Before the Masters begins in all its high-stakes pretense, Augusta National Golf Club will host the Par 3 Contest on Wednesday, April 10. A light-hearted family event that precedes the tournament, the Par 3 contest invites former champions, both participating and non-participating, as well as golfers from the current year’s field to play nine holes at the Par 3 course also on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club.
The golfers often invite their parents, wives, girlfriends, and children to be their caddies for the event, even occasionally inviting their caddies and guests to hit a shot or two in the tournament. And the image of little ones toddling around in their all-white caddie uniforms is absolutely adorable, while sometimes one of the kids even sticks it in the hole.
As charming as this all is, the Par 3 contest is considered to be something of a curse. In the history of the event, no Par 3 winner has ever gone onto win the Masters — which may be why golfers are so eager to have their non-golf-playing family members “help” them out on the Wednesday ahead of the tournament.
The current reigning champion of the contest is Tom Hoge. The 2024 Par 3 contest will be available to watch on Masters.com at 2:00 p.m. ET and on ESPN at 3:00 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
