Our Day at the Masters

I learned to love the game of golf primarily because it was a way to spend time with my grandfather. He started taking me to play when I was about 8 years old, and I was hooked. His favorite course to play was in Jackson, Georgia and each time I got to go there with him it was a special day. On the wall of the clubhouse they had a picture of the 13^th green at Augusta National, and it always seemed like Masters week would fall on my spring break, and spring break meant a day at the golf course with Granddaddy.

The first Masters tournament I can remember was 1996, when Greg Norman blew a six shot lead to Nick Faldo. One year later, I watched Tiger Woods destroy the field and win his first Green Jacket. I don’t remember how old I was when Granddaddy told me that he got to go to Augusta during a practice round one time, but I do remember how he talked about it. He said it was the most beautiful course he had ever seen.

On Friday, April 8, 2016 I got the chance to see Augusta National for myself. You see, going to the Masters isn’t like going to any other sporting event in the world. Price isn’t the reason people don’t go to the Masters, a four-day badge for this year’s tournament is only $375. The reason so many never get to see Augusta National is because the badges themselves are so hard to come by. While some families have had tickets for as far back as they remember, there are so many, like me, who could have only dreamed of walking those famous hills.

Just in case anyone hasn’t heard the story of how Bradley and I got to the Masters, here is a quick recap. Back in high school, Bradley and I both loved golf. Neither of us had been to the Masters, and one day, as we were talking about it, we made a pact. If either of us ever got tickets, we would take the other one. Pretty simple stuff.

Fast forward about 15 years and Bradley calls me on Monday January 25^th. I was worried something was wrong, because he called me at like 10am. He told me that the day before at church, a lady had walked up to him and asked him if he wanted two tickets to the Masters this year. On the phone, Bradley reminded me of our pact and said that we were going to Augusta. The feeling was surreal.

This is going to be a long post, and at times, you might not believe how much can actually happen in just one day at Augusta National, but this wasn’t just any day at Augusta, this was our day at Augusta.

Our day started out about the same time, a little after 4am I have never been so excited to be awake at 4am. We met in Madison, Georgia and started towards Augusta. In the car, there was a time of catching up, checking on each other’s families, and talking about life. That conversation alone would have made the day a special one, because life gets busy and we don’t always have time to just talk to our friends. The closer we got to Augusta, the more the conversation turned to how excited we both were to have this opportunity.

After a quick stop for some breakfast, we headed to the course. The first thing I noticed was how little traffic there was. Everything was orderly, and there were a lot of cars, but things were moving efficiently. After we parked, we had no idea where to go, so we just followed the crowd. As we approached the gates, there were multiple signs reminding patrons about the use of cell phones and cameras.

The rules regarding cell phones on tournament days is pretty simple, leave them in the car, or at home, or throw them away, but under no circumstances bring a cell phone onto the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. The penalty for breaking this rule? You get kicked out and if you are using someone else’s badge, they lose their badge forever.

After going through security, we walked through Gate 9 and were immediately handed a patron guide. This was a small book with information about the tournament, the course, the best place to watch each hole, short bios on each player, and plenty of other information. As I said, this was handed to each person as they walked in, not something you had to purchase, but more on that later. 

We walked onto the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club about 7:45am.

We walked up a winding path, past the gift shop, to a sign that pointed us to the course. We walked down a winding path, and then you see pine straw and the most beautiful green color you can imagine.

We just kept walking. As we began to lay eyes on it for the first time, I had chills. Ok, so it was little cold, but the chills weren’t from the cold. I looked up and saw the perfect blue sky and the tallest pine trees you can imagine. We didn’t really know where we were, so we just kept walking straight. We walked past the back of a large grand stand and found ourselves looking down on the 15^th green and the Sarazen Bridge.

No players were on the course yet, so we walked out into the middle of the fairway and looked down to the green. Bradley took a practice swing like he was hitting a wedge into the green, and we admired how perfect the fairway was. The early morning light bounced off the pond in front of 15, and we just stood there for a few minutes. As you look back up the hill, you get a sense of how much elevation change there is. There had to be a 40 foot drop from the top of the fairway to the green. Of course I have seen this hole played on television for years, but seeing it in person was breathtaking.

