Since 1934, Augusta National Golf Club has hosted the Masters, one of men’s golf’s four major championships. Every spring, the golf world is immersed in Augusta’s many unique traditions, and this year’s event took place this past weekend (hopefully you caught Sunday’s historic finish). At the Master’s, fans are referred to exclusively as patrons, cellphones are not permitted on the grounds, caddies wear a traditional white uniform with a green hat, and apparently, you can’t talk about “mud balls”. As much as any place in the sports world, the Master’s tournament is steeped in tradition and history.
But that hasn’t stopped the team at Augusta from innovating. The Master’s mobile app is widely considered one of the greatest sports apps (and it’s on most users’ phones for only one week a year). They have a subterranean “SubAir” drainage system that is used to keep the greens running fast even when it rains. Over the years, they’ve lengthened holes, moved bunkers, added trees, removed trees, and altered fairways. This year, they started offering real-time tracking data for every shot hit in the practice range. That’s a long way to come from hickory wood golf clubs.
Augusta isn’t afraid to adapt with the times and leverage technology to improve their tournament. But they also aren’t afraid to go against the grain and stay true to many of the things that make the tournament so special. To some, this may be hypocritical. Those on the tech frontier might find the cell phone policy ridiculous in today’s era, while more seasoned patrons might bemoan how they defile the course by continuing to make changes.
What do we think of this? We think exploring new technologies and ways of operating is fundamental. However, we also believe it’s critical that you stay focused on what makes you uniquely you. This means embracing some things, but having the courage to go at it old school when it makes sense. For us, that looks like utilizing AI where it drives efficiency, yet maintaining a standard that we have a human-to-human conversation with everyone that reaches out to us. Because at the core of our ethos is connecting and conversing with candidates to learn their story.
Until next time,
Your Spherion South Central WI & Northern IL team