AUGUSTA, Ga. — So, you think you want to work at the Masters?
Yep, that is what my wife and I thought back in March when we saw an ad for a Masters jobs fair in Augusta. We are retired from professional careers and live in Aiken, S.C., about an hour away from the tournament site.
Out of curiosity, my wife stopped by the fair to inquire. I did not go. I sent a bio brief summarizing my experiences as public relations director for the Heritage Golf Classic, World Invitational Tennis Classic and the Family Circle Cup – all nationally televised from Sea Pines on Hilton Head Island, S.C. My wife retired from a professional career as the executive director of an international nonprofit
The gentleman with whom she met said we would be a natural fit. Time went by, and the Masters employment process began with online tests, background checks and training sessions. You would have thought we were being screened for top-level security government jobs.
I thought I would be getting a job in the press room and my wife thought she would be helping in tournament operations. Those are our backgrounds.
We were assigned to concessions. Somewhat of a bait and switch. Not knowing what concessions work was all about, we thought it would be an OK way to see the Masters from the inside. We had been to the Masters many times as spectators. As a matter of fact, my wife’s family has been involved with the tournament since 1934 when it all began. Her dad and uncle, as youngsters, passed out free tournament tickets in downtown Augusta in those early days, just to get people to attend. Her uncle eventually became a Masters scorer.
Today, thousands flock to the Augusta National Golf Club on Washington Road to see what has evolved into one of the world’s great sports spectacles.
We reported for our jobs at Concessions Stand 1 where we learned that we would be working to keep the three food service bays stocked with sandwiches, snacks, and beverages (soft drinks, beer and wine). Initially, there were about 100 of us workers in Stand 1 but that number dwindled by about a third as the week and tournament went along.
Each day began for us around 2 a.m., because we allowed driving time to get to the Masters employee parking lot at Augusta University where shuttles took us to the course and then Concessions Stand 1, a cave-like space located beneath the golf pro/gift shop. We had to be there by 4:30 or 5 a.m. It was a full 10-to-14-hour day of running breakfast and barbeque…
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