Masters 2026: Meet the realtor who earned a tee time at Augusta National
On a normal Thursday afternoon, Brandon Holtz would be selling houses. But this week, he is teeing it up in the Masters.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — With their Azalea cocktails in hand, a few dozen of Brandon Holtz’s family members and golf buddies from Bloomington, Illinois, walked toward the second green Thursday morning at Augusta National and watched him line up a birdie putt. “This is insane,” said City Petersen, who has played a few July 4 tournaments as Holtz’s partner at Lakeside Country Club, the nine-hole course where Holtz spends most of his Saturdays.
“It wasn’t real until we got here,” said Steve Gildner, a friend in the insurance business. “When he was stretching this morning, he was between (Dustin Johnson) and Rory (McIlRoy). It’s crazy.
” Can you imagine if the local real estate agent in your regular golf game decided to enter some amateur events and ended up qualifying to play in the Masters? Though admittedly an oversimplification of Holtz’s story — more on that in a moment — it’s pretty much the experience his friends had Thursday watching him play with two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson and Nicolas Echavarria. “This will ruin Crestwicke for him,” John McGrew, who plays with Holtz at the local country club, said with a laugh.
“He’s gonna be so (expletive) jaded after this,” said Alan Bardwell, one of the best golfers in Bloomington. “He’s going to look at us like, ‘You guys suck. ’” Between the jokes, the drinks and the busting of chops from outside the ropes, it barely mattered that Holtz shot 81.
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