Masters' Par-3 Contest has delivered fun for decades

Coming up with a fun event to attract fans can be a challenge for even the best golf tournaments, including the Masters.

Consider that in 1934, the first Augusta National Invitation Tournament featured two such events: an iron play contest and an alternate shot event.

Though those events didn’t last very long, the Masters didn’t stop trying to entertain its patrons. After World War II, an instructional clinic and long driving contest were held on the Wednesday before the tournament. The common area between the ninth and 18th holes was used for such events, and students from area high schools attended.

By the mid-1950s, the clinic had progressed to include an exhibition by trick-shot artist Paul Hahn.

It wasn’t until 1960 that the Masters came up with an event that has stood the test of time: the Par-3 Contest.

Designed as a fun event to let competitors blow off some steam before the tournament proper, it also fits nicely into Augusta National’s mission to grow the game.

The contest is held on the Wednesday before the tournament, and participation is optional. Players often invite their children, spouses or celebrities to be their caddies for a day.

Though most regular professional events hold pro-am tournaments, the Par-3 Contest is open to tournament competitors, noncompeting past champions and honorary invitees.

The winner receives a crystal bowl, and those closest to the pin on each hole get prizes.
“Only trophies and souvenirs are offered as prizes, but the competition is keen and the contest attracts large numbers of patrons,” Augusta National co-founder Clifford Roberts wrote of the Par-3 Contest in his book, The Story of the Augusta National Golf Club. “It is, in fact, much more popular than the clinics, driving and iron play contests, and trick-shot entertainment staged on Wednesdays prior to the existence of our par-three course.”

Roberts would no doubt be pleased with how the Par-3 Contest has grown. It is now televised live, and the demand for tickets is nearly as great as for a tournament day.

The only negative thing about the Par-3 Contest is the jinx: No one has won the Par-3 and the Masters in the same year, though several have come close.

Raymond Floyd won the event in 1990, then lost the Masters in a sudden-death playoff to Nick Faldo.

In 1987, Ben Crenshaw won the warm-up act and then held the 54-hole lead. He finished one shot out of the three-way playoff won by Larry Mize.

Chip Beck was runner-up in 1993 after winning the Par-3 earlier in the week.