Brooks Koepka hits a big shot at Augusta National during the Masters.
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January is usually when we first see photos of Augusta National. Those commercials that run during the major sporting events of the upcoming Masters. Golf fans see them and drool.
This January will be no different, except that part of Augusta National will not only play in commercials, but will be featured more often. The sand used in the mixed golf league, TGL, founded by Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy, will be similar to the white, pear-shaped sand that sees the pros play during the Masters every April.
We know this thanks to the TGL Twitter account that posted a video of sand being dumped in what appears to be one of the seating areas that will be used at the SoFi Center in early 2025. The account followed that up by specifying the type of sand — “SP55 Sand from North Carolina” — which is the exact type of quartz milled in Augusta National's bunkers.
Details like this about the world's most famous and exclusive golf course are hard to come by. The club is notoriously secretive and requires vendors it does business with not to divulge information about their relationships. But thank you the LA Timesproduced a feature story about bunker sand at the Masters in 2020, we know it's true.
The story from the Times dives deep into the sand, why it is so bright, and even shared how Tiger Woods had three trucks of it delivered to his home in Florida, where Woods has his own practice area. Perhaps it's no surprise then that the Woods league, which will begin on January 7, will use the same type of sand.
That sand, ironically, is a byproduct of the mining process for other materials, such as mica and feldspar. That made it easy to find, according to the Times, since the early 70s when Augusta National's founder Cliff Roberts decided that the club wanted new sand on its grounds.
While Augusta National isn't interested in commenting on the sand it uses, TGL apparently is. The upcoming league has been billed as a simulation golf league, and that's true to an extent. Players will hit shots on a 3,400 square foot simulation screen, figuring their way through computerized golf holes. But the place they will play is real. And shots to play within 50 yards will happen off the screen. And the underground sand they will play in, that will be real, too.
The schedule for the league's first season was released Monday and will include 15 nights of games on ESPN or ESPN2. For more on that and ticket information, click here.
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