AUGUSTA, Ga. — Most weekends, 39-year-old Brandon Holtz can be found showing homes to clients or joining his regular 12-person golf scramble around Bloomington, Illinois.
This weekend, however, the real estate professional hopes to spend his time walking the legendary fairways of Augusta National Golf Club. After earning his spot through the U.S. Mid-Amateur Championship at Arizona’s Troon Country Club last September, Holtz is experiencing the Masters Tournament from an entirely new perspective — as a competitor rather than a spectator.
“I’m the old fat guy out here. It’s been great,” Holtz remarked about his Masters debut. He’s scheduled to begin play Thursday morning at 9:02 a.m. alongside two-time Masters winner Bubba Watson. “I’ve met a lot of guys, talked to them, just trying to understand their story a little bit. Played with Tommy Fleetwood (Tuesday), played with Jordan Spieth (Wednesday). Talk about two icons of the sport. Just learned some things from them. At points in time I was just sitting back and watching them play.”
While this marks Holtz’s 16th visit to Augusta National, his previous 15 trips were as a fan. His father Jeff, who’s serving as his caddie this week, received lifetime Masters passes in 2004. During Wednesday’s traditional par-3 competition, Brandon was joined by his wife Liz and their 6-year-old son Baker, with 2-year-old daughter Millie also part of the family gathering.
Holtz’s athletic background stems from college basketball at Illinois State University. Following graduation, he briefly pursued professional golf, but the financial realities of constant travel without sponsorship quickly became apparent. Two different basketball coaches at ISU later told him they would have encouraged him to focus on golf if they had known he possessed this level of talent.
“We can all — hindsight is 20/20,” Holtz reflected. “We can all sit and dream and wish. Just take life as it comes to you and live in the moment.”
When Holtz examines pre-tournament rankings of this week’s 91-player field, he typically finds his name near the bottom of lists topped by stars like Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy.
Holtz feels no pressure to prove anything during Thursday and Friday’s rounds, or beyond if he advances to weekend play. However, he’s already benefiting from his presence at Augusta National. When he struggled with his driver — the club that helped him qualify — friends and USGA officials arranged to have his previous driver shipped to the course, which he expected to receive Wednesday.
“Only got half a day left, but sometimes you just got to get out there and play. Shut the brain off and tee it up and hit it and go find it and hit it again,” Holtz explained.
Typically, Holtz spends Saturdays at Lakeside Country Club, a nine-hole course where annual memberships for golfers under 40 cost $1,835. The casual atmosphere includes a gas station convenience store bordering two holes, where his group often makes snack runs between shots.
As for potentially playing a more demanding round this Saturday at Augusta, Holtz is staying focused on the immediate challenge.
“I’m taking one shot at a time, trying not to get too far ahead of myself,” he said. “You don’t know what you don’t know. Obviously I’ve been out here, but (it) hasn’t been tournament time yet. So one shot at a time and see what happens.”
Augusta National’s strict no-cellphone policy left Holtz wishing he could capture memories from his practice rounds with Fleetwood and Spieth.
“I wish I had my camera. I see all those people taking photographs and I’m wanting to take a shot or two myself. (Spieth is) a great guy,” Holtz said. “Just got a lot of information off him. We just talked, talked as people talk. Learned a little bit about his family and he was asking about mine. So it was just really, really fun to play with him.”
