The canopy of shade formed by rows of grand old trees, the Masters logo made up of flowers on a circular patch of lawn just in front of the clubhouse, the azalea bushes framing the entrance — who wouldn’t want to roll down the lane behind the wheel of a gas-belching, smoke-spewing, low-ridin’ cart and pull up to the front door first and casually toss the key to a valet?

Speaking of spicing things up ...

4. Make John Daly chairman of the food committee
Everybody who comes to the Masters raves about the reasonable prices for the pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches ($1.50) and beer ($2) and can’t imagine how the food service could be any better. The chairman knows how: Make it healthier. Until he lost his playing privileges, Daly walked down the fairways at Augusta smoking and downing Diet cokes.

“I believe nicotine plus caffeine equals protein,” he said.

5. Make Wednesday’s par-3 contest the equivalent of an NCAA tournament play-in game
Just because the pointy heads at the NCAA came up with it doesn’t mean it’s a bad idea. Plenty of the guys who play in the par-3 contest now are has-beens or never-weres. Guarantee the winner a spot in Tiger Woods’ group when the tournament begins in earnest and watch how quickly the smiles on a few of those faces turn into grimaces.

6. Bring back the long-drive contest
Players used to compete in annual driving and iron play skills challenges. They teed off just beyond the back of the clubhouse and out onto a large expanse of lawn between the 8th and 18th fairways that is used during the tournament as a walkway for spectators. The advent of the par-3 contest in 1960 replaced the skills challenge.

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Yet Daly used to draw huge crowds to the practice range to see if he could hit over the screens and out onto Washington Road, since the net at the back was 250 yards away and 100 feet tall. But even long-drive contests get repetitious sometimes. To create a little extra excitement, stage the long drive during the tournament and then watch the spectators run — right for the kiosks to stuff the suggestion boxes with some real ideas.

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