A Tradition Unlike Any Other at TBonz

One of the, uh, traditions of the SI golf team that I've now got to be a part of a few times is a visit to the legendary T-Bones Steakhouse .

Jeff, I love that you, you get the whole team together.

We all get to go out.

Uh, when did that start?

I imagine that's been going on before my time.

I think, well, T-Bones became a thing in Augusta shortly after the 1992 Masters.

So Fred Couples won that one.

He gave .

Bones, a shout out in a, in an interview.

This is pre-internet, so it just, you know, if Fred Couples just says something on the air, people wonder what that's all about.

And so, it's just, you know, it's 1 mile or so outside the gates of Augusta, Washington Road on the main drag.

You just hang a left out of the Masters and hang another left and you're at T-Bone.

So , uh, it is a fun place.

It's got a great atmosphere, and, um, Sports Illustrated did a feature on it a few years after that couples moment.

Uh, headline was the toughest table in town, that article is on the wall in the restaurant, and so the writers who were part of the team then told me about T-Bones when I started going to the Masters and brought me there and met some people, and, uh, you know, we kind of just remain in touch where it is, it is a tough table, but we're lucky that, uh, we, we kind of have a We're on a separate list at T-Bones where we can kind of slide through and get a spot, and it's, it's a, it's one of our traditions every week.

You know, one of the things I love about that story is, you know, masters and everything, tradition, right?

And you're talking about traditions from back in '92.

Like that's, it's, this isn't just something you guys, uh, the last couple of years have been going get steaks.

No, this is a 1992 tradition.

Like that's really cool.

The part that makes me start to feel old is, in my mind, 192 doesn't sound like that long ago, though when you do the math, it, it, it is, and that hurts a little on the inside.

It's fine.

Uh, it, it.

Such an interesting story and I was sort of inspired by us going there and learning more about the place and everything.

And the, the original owner, um, sort of we'll call him the, the father, if you will, passed away a few years back and his, his sons have since taken over the place and, and taken on more of a leadership role.

So I actually had a chance to head down there and, and chat with these young gentlemen and learn a little bit about the place.

Let's, uh, take a look at that.

The reason why We became famous with so Freddy Couples became friends with my father.

A ton of players come here.

Tom Watson, Fuzzy Zeller, so Phil Mickelson's guy for a long time.

James Brown, when my dad was a little kid, would come in there before he got famous.

Greg Stadler, yeah, he was, he was here last night.

Uncle Jim Nance, Lou Holtz, Darius Rucker.

Darius is actually our godfather.

Yeah, it's Alex Rodriguez.

What our dad built here, he's, he's the greatest man and he's our hero.

We just wanna make him proud and carry that legacy on.

Our dad always say you can't change somebody's life necessarily when they come in, but you wanna give them a good hour, and that's the goal.

I think the thing that is so cool is, it's for a lot of people that I've met, it's a part of their voyage.

It's like.

Just as much as trying to get a gnome or a hat or the annual flag for the year, it's their night here too.

It's all like it's become woven into the grain of what people know as their master's experience.

Yeah, absolutely, yeah, I think there's a couple of pinnacle moments that really took it to the next level.

Yeah, obviously what I said about Freddie, yeah, phones, uh, and the caddies.

Yeah, I think that this was, this was one of those.

Uh uh.

You know, I, I, I, I just, I love everything about this and, and really it is cool to go in there and see framed on the wall , the original Sports Illustrated piece about the toughest table in town.

It's, it's sort of , I don't know, it, it feels like it lives with the play.

And as we, I don't know, later generations of SI come in and, and follow in the footsteps, just feels cool to be a part of something and that little piece of history in this town.

Yeah, it's a nice way.

It's just something we do at SI to start our week, nice way to get things rolling.