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Augusta – Most iconic sports theme ever? | 06:00
Dave Loggins was strolling along Augusta National’s 14th fairway when he stopped, looked up at the Georgian pines and, in a moment of serenity and clarity, it hit him.
“Spiritually it was different. That course was just a piece of art,” he told the Associated Press in a 2019 interview. “I looked over at some dogwoods and, man, I just started writing the song in my head which is what I do when I get inspired.”
Loggins claimed that before he even stepped off the course the first verse was written.
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Soon after, he would have an iconic piece that’s synonymous with one of the globe’s most revered sporting events, and every spine-tingling moment it has produced in the colour-television era.
The theme is simply called ‘Augusta’ – a peaceful, but powerful, composition featuring a 12-string ensemble, gentle piano melody and lightly plucked strings on the guitar.
So well-known has the theme become that every golf fan can pick it within the space of a few notes, and is transported to Augusta’s pristine fairways and fluttering azaleas.
Today, it reportedly stands as the longest running sports theme in television history.
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Loggins – a second cousin of US songwriting legend Kenny Loggins – wrote it in 1981 before it was adopted by CBS’s Masters broadcast the following year.
The network hasn’t stopped using it since.
Loggins was at Augusta for the first time when he was walking the course with a friend who happened to know CBS golf producer Frank Chirkinian, according to the Associated Press.
That connection landed Loggins in a room with Chirkinian who admitted, when asked if he had considered adopting a Masters theme song, that he was trying to find one.
Loggins declared he was the person to write it, and set about creating a demo that would prove it.
Sufficiently impressed by the demo, Chirkinian approved for the song to be recorded in Nashville with a band and string ensemble.
Few know that the theme song even had lyrics that referred to Augusta National’s iconic features, as well as some of its past champions like Byron Nelson, Gary Player and Jack Nicklaus.
While only an instrumental was ultimately picked up by the network, it was a version with vocals from Loggins that was brought to Chirkinian’s office in 1982.
“He said ‘You got something?‘” Loggins recalled. “I said ‘Yeah, I think I’ve got it.’ He put it on and listened to it and was slightly stunned that it was that good.
“He played it again and then looked at me and said, ‘You did good, son. You did real good’.
“Coming from him, the head of CBS Sports? That was great.”
Dave Loggins was no stranger to writing a hit song.Source: Getty ImagesWhile he didn’t carry the same reputation as his second cousin, Loggins had what it took to write a hit song.
‘Please Come to Boston’ was his biggest hit in 1974, rising to No.5 in the US, while the previous year, ‘Pieces of April’ — which he wrote for Three Dog Night — was a top-20 song.
Little did he know that a sports theme, that popped into his head while taking in the breathtaking beauty of Augusta National, was going to become his most well-known work.
Former CBS co-ordinating producer of golf, Lance Burrow, said that ‘Augusta’ and college basketball theme ‘One Shining Moment’ sat in rare air.
“When you hear both those songs, you know something special is happening,” Burrow told Associated Press.
Special as it may be, it certainly wasn’t for Loggins’ bank account. The songwriter pocketed very little from the song until his death in 2024.
He said he initially was paid just US$3,000 — an amount made to look even measlier by the fact that he still had to cover costs — and given some writing royalties.
The song hardly made him an Augusta celebrity either. He didn’t return to the Masters after the late 1980s, while the last time he stepped foot in Augusta was 1996, one year before Tiger Woods slipped on the green jacket for the first time.
Even so, Loggins remained a fan of the Masters which he continued to watch every year on TV with his pleasant tune as the backtrack.
Speaking in 2019, Loggins said he couldn’t believe the longevity of the song, which will be used for a 44th-consecutive Masters next week.
“We thought they’d air it just one year,” Loggins said.
“Now it’s been 38 years. Amazing.”
LYRICS TO AUGUSTA
Well, it’s springtime in the valley on Magnolia Lane It’s the Augusta National and the master of the game Who’ll wear that green coat on Sunday afternoon? Who’ll walk the 18th fairway singing this tune? Augusta, your dogwoods and pines They play on my mind like a song Augusta, it’s you that I love And it’s you that I’ll miss when I’m gone. It’s Watson, Byron Nelson, Demaret, Player and Snead It’s Amen Corner and it’s Hogan’s perfect swing It’s Sarazen’s double eagle at the 15 in ’35 And the spirit of Clifford Roberts that keeps it alive Augusta, your dogwoods and pines They play on my mind like a song Augusta, it’s you that I love And it’s you that I miss when I’m gone. It’s the legions of Arnie’s Army and the Golden Bear’s throngs And the wooden-shafted legend of Bobby Jones.
HOW TO WATCH
The only place to watch the 2025 Masters LIVE is on FOX SPORTS, available on Kayo Sports and Foxtel.
Get your first month for just $1. Limited time offer.
The Masters coverage will feature Fox Sports Australia’s Warren Smith and former PGA Tour player Paul Gow who will be on-location at Augusta National to deliver insights and analysis.
Outside of coverage of all four rounds, the Masters offering will also feature a 4K UHD feed from Amen Corner in its entirety, as well as separate feeds for the 15th and 16th holes and featured groups at certain times.
