For the 29th straight year, around 50 of Merv Waldrop’s closest friends will gather this spring at his home 30 miles south of Augusta, Ga., for a tradition truly unlike any other: the Masters at Merv’s. Each April, while the world’s best golfers battle up the road, Waldrop’s best friends play a two-day tournament across a nine-hole course cut into Waldrop’s 12 acres in Waynesboro, Ga. The event spares no ritual: the childhood church of Waldrop’s grandmother has been converted into a clubhouse (site of the annual champion’s dinner), and a green jacket ceremony honors the champion immediately afterward. The Wall Street Journal profiled Waldrop’s tournament in 2017: it “mirrors many of the traditions at Augusta National,” the WSJ wrote, “with fewer of the pretensions.”
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LYING FOUR: Here’s the most important question: how do y’all keep up with what’s going on at the Masters while y’all are playing?
MERV WALDROP: In the clubhouse, we’ve got a TV going so that we’ll know what’s going on. If something big happens, news spreads across the course pretty quickly. And so when you’re not in there playing, you’re in there watching what’s going on in Augusta.
LYING FOUR: How many people play each year?
MERV WALDROP: Last year we had about 45. We’ve had over 50 play. That is, I think, the most we’ve ever had.
LYING FOUR: How do people find out about this? Is it your friends?
Merv Waldrop (left) and company at the 2018 Masters at Merv’s. All photos: credit Merv Waldrop on Twitter.
MERV WALDROP: It’s basically invitees only, friends of friends. I’ve got a huge network of friends. And people tell me that I collect people. So I know people all over the Southeast especially. It’s a great reunion, in a sense, when that circle of friends gets back together. I lived in Florida for eight years and lived in west Georgia for eight years, and have been in the Augusta area for almost 18 years.
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LYING FOUR: Is it strictly by the rules out there, or does it get a little loose?
MERV WALDROP: We try to stay by the rules. Every once in a while, there’s a debate, and somebody on the executive committee gets called in to make a rules interpretation. If there’s a call about whether this is a manmade object or not, can I move the ball if it gets up against the fence — if there’s a debate, they know to call in somebody to make this determination. We pair them up, so they hold each other accountable pretty well. The ones in contention take it serious enough. Some of the ones that are coming out that never play, they may go a little loose, but there’s no danger of them sneaking up and winning the tournament.
LYING FOUR: Have there ever been any notable rules controversies?
MERV WALDROP: There was in ’93. We had a late entrant, and we decided, “OK, we’ll let you go.” We had finished the first round, and he showed up — him and his buddy. And they both wanted to play. So we said, “OK, y’all hurry up and get your nine in.” And nobody was really watching. The one fellow got, I think, a 13 on nine holes. Now it was a much shorter course, but that’s pretty near impossible. Even in putt-putt, you wouldn’t get 13 on nine holes. But we couldn’t dispute it. His buddy swore that it was a fair score. So there’s an asterisk by his name. His second-round score was higher, but it wasn’t enough to counter that 13 on the first round. And we put somebody watching him the second round.
LYING FOUR: What’s the prize?
MERV WALDROP: We have a green jacket for the winner that stays on the property. They don’t get to take it home, much like Augusta. We found a bunch of green jackets through the years at Goodwill and other places. I probably need to find some larger sizes, because in 29 years, we’ve all grown older and larger.
LYING FOUR: The Wall Street Journal story suggested that libations might be a big part of the weekend.
MERV WALDROP: Yeah, there is some libation there. We try to be reasonable. The state motto in Georgia is “Wisdom, Justice, Moderation.” Every once in a while, we kick that third pillar out from that arch. But we try to be reasonable about things and enjoy life within reason.
LYING FOUR: Is there a drink of choice out there, or is it BYOB?
MERV WALDROP: There will be a lot of bourbon, but a number of them bring their favorite beer too. It’s often the case that out-of-town guys will come in and sit a bottle of bourbon on the table — basically a gift for me, but it ends up being a gift for the house because they end up drinking it.
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LYING FOUR: So tell me about the course.
MERV WALDROP: We lay out a nine-hole course. It goes around the house. I live in an old house built in the 1840s. It’s 12 acres left of a large plantation, but it’s not much to it other than the house and some barns. So we’ve laid out a course. The nine holes — there’s a couple of them that are like 90 yards, maybe one that’s a hundred yards or close to it, and then a few that are like 40 yards. There’s some short holes. We’ve only had two holes-in-one on this current course. There’s a lot of dogleg rights as it’s going around this circle.
LYING FOUR: How did you come up with this idea?
MERV WALDROP: Back when I was living in Crystal River, Florida, I worked with the youth in my church, and they would come over and watch sports at my house — typically football, basketball, and occasionally golf. Honestly, most golf tournaments bore me to death, but whenever the Masters would come on, I would say, “Alright, yeah, we’re gonna watch the Masters. That’ll be fine.” And whenever there was a break in the action, we’d go outside, and they’d get their golf clubs out. The only time I play golf is in my yard, once a year. So when they would come over, we’d hit balls around. And one year we said, “Next year, let’s set up some holes and invite our friends over and have our own little Masters tournament.” It started one year, and 29 years later, you can’t shake a tradition.
LYING FOUR: What are the scores usually?
MERV WALDROP: Typically in the 60s for a round of 18, and that’s the champions course. There are some scores that are well over 100. Eighty-five would definitely make the cut; 90 is getting close to it. We usually have got the top 20 and ties that make the cut and play a two-day tournament. Initially we’d play one day, we’d play two rounds of nine holes. Now we’ve expanded it to two days and play 18 holes on Saturday, so everybody gets to play a full 18. And then the ones that are more serious about it, they come back Sunday afternoon and we play a second round.
LYING FOUR: What do you usually shoot out there?
MERV WALDROP: Oh, me? I’m borderline making the cut or not. So somewhere in the high 80s, low 90s. I’ve told them that if I ever win the tournament, it’s the last one and we’re not doing another one. I’ve gotta be the last champion. But there’s not much danger of that happening. I came close twice. I missed it by one stroke in ’94. And then I was in the final pairing in 2002, but I went and fixed me a liquor drink to calm my nerves, and it didn’t help my game. I scored much worse in the second round.
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LYING FOUR: This’ll be your 29th year. Have you got anything special lined up for the 30th anniversary next year?
MERV WALDROP: Nothing in particular, but I’m sure it’ll be big. We may get a band. I’ve got a musician that’s gonna play at the — we do a party, a champion’s dinner on Saturday night, and so we may do something a little special with that.
LYING FOUR: What’s the farthest anybody has come from to play?
MERV WALDROP: We had a guy from Australia come to play last year, from Queensland. He happened to be in town for the other tournament and was staying at a friend of mine’s Airbnb. So he didn’t intentionally come for that, but he ended up there. We’ve had them come in from Colorado and Oklahoma and Kansas, just to play in the tournament, and from Virginia and the Carolinas, Florida, Alabama, and Tennessee, and Mississippi quite a few times. And I know I’ve got one coming in from Utah this time — one of the Mormon missionaries that used to come by when he was on his mission in Georgia. They couldn’t play golf while they were on their mission, but he is coming back to visit and play in the tournament this year. So I know I’ve got somebody from Utah coming.