Masters Challenge 2009

April 6, 2009

By Fig Jam

Fig Jam

Cue the soft and melodic CBS Music…

Cue the quiet scenery of Augusta National golf course…

Cue Jim Nantz speaking slowly and methodically into a microphone, determined to say something meaningful and important with every syllable…

Cue the 2009 Masters.

That’s right, it’s Masters week. The greatest week in golf every year as the world’s best assemble at one of the top golf courses in the world, Augusta National, to compete for a chance to win golf’s most coveted prize: the Green Jacket. At Augusta victory means a lifetime membership in one of the most exclusive clubs on the planet. It means you get dressed in the “Champions” locker room. It means an invitation to play the Masters for as long as you want (unless you begin to embarass yourself, at which point you will be asked to cease and desist from Masters competition). In short, a victory at Augusta means that your golfing legacy is complete. You will forever be known as a Masters champion.

Of course, with Masters week comes the second annual Hotdogandfriends Masters Challenge. An opportunity to cement your own legacy in the golfing blogosphere. This year it’s back and better than ever. The rules have changed a little bit, but the basic principles are the same. Here’s how it works:

THE CHALLENGE

The game is simple. Pick 5 players competing in the Masters tournament who you believe will be able to beat Tiger Woods when 3 of their 5 total scores for the tournament are calculated. If you choose wisely, your golfers will all be under par, and when you combine their aggregate total under par, they will be more strokes under par than Woods. Odds are you will have at least one or two clunker picks, which you can eliminate from calculation (call it your mulligans), but if you have more than 2 poor choices you are toast. Obviously, Tiger Woods cannot be one of your picks (sorry, you have to pick other golfers, even though Tiger is likely the only one capable of beating himself). Also, if 3 of your golfers miss the cut, you are disqualified, as you will not 3 remaining scores to tally at the end. You must make it to the weekend with 3 golfers in contention to be eligible to win.

Last year it was best 4 out of 5, but this year we are going with 3 out of 5 for several reasons. First, Tiger is only 3 tournaments removed from Major surgery. While it’s true that he has found his form with a win at Bay Hill, I think that Augusta is a whole other ball game. Second, with major golf playing so close to par in recent years, it seems unlikely that anyone will be able to get 4 out of 5 right with correct picks. Therefore, there’s a little more room for error, as you only need to get 60% of your picks right to have a chance to win.

Also – in the event that nobody is able to beat Tiger Woods with their aggregate score (very possible since picking 3 players who are all going to be below par or even par is very difficult), then the competition will simply be judged head-to-head with the other “Masters Challenge” competitors. If there is a tie for first after that, we will go to the 4th and 5th golfers chosen to determine a winner. If there’s a tie after that, I swear to god I’m flipping a coin and that’s how it’s going to be.

PRIZE:

A New year brings a new prize for this competition. Actually, the winner will have the choice of prizes, based on the fact that last year the individual who won was not in Seattle and was not able to enjoy his prize. So, that being the case, here are the options for the grand champion:

1. A free round of golf with myself and Constable Echelon at Gold Mountain Golf Course. Gold Mountain is one of the gems of the Pacific Northwest and is a beautiful place to play golf. It is one of my favorite courses. We can play the old course (Cascade) or new (Olympic) depending on which you’d prefer.

OR…

2. If you aren’t readily available for a round of golf in Washington State, don’t play golf, or just don’t like myself or Constable Echelon and don’t want to go golfing with us, you can opt for a $50 gift card to Amazon.com and buy yourself a nice book or something.

So there it is. Post your entries below in the comments section before Thursday morning’s opening round. Good luck to everyone in this year’s Masters Challenge.

UPDATE: if you post a list that identical to another list in the competition, the tiebreaker will be the ‘first in time.’ In other words, whoever got their picks in first. This isn’t a perfect solution, but ensures that nobody will just wait until Weds. night and just cherry pick a good group from someone else. So make sure when you submit your list you aren’t the exact same as someone else or you run the risk of losing out.

Masters Challenge 2009

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