here is no rite of spring quite like The Masters Tournament. Held every April at Augusta National Golf Club, the tour- nament is noted for its majestic loblol- ly pine trees, impeccably manicured emerald-green rye grass fairways and azaleas with blooms as big as one’s fi st. Roars from excited patrons fl oat across the property punctuating an almost church-like silence. Knowledgeable patrons can tell what is going on by the location of the cheer and a quick glance at the grouping sheet. The place is beautiful, the golf is great, the food is good, and every April, the Masters comes around with a predictability that is unlike any other sporting event. Legendary Golfer Bobby Jones enlisted in the Army during World Until 2020. War II while the Augusta National Golf Club was closed. Here Early this year, the Masters was postponed due to Jones is getting fed in a chow line after his 1944 arrival in France— three days after D-Day. the coronavirus. During the summer, the club announced that the tournament would be played in mid-November. with my grandfather welcoming all his old friends to his This was followed in early fall with the sad news that the new club. Bub, the name we used for my grandfather in tournament would be played without patrons or guests. the family, had settled on The Augusta National Invita- Unexpected? Not really. Unprecedented? Defi nitely. tional as the name of the tournament. Cliff Roberts had Yet, in many ways, this was just another challenge that other ideas, preferring the name, The Masters. After Cliff has been faced by a club that, until recent years, was no leaked the name to the press, it stuck— much to my stranger to challenges. grandfather’s chagrin. Augusta National Golf Club opened in 1933 after sev- However, he kept his public face on, only referring eral years of construction. The co-founders— my grand- to the tournament as “The so-called Masters” to fami- father, golfi ng great Robert Tyre (“Bobby”) Jones, Jr., and ly and close friends. He would eventually give in after New York investment banker Clifford Roberts— had cob- Arnold Palmer won his second title in 1960. After Arnie’s bled together a group of friends who fi nanced the club’s impressive victory, Bub said, “I suppose the tournament construction and opening even though the country was name was born of a touch of immodesty. However, I embroiled in the Great Depression. For several years, think that ‘Masters’ is now an appropriate title.” Augusta National struggled to keep the lights on and the continued on page 40 course open. They went so far as to host a tournament 38 JAMES NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 39 The club struggled throughout its early years as the country wrestled with what seemed to be a depression that had no end. Then came the Second World War and the Masters was suspended from 1943 until 1945. Worse still, the club closed and the property turned over to victory gardens and the rais- ing of cattle. At war’s end, run-down and untended, there appeared to be little hope that my grandfather’s dream would ever come back to life. Cliff Roberts, however, was not a man who would easily accept defeat. After the war ended, he and Bub turned their full attention to reopening Augusta Nation- al. Cliff arranged for Bub to fl y to New York to meet with Doug Smith, an executive with First National City Bank, to obtain fi nancing for the club’s reopening. Cliff had shrewdly calculated that it would be much harder to say “No” to Bobby Jones than to Clifford Roberts. So, off Bub fl ew to New York. At the meeting, Smith outlined the terms of the agree- he Atlanta Community Food Bank lot of demand on the food chains beyond the Food Bank. ment. Bub dutifully listened and then told the banker, (ACFB), one of the largest hunger Even grocery stores have faced diffi cult times getting “Before I agree to this, I’ll need to call Cliff and run it by relief food banks in the country, has enough food on their shelves”. him.” Smith agreed and arranged for a portable phone to one goal: End hunger in the region it “We’ve also faced struggles with the operation of the be brought to my grandfather. (Portable phones in those serves. That could be quite a task when Food Bank,” he continues. “Most of our food pantries are days meant phones with about a 100-foot cord.) you look at the number of people who small, and we face issues with social distancing require- Bub placed the call and soon Cliff was on the phone. are in need across the state. But the ACFB ments in the pantries. Many have been forced to convert “Cliff, I’m up here with Doug Smith and wanted to go strives mightily to live up to its mission. to drive through operations or to fi nd other ways to over the fi nancing agreement with you before I sign it.” When the Food Bank opened its doors in distribute the food and services.” As Bub described the terms, it was obvious that Cliff 1979, it distributed an average of 15,000 pounds of food The ACFB has also had to fi nd ways to operate most defi nitely did not agree. The call progressed and per day to children and families in need— mainly in the without the use of volunteers— Cliff Roberts’ agitation grew more and more pronounced, downtown Atlanta area. Last year, that number topped which they have relied on with expletives fl ying. Roberts’ voice rose to such a level 78 million pounds of food and grocery products (and heavily in the past. “In a that Bub had to hold the phone away from his ear to that was prior to when COVID-19 hit.) typical year, more than save his eardrum. Finally, Cliff exhausted his energy and Today, as Georgians struggle with the coronavirus, 30,000 volunteers serve slammed the phone back into the cradle. the Food Bank is distributing 70 percent more food over 110,000 hours in With an almost palpable embarrassment, Smith through their partners than they did prior to March support of the Food turned to my grandfather and said, “Well, Bob, what did 2019. “We have seen a 300 percent increase in inquiries Bank’s mission. Today, Cliff say?” from people seeking food assistance since the pandemic we have no one work- Of course, there was no doubt on anyone’s part what began,” said Kyle Waide, president and CEO of the Atlan- ing inside the building Cliff had said. Possibly everyone in the fi nancial district ta Community Food Bank. “It’s been quite a challenge at because of COVID and of New York had heard what Cliff had said. times but so far we have been able to meet the demands the strict requirements Bub simply looked back at the nonplussed banker thanks to the resiliency of our partners and the hard placed on us.” and, with his smooth Southern drawl, said with a broad work of our dedicated team.” continued on page 42 smile, “Doug, Cliff said that would be fi ne.” He signed the The service area includes 29 counties in metro At- papers, Augusta National had its fi nancing, and the Mas- lanta and north Georgia, and ACFB works with over 700 ters returned in 1946, when Herman Keiser defeated Ben partner organizations to supply food and other support Hogan by one shot for his fi rst and only Masters title. services to feed insecure families in those areas. Prior to In 2020, this most bizarre of years, as we prepare to COVID, the ACFB was distributing over 6 million pounds celebrate the 84th playing of the Masters Tournament, it of food a month. That number is now closer to 10 mil- lion pounds per month. is probably good to remember that while adversity comes Kyle Waide, President & CEO in every age, it can always be overcome. “Not only are we looking at higher demands, many Atlanta Community Food Bank times we fi nd ourselves facing the challenge of locating Dr. Bob Jones IV is a clinical sport psychologist practicing at the 40 enough food to distribute,” said Waide. “There has been a NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 41 JAMES NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2020 Behavioral Institute of Atlanta in Sandy Springs.