For many, the road to the Masters Tournament can be a long and winding, sometimes bumpy, experience.
But for some Masters participants, once they arrive at Augusta, the road becomes downright comfortable as they stay in their own motor home while they’re playing in the Masters.
Depending on the year, as many as a half dozen players bring their home on wheels to the Masters.
Last year, in what may be an unofficial Masters record, both champion Zach Johnson and runner-up Rory Sabbatini stayed in their RVs during their memorable tournament weeks.
“The really nice thing about it is that for me, Kim and (son) Will, and our dog Hogan it keeps us together as a family,” Johnson said.
“It’s like a home on wheels and we're able to more or less sprawl out and it's like a second home.”
With the RV safely parked, many players will take their courtesy cars to their day job, but when they return after the round feel like they’re in their own familiar world.
“Now I'm at home, it's my stuff, it's my bed, we've got food and certainly we've got all the amenities that we need,” Johnson added.
“Certainly things can go wrong because it is a house, but we've got pretty much everything at our fingertips and it's the same sure surroundings for our son, that's the big thing.”
Johnson says he first started traveling with the motor coach while playing on the Nationwide Tour in the early 2000s and estimates there are between 20 or 30 players on the different Tours which have an on-road home.
Sabbatini, a native South African who now lives in Texas following a stellar college career at the University of Arizona, first went to the RV with his wife and kids in 2001 and said he wouldn’t ever go back.
“It’s just a great place to hang out and relax after the round is over,” he said. “I can invite people over for some food and drinks and really get away from the golf.”
In fact, Sabbatini says the early April gatherings at the Masters RV parking area can turn into quite a social outing.
“I was down there last year with Davis (Love III) and Zach and I spent three or four years with JD (John Daly), and it’s always something going on. I think it really relaxes and helps me play some good golf.’
Johnson said with the addition of his first son in 2007, he’s found other advantages to avoiding a different hotel room every week.
“I feel like when I leave the golf course I'm away from it, I'm done. I can get my mind on more important things at the time. The next morning when I need to go out, I can get back to work,” he added.
It's not for everybody. My wife loves it. I have grown to love it. It just keeps us together. It's fun.’
He said the PGA Tour RV family can be a close and fun one.
“We (the RV travelers) have kind of become like a traveling family if you will. Every now and then we'll hang out together. There's probably close to two dozen, maybe 20 families that do this on a consistent basis. There are a number of couples and a number of kids that get together and cook-out, play together, what have you.”
Before the 2008 season, Johnson said he got a new motor home, one with all the, “bells and whistles,” and plans on taking it to about 15 tournaments.
He, along with many of the players who have an RV, will drive some of the time, but also have a driving service which can take the mobile home on longer trips and have it set up by the time the players arrive.
Johnson said about four hours is his driving limit while Sabbatini and Love will drive between 4-6 hours.
The players say the one-time investment can pay for itself over time and the freedom of traveling the open roads to Augusta National Golf Club in April, in a familiar setting, with family and friends is hard to beat.
