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Revered as the most prestigious tournament in golf, the Masters commands international attention, even among nongolfers. The first and second editions of The Masters: A Hole-by-Hole History of America's Golf Classic took the unique approach of tackling Augusta National hole by hole. Each hole had its own chapter, with colorful stories on the greatest shots, biggest disasters, and most amazing events that took place on each. David Sowell returns to Augusta now with the third edition of The Masters, adding more history and updating each hole with additional stories of greatness and tales of woe for a new generation of golfers led by Jordan Spieth, Rory McIlroy, and Patrick Reed, as well as from an older guard represented by Bubba Watson, Adam Scott, and Sergio García. The legends of the Masters are in full force in this lively look at America's golf classic. From Bobby Jones and Gene Sarazen to Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson to Bubba Watson and Jordan Spieth, all the greatest Masters moments of the greatest-and not so great-golfers are here in one book. This third edition provides a rich historical view of the course where success breeds legends and where failure can haunt even the most brilliant golfer's career.

Accumulation of organic matter (OM) at the soil surface (mat OM) and below (soil OM) can negatively affect putting green performance characteristics. The objective of this study was to evaluate cultural practices for control of OM and their effects on performance characteristics of a mature, USGA-specified ultradwarf bermudagrass [Cynodon dactylon (L.) Pers. x C. transvaalensis Burt Davy] green in a subtropical climate. Two ultradwarf cultivars, ‘TifEagle’ and ‘Champion’, were subjected to hollow tine aerification (HTA) 1, 2, or 3 times yr–1, verticutting (VC) 3 times yr–1, solid tine aerification (STA) 5 times yr–1, and no treatment (control) for two consecutive years. Cultivars and treatments were arranged in a split-plot, randomized complete block design. Although mat OM depth was similar among treatments, concentration was reduced after 2 yr by VC, HTA 2 times yr–1, and HTA 3 times yr–1. Solid TA (5 times yr–1) and hollow TA (2 and 3 times yr–1) reduced soil OM concentration compared with the control. Since VC also provided the highest turfgrass quality, firmest surface, least mower scalping, and least localized dry spots (LDS), it proved to be the best cultural practice tested, particularly since HTA 3 times yr–1 increased saturated hydraulic conductivity (K(sat)), which reduced volumetric water content and increased LDS. TifEagle was the better performing cultivar, as it had higher quality and less mower scalping.

Economics and regulations are causing golf course managers to use lower-input approaches for turfgrass maintenance. Our objective was to compare velvet bentgrass (Agrostis canina L.) and creeping bentgrass (A. stolonifera L.) cultivars for putting green turf as affected by mowing height and N rate. Field plots were established on a sand-based root zone using a strip-split plot, randomized block design with four replications. Main plots were cultivars ('Vesper' and 'SR7200' velvet bentgrasses and 'Penncross' and 'L-93' creeping bentgrasses). Mowing heights of 2.5, 4.0, and 6.4 mm were stripped across main plots, which were split to receive 48 or 146 kg ha-1 N yr-1. Vesper at the higher N rate provided the best turf quality, had the best spring green-up, and had greater shoot density than either creeping bentgrass regardless of N rate. Cultivar and N treatments had variable effects on ball roll. In 2006 the velvet bentgrasses had less dollar spot disease (Sclerotinia homeocarpa F.T. Bennett) than creeping bentgrasses at 4.0 and 6.4 mm mowing heights. Velvet bentgrasses do not necessarily require less N than creeping bentgrasses, and intraspecific variation between cultivars indicates generic comparisons to creeping bentgrass are not always appropriate at the species level.

The Miami Valley Golf Association will stage at least three competitions, including a 72-hole metropolitan tournament on four courses in July and an 18-hole junior championship at Country Club of the North in August. The MVGA is affiliating with the United States Golf Association and will provide such services as slope ratings for courses, uniformity of handicapping services and access to USGA seminars.

