On Wednesday April 8, 2015 I got to experience something that every person to hold a golf club has dreamed of, walking onto the grounds of August National Golf Course.  Of course, the real dream would be to play on the course, but if you know anything about golf, you realize that is just a silly dream. It does not happen. However, just walking around the grounds, and the course makes you fall that much more in love with the place, and with the sport.

Retrospectively, I also began to realize that the August National “committee” may very well be some of the best marketers that have ever existed.  They understand their product, their appeal and how to protect and promote it. For starters, there is extremely little technology visible anywhere on the course. For example, there are no digital signs anywhere.  All the leader boards are manually changed. In the Master’s store, there are no digital advertisements. The most technology you see throughout the entire experience is when you pay for something, you can use a credit card. Even the massive amount of technology that it takes to broadcast the tournament is near invisible. All cameras and operators are in green towers that seemingly blend into your surroundings. This is no accident. The committee wants you to feel that you are on the same course, looking at the same things that generations of golfers have experienced. If you have watched the masters for 20 years on television, you are seeing the same thing you saw twenty years ago. Compare this with the spectacle that is the Phoenix Waste Management Open, with digital leader boards, and technology around every corner. An entirely different message, and an entirely different experience.

To go a step further, there are no cell phones or pagers allowed on the course. During the practice round you can bring a camera (not one that is part of a cell phone). On competition days however, you can not even bring a camera.  For the first two hours of my experiences, it greatly frustrated me. I would reach down to my pocket every time I had to wait for something, or had an extra second to think, only to find I did not have my phone. Then, something amazing happened, I became engrossed in the experience and completely forget about checking for my phone. By the time my day was done, I was glad that I had not been allowed to take it with me. I believe the committee has these exceptions for two reasons. The first is to help provide what I experienced, an amazing and unforeseen, uninterrupted immersion into the experience. Also, they want to manage what others experience about the course.  They don’t want Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to be trending with selfie’s from the masters.  That is not their image. Interestingly enough, they do recognize that people may have valid reasons and needs to be in touch with people in the outside world. For this, they provide a few banks of courtesy phones around the course.

This blog really has two goals. First to write about my experiences at one of the most amazing places for a golfer in the world, and my opportunity to experience it with three of my favorite golfers in the world: my Dad, Mom and brother. The second goal is to encourage all of us to think about the experiences we are trying to provide our customers. Do you have an understanding of the message and goals of the companies you are trying to sell to? Are you the guy trying to walk into Augusta National and sell them digital signage?  I sure hope not. Whether it is for your customers, or for your own company, brand and messaging is what matters. Take the message from Augusta National and stick to your brand, and you will provide your patrons with an unforgettable experience.