Augusta National members aren't really like that, at least not to the Masters participants who have contact with some of them.

``I don't find them stuffy,'' 1987 Masters champion Larry Mize said. ``From my experience, the members have been wonderful to me. They're just like the rest of us - they're just fortunate to be members at Augusta.''

``I went there hearing those things, but I've never got that impression,'' Lee Janzen said. ``They're not that way at all. They treat you very well.''

``I think they are fine; they're genuine people,'' 1979 Masters champion Fuzzy Zoeller said.

There are more than 300 members at the Augusta National. Most are presidents or CEOs of corporations. Almost all are conservatives. Their political party of choice is republican.

Those aren't the only criteria used when choosing a new member. According to sources, the club looks for men - there are no female members - who are personable. Men who enjoy fellowship on the golf course and afterward in the clubhouse.

That, to the shock of many golfers, is a side they didn't expect to see.

``I was surprised at how nice all the members were,'' said Brandel Chamblee, who played in the 1999 Masters. ``You hear stories. But I didn't find any of it to be true. Just about every member I encountered was so accommodating.''

Davis Love III is on such good terms with one member that about once a year, depending on Love's schedule, he stays in a cabin on the Augusta National grounds for a day or two. The member must stay with the guest, usually in a four-bedroom cabin.

After playing the course, Love said ``it's dinner in the clubhouse and back to the cabin. We watch old Masters tapes and just enjoy the experience. Having a fire, talking and watching TV in the cabin is fun, much less getting to play the golf course.

``You don't really want to sleep when you're there,'' Love said. ``You're always wanting to be doing something, from getting `Big Frank' to give you a tour of the wine cellar to just looking around the clubhouse.''

Three weeks ago, Steve Elkington played a round of golf at the Augusta National with member John Butler, a personal friend from Houston.

``He's one of the greatest guys in the world,'' Elkington said. ``They call him the caddie killer because he plays at least 36 holes a day every day he goes up there. We had a wonderful day. We played 36 holes, had dinner, and everyone was super friendly to us.''

Said Janzen: ``I don't know any members personally enough to say I have their phone number, but I would feel comfortable calling the pro shop to see if somebody wanted to play the course because you have to have a member when you come in before the tournament. I think somebody would do that for me.''

The players respect the members' wishes to stay as private as possible.

``It's just an exclusive club, and they enjoy their exclusiveness,'' Elkington said. ``That's the way they run their scene. That's OK.''

``You hear how it's a pretty tight ship, and it is,'' Chamblee said. ``Essentially, it's a pretty tight club 51 weeks out of the year, and they open it one week (for the Masters). That's the intriguing thing about this place. Everybody wants to see it, and they can't get in here but one week of the year. It's their club, and it's an exclusive membership.

``Some people frown on that, and some say, `hey, you have a right to do that,'É'' Chamblee said. ``Personally, I thought it was a wonderful place and gosh, I'd love to be a member there. Who wouldn't?''

At last year's Par-3 Contest, Chamblee asked a friend who had sponsored him early in his career to caddie for him.

``He said, `Heck, I'd like to be a member of this course,' you know, just talking about the par 3 course,'' Chamblee said.

Nick Price has been dealing with Augusta National members since his first appearance here in 1984.

``I think it's changed in the last five or six years,'' said Price, who thinks the members are more friendly. ``Also, I think I'm getting a little more familiar with most of them now. I've got to know who the starter is on the first tee and the member in the scorer's tent and a few other members you get to see and say hi to. I think a lot of them are probably a little apprenhensive about distracting the pros this week. It's not like we're enemies or anything, but they feel like they don't want to get in anyone's way for the week. Sometimes, that's misinterpreted.''

``This week, they try to make all the players feel like Augusta is their home,'' Zoeller said.