Masters' scorekeeper shares tales from fabled fairways

By Hunter Roach
Edited by Katie Gambrell

When Angel Cabrera walked into the trailer to sign his scorecard this year after winning the 73rd Masters, he handed it to Rusty Guill.

Guill, the associate dean of students at Clemson, has been the tournament's official scorer for the past seven years. His father, J.C. Guill, worked at Augusta National for 50 years and was official scorer for 40 years.

Rusty Guill, an Augusta native, started as a scorer on the 13th hole in 1995. He began checking scorecards after his father stopped working the tournament.

On at least one scorecard each year the golfer's and hole scorer's numbers do not match up, Guill said. His job is to catch inconsistencies and find out what happened.

"Never have I known it to be the player's fault," he said. "It's always been the scorer's fault. The golfers are just so meticulous, I've never had one mess up."

However, there is the famous case of Roberto DiVicenzo, who lost the 1968 Masters because he signed an incorrect scorecard. DiVicenzo, like Cabrera an Argentine, didn't notice that his playing partner, Tommy Aaron, had made the error, and he lost to Bob Goalby by one stroke.

When he's not going over scorecards, Guill serves as a "dispatcher." Officials on the course let him know what is going on, and he passes the information to the rest of the workers, including those changing the leader boards.

For 51 weeks a year, one of golf's most storied and famous courses is hidden by trees and fences, but during Masters week it becomes the pride of Georgia's second largest city, Guill said.

"The town embraces it," Guill said. "Many people rent out their houses to guests, golfers and celebrities. When I was growing up, we rented our house to country music singer Tennessee Ernie Ford."

Even before he was the scorer, Guill was going to the Masters with his dad. This year was his 43rd, so Guill has seen a lot of great moments in golf. But two are his favorites.

The first was in 1986 when Jack Nicklaus won his sixth Masters. "The first memory that jumps out at me is in 1986 when Jack Nicklaus won his sixth Masters championship," he said.

"Everybody was saying he was old and washed up, but he showed the most amazing golfing thrills I've ever seen," Guill said.

Nicklaus' six green jackets are more than any other player. Arnold Palmer and Tiger Woods have each won four.

His other special memory is watching Palmer, his all-time favorite golfer, play an emotional final 18 holes at Augusta National in 2004.

"Everyone was in tears," Guill said. "During his round on Sunday, the rain came, and he had to come back the next day. My wife and son were with me, and it was so special for us to see him play his final 18.

"I was in ‘Arnie's Army' growing up. The people of Augusta loved him so much. Arnold Palmer was the Masters. He's always been my hero."

Guill said the Masters will always hold a special place in his heart because it is the only time of year his whole family gets together in his hometown.

"It was kind of like Christmas morning when we were growing up," he said. "It was so exciting. It's hard to put into words what it means to Augusta and the people there. There's no prettier place on Earth."

Guill said he has been able to play the course as a guest a few times, but he would rather enjoy the scenery and walk because the course is so hard.

"It's and honor and a privilege to get to play the course, but it's so hard it's not enjoyable," he said."It's almost embarrassing. To have a 2-foot putt and roll the ball off the green is frustrating,." he said.

Guill's hometown course reminded the world just how hard it is at this year's Masters as player after player collapsed down the Sunday stretch to allow Cabrera to capture his first green jacket in a three-way playoff.