[Joe Bausch]

Fun stuff to see some of these fellows.

12th hole:  Jim Thacker



13th hole:  Pat Summerall



14th hole:  Jack Whitaker



15th hole:  Ben Wright



16th hole:  Henry Longhurst



17th hole:  Frank Glieber



18th hole:  Vin Scully

[Greg Beaulieu]

Honestly don't recall Jim Thacker. Did CBS use him only at the Masters or was he a staff announcer who did other things?

[Mike Hamilton]

Honestly don't recall Jim Thacker. Did CBS use him only at the Masters or was he a staff announcer who did other things?

Growing up in North Carolina I remember Jim Thacker well.  He was a staple alongside Billy Packer announcing ACC basketball games in the MidAtlantic in the 70s.  Was surprised to see him listed as a Masters announcer.

[Tim_Cronin]

Honestly don't recall Jim Thacker. Did CBS use him only at the Masters or was he a staff announcer who did other things?

Growing up in North Carolina I remember Jim Thacker well.  He was a staple alongside Billy Packer announcing ACC basketball games in the MidAtlantic in the 70s.  Was surprised to see him listed as a Masters announcer.

Thacker worked a good deal of CBS golf as a free-lancer, and also appeared on SNI/Hughes golf coverage (which was for years directed by Frank Chirkinian). I remember Thacker on the 14th or 15th hole of the Western Open at Butler National when CBS began to cover it. One year, he was at 15, Rick Barry was at 16, Frank Glieber was at 17, with Pat Summerall and Ken Venturi at 18.
And where was Venturi in 1975? That was great to see. Would love to see the unedited tape.

[Buck Wolter]

They need to roll back the pixels -- the telecast just isn't as good as it used to be with all that technology.

[Matthew Rose]

Somewhere in a bad motel, the drapes are missing.

Vin Scully.... win 

I could listen to him describing paint dry and enjoy it.

[Colin Macqueen]

Gentlemen,

Henry Longhurst was the master of the understatement.....hmmmmmm.

Cheers Colin

[Scott_Burroughs]

Was also interesting to see the cross-hatched mowing pattern on the (then) Bermuda greens....and the players were doing some serious shoulder turns (actually, several were still wristy) on the longer putts on those slower/grainy greens.

[Joe Bausch]

And that the announcers said the prize was a "green coat".

[Peter Pallotta]

Joe - some words to go with the pictures:

Ben Wright (off the cheer as Weiskopf birdies 15): "Ah, evil music to the ears of Mr. Nicklaus". 

Henry Longhurst (as Jack drills in his 40 footer on 16): "And now, young Mr. Weiskopf will have to take it, just as he dished it out". 

Wonderful. And look at those mugs: You think those boys had a few drinks on occasion?

Peter

[JLahrman]

Any images of 9-year-old Jim Nantz sitting in the Butler Cabin waiting to interview the champion?  I believe 1975 was his first Masters.

[Willie_Dow]

What a great job Jack Whitaker did for the introduction of "The Nature Faker" by Wayne Morrison and Tom Paul.

Jack has a large fund of knowledge for both golf course architecture and golf history.  His friendships with the many announcers, and players, over the years, make him one person Ran should catch up with, and soon ! 

[Joe Bausch]

What a great job Jack Whitaker did for the introduction of "The Nature Faker" by Wayne Morrison and Tom Paul.

Jack has a large fund of knowledge for both golf course architecture and golf history.  His friendships with the many announcers, and players, over the years, make him one person Ran should catch up with, and soon ! 

Spot on Willie.  My lunch with you and Jack last year was special.

[John McCarthy]

Just kicking for Vin Sculley.  He is still the best.

On another topic, did all these guys get their sports jackets in a pro shop in Kentucky?

[jeffwarne]

Funny to see 16 listed at 190 yards in 1975.
i was just commenting to a friend the other day that I thought that hole used to be longer.
Sure enough, a look at a 1956 scorecard shows 190 yards, and it's currently listed at 170.
I realize it plays at a variety of distances, but I do remember the 190 figure and also a lot of 4,5, and 6 irons being hit.
I hit a 4 iron to an imaginary back left pin on my sneakover round (I don't even know if there is a back left pin anymore)

[Tim_Cronin]

It's hard to believe now, but CBS only made it all the way back to the 13th hole in 1973. Don't know if 1975 was the first telecast from the 12th or not. Only two hours of coverage on Sunday in 1975 (and only 95 minutes, including a five minute overrun on Saturday).

[Mark Bourgeois]

Honestly don't recall Jim Thacker. Did CBS use him only at the Masters or was he a staff announcer who did other things?

Growing up in North Carolina I remember Jim Thacker well.  He was a staple alongside Billy Packer announcing ACC basketball games in the MidAtlantic in the 70s.  Was surprised to see him listed as a Masters announcer.

Thacker and Packer!

[John Kirk]

Before all the commentators wore makeup.  Everybody's got a different jacket, too.

[Tim_Cronin]

Before all the commentators wore makeup.  Everybody's got a different jacket, too.

What restaurant did Glieber steal that tablecloth from? And Thacker outgreened the green jacket with his version.

[Michael Whitaker]

It's shame that Wright can't get a TV gig. He is fantastic.

[Jim Nugent]

Funny to see 16 listed at 190 yards in 1975.

I wonder if 16 is the only hole at ANGC that plays shorter now than it did 40-50 years ago. 

[Sam Morrow]

It's shame that Wright can't get a TV gig. He is fantastic.

I agree. There are many people who have said much worse.

[Matthew Rose]

I have a book published in 1974 that lists ANGC at 7,020 yards and a foldout map from the April 1985 Golf Digest which lists it at 6,905 yards. That's pretty significant. What exactly happened there?

[jeffwarne]

I have a book published in 1974 that lists ANGC at 7,020 yards and a foldout map from the April 1985 Golf Digest which lists it at 6,905 yards. That's pretty significant. What exactly happened there?

I'm guessing it was juts the way they were measuring things.
If a tee got bigger, the middle could move forward.
perhaps the 1974 yardages were from the "back area" of the back tees, and the 1985 yardages were from the center of whatever tee was there.
I've seen developers and architects insist on small back tees for max yardage purposes

[Sven Nilsen]

The listed yardages were not always accurate, and at some point they did a reboot of the card to get a more accurate record.

One example is the lengthening of the first hole in 1983.  Instead of telling the players that the hole had been lengthened by 10-20 yards, they told them that the bunker had been moved.  The scorecard yardage wasn't changed until 1999.  My guess is that the guys who played there annually had a pretty good idea about what was going on.

The third hole is listed at the same yardage as when the course opened (350), but has had iterations of 355 and 360.

The sixth hole was originally 185, went up to 190 and today is listed at 180.

The 13th was changed from 465 to 485 in 1994 without any physical changes to the hole.  It opened at 480.  Today it plays at 510 after a new tee was built on land procured from Augusta CC in 2001.

The 15th had its official yardage reduced in 1981 from 520 to 500, today it plays longer.

For 16, my guess is that the reduction in yardage is the result of changes made for spectator flow between 15 and 16, including the addition of an access staircase to the grandstands by 15.

The rest of the holes have generally experienced a steady increase in length, sometimes as the result of extensive changes to the hole (like at the 7th) or by finding room for new tees (the 18th being a good example).

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