The Champions Dinner

One of my favorite events begins this week down I-20 in Augusta, GA. It is the perfect combination of golf excellence and unbridled tradition. It is The Masters.

Tomorrow will be a much more in depth look at why I love this golf tournament, but in honor of the traditional Tuesday Champions dinner tonight, I would see where everyone's tastebuds are.

First a brief background on the dinner. Every Tuesday before The Masters, the prior year's winner hosts a dinner for all prior champions and the chairman. Those are the only folks in the room. The good news is the prior year's winner (for 2009, Trevor Immelman from S. Africa) gets to pick the menu. The bad news is he has to pick up the tab. Apparently, you can still order off the regular menu if you don't like the options (as one such year will clearly show in a bit). While American-born winners tend to have their favorite food, international champs try to honor their country of origin. Here's a breakdown of some prior year's menus:

Trevor Immelman, 2009: Bobotie (a spiced minced meat pie with an egg topping), sosaties (type of chicken skewer), spinach salad, milk tart and South African wines.
Zach Johnson, 2008: Iowa beef, Florida shrimp
Phil Mickelson, 2007: Barbecued ribs, chicken, sausage and pulled pork, with cole slaw
Tiger Woods, 2006: Stuffed jalapeno and quesadilla appetizers with salsa and guacamole; green salad; steak fajitas, chicken fajitas, Mexican rice, refried beans; apple pie and ice cream
Phil Mickelson, 2005: Lobster ravioli in tomato cream sauce, Caesar salad, garlic bread
Mike Weir, 2004: Elk, wild boar, Arctic char, Canadian beer
Vijay Singh, 2001: Seafood tom kah, chicken panang curry, baked sea scallops with garlic sauce, rack of lamb with yellow kari sauce, baked filet Chilean sea bass with three flavor chili sauce, lychee sorbet
Mark O'Meara, 1999: Chicken fajitas, steak fajitas, sushi, tuna sashimi
Tiger Woods, 1998: Cheeseburgers, chicken sandwiches, french fries, milkshakes
Nick Faldo, 1997: Fish and chips, tomato soup
Ben Crenshaw, 1996: Texas barbecue
Jose Maria Olazabal, 1995: Paella and hake (whitefish), plus tapas
Bernhard Langer, 1994: Turkey and dressing, black forest torte
Fred Couples, 1993: Chicken cacciatore
Sandy Lyle, 1989: Haggis, mashed potatoes, mashed turnips
Bernhard Langer, 1986: Wiener schnitzel

Can you guess what year most folks ordered from the menu?

When I win The Masters in 2012, the 2013 dinner I would be hosting would include the following menu:

Peanut Oil Fried Turkey, injected with creole marinade

Filet Mignon kabobs

Egg Noodles

Green Beans drizzled in olive oil

Oreo Ice Cream Dessert (specialty from my mother-in-law)

Yuengling

Chateau Elan Merlot

What would you serve if you were the champ? Nosh away!