Those Masters commercials that have youngsters acting out great moments at Augusta National to voiceovers from the original broadcast? Simple, pure, memorable. And, as it turns out, simply authentic to the kids themselves.
The campaign is part of Bank of America’s Golf With Us program, which last year made it possible for more than 100,000 kids to play golf at thousands of courses nationwide for green fees of $5 or less. The corporation partnered with Youth on Course to offer free membership to the program that seeks to make golf more accessible and affordable to kids ages 6-18.
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Several kids who are members of the Youth on Course program steal the show by starring in the latest Bank of America commercials on regular rotation during the 2026 Masters broadcasts. The three spots have kids recreating Jack Nicklaus’ legendary 17th hole birdie putt at the 1986 Masters, Bubba Watson’s escape on the 10th hole in his playoff win in 2012 and Rory McIlroy’s majestic second-shot approach to the 15th hole in last year’s final round. The youngsters not only match the fashion, fist pumps and facial expressions of the Masters champions, they do it to the iconic backing vocals of the original Masters broadcasts of those moments.
You hear Verne Lundquist’s “Maybe … Yes, sir!” behind Cora A. with her putter raised high after holing a downhill slider, dressed in vintage plaid pants and Nicklaus’ famous yellow Sunday shirt. On the shot from the trees, 9-year-old Priam V., wearing a Watson-esque visor and dressed in white long pants and white polo, lashes the same hooking wedge and jumps out of the trees with a double fist pump to Nick Faldo’s “Absolutely incredible … Oh my goodness!” And McIlroy’s shot from 2025 is recreated by Payton B., 8, who finished off the performance with the champion’s joyful collapse and roar on the 18th green, all while Jim Nantz’s voice echoes, “His masterpiece!”
Kids imagining themselves hitting a shot to win the Masters is almost as old as the Masters itself. But bringing the idea to life required more than imagination. You needed youngsters who not only were believable as golfers, but also those who could find themselves becoming uniquely authentic to these moments, said Michele Barlow, Bank of America’s head of enterprise marketing.
Having award-winning director Lance Acord cajole the kids through the shoots also was vital, she said. Acord is famous for his VW “Force” Super Bowl commercial involving a youngster pretending to be Darth Vader, and another Emmy winning iPhone spot, “Misunderstood,” all about a youngster alone at a holiday gathering. Acord understands how kids work, Barlow said. It’s also having youngsters fully invested. Those are real shots, not green screens and special effects, and the reactions are just as real as rehearsed.
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“Lance was so amazing throughout in getting the kids to continually try one more shot, one more shot, and the young woman who was hitting Jack Nicklaus’ putt ended up making it five times in a row,” Barlow said. “So, some of what happened is just as you see it on the screen. She’s paying attention, she’s excited and after a while she’s not even shooting a TV commercial. They’re just connecting to some of the greatest moments ever. It’s hard to fake that.”
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While the spots were not shot on site at Augusta National, a generic venue just similar enough worked to make the action seem more believable because it wasn’t exactly the same. In other words, it was the way the scene might have played out in a young person’s head late in the day with the course all to herself.
“We had what we thought was a really great idea, but a great idea on paper does doesn’t always translate into the kind of emotional storytelling and tug at the heartstrings that we wanted to get,” Barlow said. “Being able to work with shots that even if you didn’t see the original one, you’re immediately trying to test yourself to remember it. But then having kids who became super passionate about these shots took it to another level.”
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What seems no less compelling about the commercials is Bank of America’s commitment to getting young people into the game. The company’s goal is to increase the participation in the $5 green fee “Golf With Us”/Youth on Course from 100,000 to 150,000 sign-ups in 2026. According to the company, McIlroy also has pledged an additional $500,000 donation to fund an additional 70,000 rounds for Youth on Course members.
Among many initiatives, the effort has brought loads of new golfers to the game in recent years. According to the National Golf Foundation, the number of junior golfers has increased by nearly 1 million players since 2019, a 40 percent jump. Off-course participation by youngsters is up 82 percent to nearly 4 million players. The Golf With Us program included more than 20 percent girls, and NGF figures say females under 18 are the fastest-growing demographic in golf, comprising 38 percent of all junior golfers. Seems fitting that the scene of Nicklaus’s famous putt was recreated by someone named Cora.
“Getting more young girls into golf is very important to us,” said Barlow, noting that Bank of America has been an original sponsor of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur. “We wanted to demonstrate that commitment in one of the spots. We presented the idea to Jack, and he loved it.”
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