The History of Fantasy Golf Contests and Why the Masters Is the Best Week to Play

Fantasy sports didn't start with football. They didn't even start with baseball. They started with golf.

In the 1950s, Wilfred "Bill" Winkenbach - a limited partner in the Oakland Raiders ownership group - developed the first known fantasy sport: a golf game where participants drafted professional golfers and compared their scores at the end of a tournament. The lowest combined total won. No internet, no apps, no DraftKings. Just a group of fans who wanted more skin in the game.

Winkenbach went on to invent fantasy football in 1962 - the format that would eventually take over American sports culture. But it was golf that started it all.

By the mid-1980s, Rotisserie League Baseball had exploded into the mainstream, bringing fantasy sports to millions of fans through newspapers, magazines, and office leagues. Long before daily fantasy was a household term, you'd pick your players before a tournament, circle their scores in the newspaper, and settle up at the end of the week. It was analog, it was slow - and it was wildly popular.

From Newspaper Contests to Skill-Based Platforms

The internet changed everything. Online fantasy golf launched in the late 1990s, bringing season-long leagues to millions of fans who’d never had access before. The early 2010s brought daily fantasy sports - DraftKings and FanDuel popularized the format - and suddenly golf fans could compete in a new contest every single week.

But the landscape kept evolving. Skill-based platforms like Splash Sports emerged with formats built specifically around golf’s unique structure: survivor contests, tier-based lineups, and daily pick’em games designed to reward real golf knowledge rather than luck.

Today, fantasy golf is a multi-billion dollar industry. And every April, it reaches its peak.

Why the Masters Is the Best Week to Play

There are four majors every year. All of them matter. But the Masters occupies a category of its own - and not just for the history, the azaleas, or the green jacket. For fantasy golf players, Augusta is the best week to compete, and here’s why:

• The field is manageable. Unlike the US Open or The Open Championship, the Masters field is relatively small. Roughly 90 players compete - which means every pick has real significance, and the signal-to-noise ratio is much higher than a 156-man field.
• Course fit is everything. Augusta rewards a very specific skill set: precise iron play, creative short game, patience, and mental composure. Players who fit the course tend to show up every year - which means smart fantasy picks are rewarded.
• Four full rounds of engagement. The Masters runs Thursday through Sunday with no cut drama diluting the field after Friday. Your picks stay relevant all four days.
• The biggest names show up. The best players in the world don’t skip the Masters. You’re always picking from a full-strength field.
• Moments happen. Augusta creates more pivotal, swing-the-leaderboard moments than any other course in golf. Amen Corner has decided more Masters than any human strategy. That unpredictability is exactly what makes fantasy golf exciting.

How Splash Sports Has Modernized Masters Fantasy

Splash Sports brings the fantasy format that golf deserves. Instead of season-long leagues or complicated daily lineups, Splash offers formats built for real golf fans - Fantasy Tiers, Survivor contests, and daily QuickPicks that let you compete on every single round of the Masters.

The $350K Guaranteed Masters Fantasy Tiers Contest co-hosted with RickRunGood represents exactly where fantasy golf is headed: big prizes, expert analysis, and a format that rewards your actual knowledge of the game.

Sixty five years after the first fantasy leagues launched in Oakland, the game has never been better. And it’s never been better than Masters week.

How to Enter Masters Contests On Splash

1. Download the Splash Sports app or visit SplashSports.com
2. Navigate to the Masters contest lobby
3. Select your tier picks before contests close on Thursday, April 9 at 8 AM ET
4. Watch the leaderboard all four rounds, April 9-12

Other Ways to Play the Masters on Splash

The Fantasy Tiers contest is our flagship Masters offering - but it’s not the only way to play. Splash also has additional Masters contests at various entry fees, plus Masters QuickPicks running daily throughout the tournament, where you can pick More or Less on golfer stats for a chance to win up to 50x your entry