Florida pair has designed an Augusta shrine in yard

ORMOND Seashore, Florida — As the year’s very first significant golf championship has arrived, Tommy Craig has stepped up his video game.

For numerous yrs, Craig and his spouse, Stacy, have taken care of the four men’s majors as unique occasions within their Florida dwelling — comprehensive with decorations and special food stuff menus, commonly themed all over the tournament’s site.

“It turns into a four-working day bash,” Tommy claims.

The Masters, the lone major played at the exact same venue every single yr, provided the best option for the Craigs to do a thing a bit extra lasting.

The tournament’s abundant heritage and traditions played into some new additions — exclusively an artificial turf duplicate of Augusta National’s famed 12th eco-friendly, the picturesque center floor of the course’s Amen Corner.

A miniature reproduction of the flowered coated map of the United States at the Craig’s Ormond Beach household, Monday April 5, 2021 like the a single at Augusta Countrywide. (David Tucker/Daytona Beach front News-Journal)

The Masters at home: The start of an strategy

“Over the past calendar year, with the COVID stuff, I was bored,” says Tommy, a 49-12 months-aged former region club professional who now will work in RV revenue. “I was continue to operating, but after work there was nowhere to go, so I stayed residence a whole lot. I’d normally mow the grass back again in this article and say, ‘That’d be a superior location for a green.’ Then I resolved, why not No. 12 at Augusta?”

Like the precise 12th at Augusta, Craig’s tribute eco-friendly incorporates two bunkers powering, one particular in entrance, with a duplicate Rae’s Creek passing in entrance, and his very own version of the Hogan Bridge. It all sits in the shadows of substantial pines (like the initial) and nearby is a scaled-down, best duplicate of a person of Augusta National’s big, hand-operated scoreboards.

“If you can not in fact go to The Masters, the future ideal issue is attending Tommy and Stacy’s Masters get together,” suggests Hal Brooks. “They’ve equally worked extremely tough to present a memorable location wherever friends can collect and take pleasure in the event. Their consideration to depth is remarkable.”

But Brooks is rarely an unbiased observer, because he was not too long ago named “chairman” of the entire affair, a posture that arrived with his personal environmentally friendly coat — an additional Masters tradition. Tommy Craig refers to Brooks as “Clifford,” in honor of Augusta National’s initial chairman, Clifford Roberts.

“From the pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches down to the par-3 12th reproduction hole in the backyard, watching the Masters at the Craig dwelling has grow to be ‘A Tradition Compared with Any Other,’ ” Brooks says, “and a single I seem ahead to every single and every 12 months.”

Property owner Stacy Craig walks above the tiny bridge in the yard reproduction of parts of the Augusta Countrywide Golf Program, Monday April 5, 2021 in Ormond Seashore.

Here’s what you’ll find at the Craigs

The yard set up includes numerous small picnic tables with green umbrellas, reminiscent of the outdoor dining area driving Augusta National’s historic clubhouse.

There are also two other synthetic greens, with two teeing areas approximately 50 yards absent from every single, which enables site visitors to work on their wedge video games, using comfortable observe balls. Tommy Craig acquired the products and set up all of the greens and tees.

Stacy Craig, an area chiropractor, normally takes cost of the indoor pursuits in the course of match week. Along with wall-to-wall mementos and decorations, she focuses on the foodstuff and drink menus.

For Masters week, she delivers every thing offered at Augusta’s famously very affordable concession stands, exactly where sandwiches are the most important fare.

A minimal more for Sunday’s final round

For Sunday’s closing round, she prepares every little thing from the pre-event Champions Dinner menu, the annual Tuesday evening accumulating that this calendar year featured anything from filet mignon to pigs in a blanket.

“For the other majors, it all is dependent on where by they are played that 12 months,” Stacy says. “When the British Open was performed in Ireland (2019), we had a huge Irish breakfast — blood sausage, normal sausage, fried tomatoes, beans … it was massive.

“When we uncover out where they’re played, we do some study and figure out a menu, but it normally starts with the local cocktail.”

When he was a club professional at the former Tomoka Oaks golf course in Ormond Beach front, Tommy Craig was ready to use his PGA of America standing to go to the Masters.

He states he went 9 or 10 instances above the yrs. Considering the fact that he no for a longer period goes, he’s performed the following greatest thing and brought a piece of it to his backyard.

And he could not be as a result of.

“I see enough place to insert a pair far more holes out in this article,” he claims. “Maybe even a par-4 if the neighbors are Okay with it.”