\"Jack told me, 'Congratulations on being our national champion,' \" Montgomerie recalled, referring to the four-time Open champion who had missed the cut that year. \"I believed it. I think everybody there believed it.\" \"In the U.S. Open,\" the 37-year-old German said, \"I've never really played up to my standards. Shinnecock might look like a British Open course but it's still set up like a U.S. Open.\" Ballesteros, who will be teeing off in his 18th Open, agreed that the Europeans had a \"better chance\" than usual because the Shinnecock Hills \"atmosphere is very English.\" But he added, \"That doesn't mean a European will win.\" That same atmosphere existed here in 1986 when Ballesteros finished in a tie for 24th and Langer in a tie for 48th as Raymond Floyd won with a 65 for 279, only one under par.

\"The way it is set up, with such a good course, I think it would be an obvious name at the end of the week that is going to win this,\" said Nick Faldo, perhaps the most obvious of the obvious names. \"I don't think it is going to be a surprise name.\" \"You have to look first of all to Greg because he won in circumstances very similar to these two weeks ago,\" Price said. \"And you look at guys who have played well over the last few weeks. Lee Janzen, Tom Lehman, Bernhard Langer, Peter Jacobsen, Payne Stewart.\" If the opportunity presents itself, P. J. COWAN will be ready to play in the United States Open for the first time in his career. Cowan, the 26-year-old assistant pro at Lake Success Golf Club on Long Island, arrived at Shinnecock Wednesday after withdrawing from the Vermont Open, hoping to cash in as one of the first alternates into the field. \"I got a call the other day from the U.S.G.A. guys and they told me to get down here,\" Cowan said as he stood by the 18th green. With the first tee time set for 6:45 A.M. Thursday, Cowan's only hope will be for a late withdrawal by a player in the tournament field. \"I'll be here all day,\" he said.

Each hole at Shinnecock has a name, and this one, appropriately, is called \"Home.\" But there's nothing comfortable about it. Usually, it plays into a stiff or swirling breeze. The tee is set in a hollow, and the view from the tee of the hard dogleg left makes a player want to try to hit his tee shot on the left side of the fairway. This is not the line to take, however, since a hooked shot will wind up in the bunker if it's short (it's 252 yards to carry) or in the heavy rough if long. Either way, it's virtually impossible to hit the elevated green from there. \"It's going to be a great test,\" said Lee Janzen, the 1993 Open champion who won last week at the Kemper Open. \"It's hard to imagine anyone making birdie here to win the championship.\"

\"I wouldn't know,\" she said. \"I'm not allowed in.\" \"Companies ask us not to release their names,\" Griffin said. \"If we did, they'd get hundreds of requests from people asking for tickets. And in the age of downsizing, they don't want to broadcast how much money they're spending.\" \"In '86, we paid Shinnecock $40,000 or $50,000,\" Hannigan said. \"I'd be surprised if it wasn't double that now.\"

\"He pointed to his elbow,\" Crenshaw recalled, \"and told us, 'This is the name of the hole.' \" In that 1986 Open, Crenshaw finished with three 69's, but shot a 76 in Thursday's blustery nor'easter. That left him in a tie for sixth, four strokes behind Raymond Floyd's winning 279. Now, only two months after having won his second Masters, the 43-year-old Texan is here in the Hamptons again. \"It's going to be a special Open,\" he said. \"Shinnecock makes your heart beat faster. Everything fits here. It's a marvelous golf course in a unique setting, a touch of golf that emanates from the British Isles. No trees to speak of. Sandy soil. America's first golf clubhouse.\"

Back in the late 1980's, when he was winning two straight United States Opens, Curtis Strange had an aura about him, an air of invincibility, a cloak of confidence. Run the United States Golf Association flag up the flagpole, grow the rough to calf length, make the greens like linoleum and just get out of Strange's way. What of today's crop of players? Who in this generation -- and for the sake of argument we'll make it players 45 years old or younger -- has the requisite combination of physical skill and mental toughness to prevail in the Open, golf's most grueling grind? The Young Lions \"Winners are a different breed of cat,\" the legendary Byron Nelson once said. \"They have an inner drive and are willing to give of themselves whatever it takes to win. It's a discipline that not a lot of people are willing to impose on themselves.\"