MyTurn
by JIM DUCIBELLA
Michaux a Master
of Augusta Memories
Afew months ago, journalist Scott
Michaux began posting daily
Masters trivia to his Facebook
and Twitter pages. It was
intended to serve as an 80-day run-up to
golf’s celebrated rite of spring. Then came
the pandemic, and postponement of the
event to November. Less passionate men
would have abandoned the plan.
Not Michaux, long a friend of mine
whose prose has graced this publication;
occasionally even this page (Grrrrr). He
just keeps adding fascinating tidbits.
There may be people who know
more about Masters history. Good
luck finding them.
The Golf Writers Association of
America was especially appreciative
of the Richmond-raised, 1986 graduate
of the University of Virginia
during his 17 years as columnist for
the Augusta Chronicle. Ten times,
Michaux won GWAA awards, eight
of them Masters-related.
Michaux’s most unexpected
piece of trivia occurred when he
wondered if any player came close
to Jordan Spieth’s record at Augusta
of two T2s and a win in his first
four appearances.
He found Bert Yancey. From 1967-
70, Yancey finished third, third
and fourth.
“I didn’t know how good he
was, and how potentially great he could
have been had he not suffered from
what we today call bipolar depression,”
Michaux explained. “To me, that’s a
fascinating story.”
Once his condition was properly diagnosed,
Yancey, who was hospitalized for
nine months during his senior year at West
Point, was prescribed lithium. The drug
caused his hands to tremble and forced
him to retire from the regular Tour. When
a new drug was developed later, he did a
short turn on the Senior circuit.
Each year, the Chronicle would publish
a massive Masters preview section, 80
pages featuring at least 30 stories on players,
issues, oddities from the first three
rounds, anything that shaped the ultimate
outcome. The assignment began over
the breakfast table at fellow writer David
Westin’s home about 12 hours after the
previous tournament ended.
“We would have a (player) draft every
year, and there was a lot of strategy
involved in that,” Michaux said. “I knew
the kind of guy David wanted to write
about, and if I wanted to write about him,
too, I’d better draft him early.”
Want to keep up with the countdown?
Follow along @ScottMichaux.
The defending champion received a
section all to himself, a plum assignment
that took Michaux from Arizona (Bubba
Watson) to Florida (Tiger Woods) to
Australia (Adam Scott) to South Africa
(Charl Schwartzel).
But it was the journey to Argentina for
Angel Cabrera that provided Michaux—and
his photographer—with a most vivid experience.
Part of the assignment, mandated by
the owner of the paper (an Augusta National
member), was to come back with a photo of
the champion wearing the green jacket.
Cabrera’s session took place at Cordoba
Country Club, where he caddied,
learned the game, and considered his
home. Packed inside a tiny back room was
his coach, wealthy people who supported
him financially when he was starting out
and friends with whom he had worked as a
kid, some still very poor. All stared intently
at Michaux.
When done, Cabrera refused to don the
jacket. Not unusual, Michaux said. As often
as not in his experience, the champions
have been strangely uncooperative.
Cabrera, Michaux said, actually had
a reason.
“‘Here, with these people, I am just
(one of them), not a Masters champion,’”
Cabrera’s coach translated to
Michaux. “He thought it would be
big-timing them to put on that jacket
in front of them. It was not an appropriate
place.”
The photo they returned with was
of Cabrera wearing a PGA of America
shirt, “a tournament he hasn’t even
won,” Michaux said, laughing.
“Two wonderful accidents,”
Michaux said, resulted in the Augusta
National we think of today—a paradise
with a single-minded devotion to golf.
The first was a catastrophic Miami
hurricane of 1926. At the time, a massively
wealthy Florida hotelier owned
the property in Augusta and planned
to build a lavish resort there. The flood
wiped him out and he defaulted on
the land.
The second was the Great Depression.
The original plans for Augusta National
included a couple of golf courses, swimming
pools, tennis courts, women and
junior members, and—don’t faint—houses
everywhere. They even sold one lot behind
the first green, where a home was built.
Once the course opened in 1932, and
having skirted bankruptcy on several occasions,
it was decided that the other amenities
weren’t wanted, needed or affordable.
The house behind Number 1 was purchased
and razed within 24 hours of closing.
“They wanted a traditional country
club,” Michaux said. “Instead, they ended
up creating a whole new model.”
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V IRGINIA G OLFER | J ULY/A UGUST 2020
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