Chosen Few Find Crow's Nest Short on Home Comforts

Post by Sports Journalist Derek Clements

EVERY year five amateurs are invited to play in The Masters, and with that invitation comes an opportunity to spend the week in the Crow's Nest, a 30ft by 40ft room located at the top of Augusta's clubhouse. It is partitioned into four cubicles, three of them furnished with a single bed and one with two beds.

The invitations go out to the U.S. Amateur champion and runner-up, the Amateur champion, the U.S. Public Links champion and the U.S. Mid-Amateur champion. In the past, the likes of Jack Nicklaus, Tiger Woods, Matt Fitzpatrick, Edoardo Molinari and Brandt Snedeker have stayed there. It is part and parcel of the rich tradition of Augusta but, more than that, it offers a practical solution for young men who might be short of money.

As you can imagine, hotel prices in the town go through the roof during Masters week - beyond the means of many ordinary amateurs. For those who stay in the Crow's Nest, the bill comes to something like $10 a night and a pittance for food.

Augusta's Crow's Nest serves as housing for invited amateurs. Take a peek: http://t.co/U6PVyAWXr3 pic.twitter.com/LGctPhH588

— Golf Digest (@GolfDigest) April 1, 2015

Part of the tradition it may be, but nobody who ends up sleeping there should expect to be put up in the lap of luxury. A secret hallway and the steepest steps in Georgia lead up to the Crow's Nest and everybody who stays there is asked if they want earplugs. The story goes that Jeff Quinney, the 2000 US Amateur champion, turned down the offer and quickly lived to regret his decision as he ended up sharing his accommodation with a snorer, a party-loving amateur and a wheezer. After failing to get a wink of sleep for three nights, Quinney moved out after the first round.

Ricky Barnes, the 2002 US Amateur champion, said: "If someone snores, if someone farts, if someone burps, you hear it."

Every amateur will find a white cotton bathrobe on their bed, with an embroidered Augusta National logo. Although they are supposed to remain at Augusta, you won't be surprised to learn that they never are. It has to be the collest souvenir of all.

There are restrictions, however. Amaterus are not allowed into the Champions locker room. In 1987, Billy Andrade accidentally wandered in. "What are you doing in this room?" demanded an elderly man. It was none other than the 1935 champion Gene Sarazen. Barnes was given a tour of the place by Arnold Palmer, but later sneaked back in on his own to stare at the Green Jackets. "Getting in there during the tournament, you practically need a urine test," Barnes says. He resisted the urge to slip on one of the famous jackets.

So what do the amateurs get in terms of creature comforts? Well, there's a sofa and a wingback chair, a table with four chairs, one phone (woe betide anybody caught with a mobile phone on the grounds at Augusta National), a TV,  four semi-enclosed rooms, five beds, two sinks, one tiny shower and, apparently, a copy of Augusta Magazine. "You feel like you're staying at your grandma's," says Quinney. Tall men such as Barnes find that their toes dangle over the bed.

There's no chance of sleeping through the alarm. The amateurs will surely be awoken by the cheers of the "patrons" (spectators), as Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player make their way to the first tee for the drives that offically get The Masters under way.

Nicklaus has three tips for anybody staying in the Crow's Nest:

1: "Be careful going up and down the stairs - they're very steep."

2: "Make sure you get as far away from someone who snores as you possibly can."

3: "Enjoy yourself. It's all part of the overall experience, like driving up Magnolia Lane for the first time, or playing the course for the first time."
After he spent his first two Masters, Tiger Woods said the Crow's Nest reminded him of the dorms at Stanford University. He also discovered that staying there made him a better  card player.

“That’s pretty much all we did up there,” he said. “We played cards all the time. How could I not have gotten better?” It's a safe bet that he won too.