. “This is the ultimate expression of gratitude to a tournament.”
There are plenty more nuggets in The Augusta Principles. Fans may be surprised to learn about a complex series of tunnels that cross beneath Washington Road, used for food and other deliveries and maybe the occasional superstar. And the vault where the members’ green jackets are stored is accessed via a fingerprint scanner.
The first souvenir Masters garden gnome was sold in 2016. A man who bought one for $39.50 sold it at auction eight years later for $8,900, Sabino reports. The Masters gnomes have become an annual phenomenon. That initial gnome sale was smartly preceded by a tantalizing announcement on the tournament’s Instagram account. (The club also has an Instagram account in Spanish.)
Yes, the not-so-stoic Masters is heavily into new technology. It is the only golf tournament where every shot by every player can be viewed on its website scoreboard.
The first Masters Sabino attended was 30 years ago. On each successive visit, he was more and more impressed with how it well was run. “I kept asking myself, why can’t the real world be more like Augusta?” Sabino said.
His book tries to deliver the answer.
