Customer Reviews

The Making of the Masters: Clifford Roberts, Augusta National, and Golf's Most Prestigious Tournament

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Picked this up by chance at the library...and realized I was reading the book that is the Yin to the Yang of the Curt Sampson book The Masters : Golf, Money, and Power in Augusta, Georgia.

Both books look at the same event. Owens focuses only on the beauty spots, while Sampson goes out of his way to find the warts. Owens keeps his story within the walls of the country club, while Sampson traces the development of the golf course and the town and how each impacts the other.

I can't help but feel that Owens book was written as a rebuttal to Sampson's book...and even there it seems to be a surgical strike method rather than a massive refutation type of rebuttal. Example: Sampson quotes specific sums of money in regard to Roberts worth, but is seemingly talking about the sums after factoring inflation...Owens takes these same numbers, uses what appears to be the original number without considering inflation, and then says Sampsons numbers are wrong. Example: Frank Stranahan finishes #2 in the Masters, then is banned the next year for taking multiple practice shots from the same spot (despite warnings). Owens focuses on the action, and says Cliff Roberts action in punishing Stranahan was appropriate. Sampson takes the issue and focuses on the fact that other people did the same thing, but were never punished. Example: Owens examines Roberts marvelous relations with Jones, Eisenhower, and the like, and asks how could a person that had the trust of such great men be the curmudgeon that Sampson and others have made him out to be? Sampson notes how Roberts treated people over whom he had power very poorly but worked hard to get into the good graces of people who could advance his goals.

These two books are as the results of two different men writing about the same pattern in a Rohrschach (sp?) test-they see the same facts and come up with different answers.

So if you want a balanced view of the Masters, don't read either this book or Sampson's book-READ THEM BOTH, then come to your own conclusion.

The book was quite interesting and the author apparently researched it very thoroughly. Time after time, Owen refutes (quite convincingly) a number of well-known stories about Augusta National and Clifford Roberts.

The problem with the book is that Owen seems to have written the book to support the following hypotheses: (1) members at Augusta National have not been nor are the racists (in the context of their times) that they have been portrayed as in the mass media, (2) Cliff Roberts was the most misunderstood man in modern history, (3) Without Roberts, TV golf coverage would have been set back 30 years.

The book's one redeeming quality is the way that Owen methodically refutes what have become generally accepted facts over time (for example, that Jack Whitaker was banned from Augusta for 15 years for describing the fans (whoops, patrons) of the Masters as a mob. After reading this, I'm convinced that it didn't happen that way). But Owen adds little new material that you could not find in the Samson or Eubanks books. Owen often goes out of his way to contradict much of what is in Samson's book, and while he claims he is not trying to "pick on Samson," it sure sounds that way to me.

What Owen ends up with is a PR piece for Augusta, which is too bad, because the book is well-written and well paced.

This is a wonderfully researched book and well written as you'd expect from Mr. Owen, and I enjoyed reading it. But wondered if I was the only one who thought it was ruined by the obsessive desire to defend Cliff Roberts, even on matters that really seem pointless. So I came here to read reviews and I couldn't help but notice that many of the glowing reviews here on Amazon appeared to be written by the same person, but I was glad to see some agreed with me about the format of the book. I suppose it's a must for the pictures if you want to see the course the way it once was, but I recommend avoiding it if you get irritated with a book that has an agenda and seems to go out of its way to not just tell the story, but to address issues that someone wanted addressed.

It's as if the author was handed a list by the Augusta members of all the things they wanted clarified or addressed regarding Clifford Roberts, and the author was charged with clarifying the supposed misconceptions regarding this odd character. If you are looking for any sign that Bobby Jones was involved in the creation of the club and Masters, forget it. It's as if Jones was just lending his name to the place, like players do today as architects, and Roberts was everything about the club, in every way, shape or form. At least the pictures of the course are interesting and perhaps make it worthwhile to buy, but barely. The text is just a case laid out for making Cliff Roberts a saint. Who cares about that?

There is an aura about Augusta National and about the Masters. This book comes as close as words can come to capturing that aura and communicating it to the reader. The Masters is special in and to the world or sport. This book tells you how it came to be and why it continues.

This book is a must read for Masters' fans. The history of the area as well as to golf club itself adds to the enjoyment. I read it in 2000 when we first obtained Practice Round tickets. When we were lucky enough to get tickets again in 2004, I purchased a copy for the reading pleasure of the folks who went along on the trip. All enjoyed the read and it prompted a lot of discussion on the car trip to Augusta.
Is it slanted in favor of the club? Maybe, but how many authors are truly unbiased?

This is not a book about golf. It is the outstanding history of a national treasure it's people and how it almost went bankrupt, and was saved by the dedication and love of Clifford Roberts. The book is of history, business, caring, commitement and amazing dedication. If Clifford Roberts were alive today, people would beg him to give motivational talks, but he would turn down all offers. He was a very private man who influenced the lives U.S. Presidents. Clifford was a skin flint who for no reason would hire the poor friend or relative of a kitchen worker or on hearing that a greens keepers wife was ill, borrowed a members private jet to fly her to his doctor for tratment. He was a complex yet simple man.

WARNING, if you start reading this book do so on a Friday night when you don't have anything planned on the weekend as you won't be able to put it down.

This tells you all you need to know about the history of the club and the tournament. It is well-researched and easy to read. I recommend it highly.

This was a great book. I read it in record time for me, just under a week. The pictures are great. I thouroughly enjoyed it.

Too bad the wonderful nuggets about Augusta that Owens has dug up are mired in a non-stop paean to Clifford Roberts. Examples of Robert's usually controversial, sometimes appalling behavior seem brought up for the express purpose of explaining them away, and then always with a very sympathetic eye. It often reads that the only way Owens got so much good 'behind-the-scenes' info from Augusta was by agreeing to write a soft, agreeable portrait of the club co-founder.

That being said, it is still an interesting read. Owens' writing and research are first-rate, and his debunking of early Masters mythology is especially interesting. However fans more interested in tourney lore (the 'Masters' part of the title) should look elsewhere.