Building the perfect Masters Champions Dinner menu

Over my years of traveling to cover various golf courses and destinations, there have been times when some of the great meals I've enjoyed on a trip have stuck out as much as, if not more than, some of the rounds I've played. If I wasn't a golf writer, I would probably be a food writer.

I still remember the bowl of ramen I enjoyed in Salem, Oregon on a chilly, drizzly (big surprise) day between rounds in 2019. Later that same year, the grilled lobster at the Lobster Shack in North Berwick anchored my all-time favorite 36-hole day.

Earlier this week, the release of Rory McIlroy's proposed Champions Dinner menu for the 2026 Masters got me dreaming again, not about past meals but a future one that will never happen.

This time of year, What would you serve at your Masters Champions Dinner? becomes one of the most popular 19th-Hole discussion topics.

For me, the task would be almost impossible. Narrowing down my options would be as intimidating as winning the Masters itself. Inevitably having to consider the less-adventurous tastes of the other diners would pose some difficulties as well. I love Indian, Thai and Vietnamese cuisines in particular, but abusing other palates with spicy food is probably a party foul.

To battle my choice-paralysis, I would cherry-pick from some recent years' Masters Champions dinner menus, while adding a favorite item of mine as the main course.

(Spoiler alert: despite his ownership of one of my all-time favorite Masters recovery shots, no elements of Bubba Watson's insipid menu of grilled chicken and macaroni and cheese are making the cut.)

Inspired by the last few decades' worth of menus - check out this GolfChannel.com article for a comprehensive rundown dating back to 1995 - I've stuck with McIlroy's structure of four appetizers, a first course, a main course and a dessert. I am not a big wine guy, so I would put those pairings in the hands of Augusta National's sommelier.

For cold appetizers, I'm leaning heavily on selections from recent winners from outside of the U.S. Cured meats are a personal favorite of mine, so I'm taking Jon Rahm's Iberico ham and pork loin, plus Idiazabal black truffle cheese, from the dinner celebrating his 2023 victory. I also love sushi and sashimi, so 2021 champion Hideki Matsuyama's assortment makes the menu as well.

Need to balance the cold apps with two warm ones, and here's where I'm honoring Tiger Woods' five Masters titles. His decision to put cheeseburgers on the menu after his 1997 maiden victory was audacious, so I'm including some cheeseburger sliders. My mother would appreciate me including some sort of salad; Adam Scott's 2013 victory is one of my all-time favorite Masters finishes, and his artichoke and arugula salad with calamari intrigues me, so that'll round out the appetizer selection.

My first-course would be a straight-up nod to this year's selection from Rory McIlroy, which itself is a menu item from chef Eric Ripert's Le Bernardin, an institution in New York fine dining. I had never contemplated or heard of the combination of tuna carpaccio and foie gras before; now I can't stop thinking about it. I don't even care that that means two dishes involving raw fish.

After much deliberation, I settled on a main-course setup of my own choosing: bone-in veal chop parmigiana. I have had it in a few places, including a GolfPass team dinner at The Palm steakhouse in Orlando, and I'm counting the days until my next one. Having managed to stay light on the carbs so far, I'm pairing the veal parm with a selection of Roman staple pastas, a nod to my wife's and my honeymoon trip. There'd be rigatoni amatriciana (tomato and pancetta with some red pepper flake warmth) and bucatini carbonara served family-style, with plenty of pecorino Romano cheese on hand to be grated on top. I'm trusting Augusta National's dry-cleaning service will take car of any sauce flecks on green jackets.

Finally, if anyone has room for dessert, I'm flying in ice cream from Tulmeadow Farm in Simsbury, Connecticut, the finest I have ever had. It'll be available for sundaes or milkshakes. I'll be taking a vanilla chocolate chip milkshake in a styrofoam cup back to the Crow's Nest...in my dreams.