This week’s patron-less Masters a reminder of the past

A Masters Tournament without patrons means a tournament without folks like Jack Warren.

If something noteworthy has happened at Augusta National -- and, of course, it has -- Warren has probably seen it. He’s seen every green jacket winner from Doug Ford to Patrick Reed.

Warren, 88, pieced together an unbelievable streak that came to an end a couple of years ago. He attended every Masters from 1957 through 2018. That said, this year’s set of circumstances will surely bring an end to a greater number of attendance streaks.

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In the days when Warren began his Masters streak, the tournament was a different place. The grounds weren’t as vast, there were far fewer patrons and, most importantly, patrons could buy admission at the gate. The latter seems so foreign today, but mail-in badge requests didn’t begin until the mid-1960s.

“Back when I was in college (at the University of Georgia), my friends would say, ‘Let’s go to the tournament.’ I said, ‘What tournament?’ We’d go to the ticket gate and it was five bucks for the whole day,” he said. “Years later, they even let you apply for tickets in the mail so you wouldn’t have to stand in line. I’ve gotten four every year since.”

He and his wife Nancy, who is from Augusta, would set up their chairs on No. 6, watching all the players come through. For a number of years, he cut his visits down to just Thursdays. Due to a couple of health issues, he no longer makes it out to Augusta National.

“I’ve gone every year except for the last two, since I’ve had some hip problems,” he said. “I used to enjoy going so much, but back in the early days there was a tenth of the people there are now and it was so much easier to move around and see all the players.”

The irony is, with the lack of patrons, this week would probably look closer to what Warren remembers from his early days at the tournament.

The couple now lives in Greensboro, Ga. With the advancements in technology and all the available camera angles, he gets just as much enjoyment taking in the tournament on television these days. He now lets his son use his four tickets.

With no one to compete for seating, no gallery guards manning the ropes, no roars when the ball sinks in the cup, and no Jack and Nancy Warren on No. 6, the 2020 Masters will be filled with firsts.