Masters Champions Dinner To Be Held
The 10th fairway at Augusta National
This years’ Masters is finally due to start between 12-15 November, as the 84th Augusta Masters Tournament had to be postponed from the usual April start. Of the 96 players that will compete we will also find the usual 6 amateur players that are not allowed to accept prize money from the tournament. All golfers will compete in much colder and windier conditions than ever before.
Regretfully, there will be no ‘patrons’ lining up the fairways at Augusta and the Par 3 Contest is still in doubt but to the players delight, the Champions Dinner which was first hosted by Ben Hogan in 1952, will remain on the 72-hole stroke-play event where first-place ties can be decided with a sudden-death playoff.
The reigning champion traditionally choses and pays for the menu on the Tuesday night before the tournament starts, the only difference this year being that the Champions Dinner will actually take place on the 10th of November, in the iconic clubhouse, so they have more room to socially distance. This will be two days before the final major of the season tees off.
Tiger Woods has chosen a menu having won the green jacket to Aprils ago and his menu will consist of sushi and sashimi to start with steak and chicken fajitas as the main course and strawberry and vanilla milkshakes for dessert. Hardly an exciting menu, but one that some may have had before as it is Tiger’s fifth time choosing the menu.
Commenting at the Zozo Championship in Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, Woods said: “I think we're not going to get a lot of the past champions coming because obviously they're at the at-risk age." He concluded: "It’s going to be a shame, but this is unlike any times we've ever had in the past, so we've got to do what we can do to obviously have the traditions that we'd like to have but also maintain safety guidelines."
Other past winners that chose interesting menus include German golfer, Bernhard Langer, who in 1986, asked for the menu to include wiener schnitzel as well as a Black Forest cake. Scotsman, Sandy Lyle, included Haggis in his 1989 Champions Dinner menu while also wearing a kilt. Speaking at the time to the Augusta Chronicle, Lyle said: “That seemed to make quite a statement. The older guys, like (Jack) Nicklaus, had been to Scotland and knew what haggis was. But the newer ones, guys like Larry Mize, they weren't too sure about that.”
In 2009, South African golfer, Trevor Immelman, chose Bobotie, which is a South African dish made of minced meat pie with egg topping to go along with the South African wines that were available on the day.
According to a recent research by Betway, the most popular items on the Champions Dinner Menus over the years are Caesar salad, fillet mignon, mashed potatoes and vanilla ice cream. Some of the players that have been extended honorary status to the dinner include Bill Lane, Hord Hardin, Jack Stephens, Hootie Johnson, Billy Payne and Fred Ridley.
