During my day at The Open Championship in St. Andrews, Scotland, a couple weeks ago, I had a chance encounter with a fella from the Dallas metroplex. He and I were in line to return our supplemental phone battery we’d leased for the day from the Open and were chatting about our experiences of the day.
As we were talking, I noticed he was wearing both a hat and sweater resplendent with the unmistakable Augusta National Golf Club logo. I had to ask.
“Have you ever been?” I inquired.
“Yes,” he said rather sheepishly, then went on to explain, “I submitted my name in the ticket lottery every year for many, many years.”
“Me too,” I interupted, “did you actually get your name pulled!?!”
“No,” he said. “Every year, it was the same thing. Wait until the email came in, get excited because the sender says, ‘The Masters,’ and the message field gives nothing away. Then, I’d open it up and … utter devastation when I’d read the rejection. ‘Unfortunately, your entry was not selected this year.’ Like when that girl says she likes you, but just as a friend.’
“Yeah, I know that feeling all too well,” I chuckled. “So if you didn’t have your name drawn, how’d you get there.”
“Well, I’m a volunteer marshal,” he noted. “I happened to meet someone through my work who, upon discussing further, knew how to get me in. Basically, I knew a guy.”
“Too cool!” I said.
As our time together began to grow short we wished each other well, safe travels, and eventually parted ways. About a week later, I noticed an email in my inbox:
- The Sender: The Masters.
- The Message Field: 2023 Ticket Application – Thank you for your …
My heart rate immediately increased about 10%, my mouth began to dry, my palms became a touch sweaty. To open or not to open?
I thought about previous ticket lotteries I’d participated in successfully: the 1984 Baseball Hall of Fame Game, Games 3 and 4 of the 1984 World Series, the practice rounds for the 2004 Ryder Cup, the 2018 Pearl Jam Home Shows, and the 2022 Open Championship Tuesday practice session.
In an effort to improve my odds for the 2023 Masters lottery (by my count, the 11th straight I’ve participated in) I chose every option. That is, Monday through Wednesday practice sessions as well as Thursday-Friday tournament play. I also chose the maximum allowable for each (two tickets) because, am I really going to The Masters by myself? As you’re responsible for each successful day drawn, I was exposing our family budget to, potentially, more than a $1,500 outlay. Still, I figured this was better than my quasi-strategic past submissions when I’d select just Monday or Tuesday figuring I’d have a better chance for success on a, presumably, lower-demand day.
It was time for the moment of truth as I clicked on the email, which read:
Thank you for your 2023 ticket application. We have now completed the selection process for available tickets to the Masters Tournament, Augusta National Women’s Amateur, and Drive, Chip and Putt National Finals. Unfortunately, your entry was not selected this year.
But wait, there was another paragraph:
As a thank you for your patronage and loyalty, we would like to extend an exclusive sneak peek of the 2022 Masters Tournament official film. Watch the trailer below for your first look reliving all the best moments of the 86th Masters, including Tiger Woods’ return to Augusta National and Scottie Scheffler’s dominant journey to his first Green Jacket.
I’m not sure how exclusive it is/was because it’s easily found on The Masters website. Nevertheless, my misfortune is your good fortune. Here is the exclusive sneak peak.
Scintillating, right? It’s sort of The Masters way of saying it liked me, but just as a friend.
Until next year, I suppose.