We didn’t have a plan for what we wanted to do or where we wanted to go, we just wanted to see the whole course. As we walked through the 15^th fairway, there were two ushers talking. We must have had a “first timers” look on our faces because one of the ushers said good morning and asked if we knew where we were going. After confirming it was our first time, he said he wanted to ask us the same question he always asks people on their first trip, “What was your first thought when you saw the course.” I just said, “It is perfect.” We decided that we wanted to see the first group tee off, so he pointed us across the course to the white building on top of a hill in the distance. That was the clubhouse and the first hole sits in front of the clubhouse. As we started walking away, he told us to “Enjoy your day.”

As we walked across the course, we continued to marvel at the beauty. It was like they had special pine straw that knew it was at Augusta National, so it stayed in place. There were clean lines between the grass and the pine straw as if each blade had been placed exactly where it was for a reason, and it wouldn’t dream of moving.

I had always heard the course was hilly, but until you see all of the ups and downs, you don’t really appreciate it. There is a large open space in the middle of the course, where you can see about 7 holes at once. We couldn’t get over how the course overlapped itself. We walked across 15, 17,8, and up the 18^th heading to the first hole. We didn’t realize at first that we were at the 18^th, but when we did, we stopped and just looked at it for a minute. The two fairway bunkers on the left side of the 18^th fairway are massive. The stark contrast between the pure white sand of the bunker and the rich green fairway is amazing.

After climbing the hill up to the first tee, we nestled up to the spectator line about 30 yards from the first tee and watched the 8:20am group tee off. It was the first group of the day. Three good tee shots later, and Friday at the Masters was under way.

With most of the big players going off later in the morning, we decided we wanted to walk the course. We started at the tenth hole. As we walked, we saw the cabins on the left side of the fairway where Rory McIlroy had hit his tee shot in 2011 when he was leading the tournament. In a way, it is amazing to think that a professional could hit a shot that bad, but in a way, it is amazing that it doesn’t happen more often. Most people will never be able to comprehend the pressure of standing on the 10^th tee of Augusta National on Sunday afternoon leading the Masters. I would throw up or pass out, but there would be no way I could hit a golf shot.

As we got to the bottom of the fairway, we walked over to the spot where Bubba Watson had hit his famous wedge shot out of the trees in the 2012 Masters. Being a lefty, Watson had hit a big draw around the trees and onto the green where he ultimately made a spectacular par to win the tournament. Walking away from the 10^th green we saw the famous white direction signs that are placed around Augusta National pointing patrons to different parts of the course.

The sign that said “Amen Corner” pointed us down the 11^th hole to, perhaps, the most famous scene in golf. The approach shot to the 11^th green, the tee shot at the par three 12^th, and the tee shot at the par five 13^th make up Amen Corner. So often, especially on Sunday, these three holes separate the eventual champion from those who will ultimately come up just short. We just stood there for a few minutes taking it in. Most of the players like this area of the course, because you aren’t close to the patrons. After teeing off on 12, you are about 200 yards away from the fans at the 12^th green and about 50 yards farther away as you tee off on 13. This early in the day, it was amazingly quiet and all you could hear was the sound of the wind blowing through the trees. We marveled as we saw with our own eyes the wind blowing in multiple directions in this corner of the golf course. The flag on 11 was straight like it had been starched, while just up the hill, the flag on 12 fell limp as if it had never been touched by the wind before.

We walked behind the 12^th tee and headed up the 13^th fairway. We stopped at the spot where Phil Mickelson had hit his second shot on Sunday in 2010 which led to his third Green Jacket. After looking at the beauty that is the 13^th green, we walked across 14 and back towards the front 9.

We decided to head back up to the first hole and watch play there for a few minutes. On the way, we walked behind the 18^th tee to see one of the most famous views in golf, the tee shot on 18 through narrow gap of trees. It feels like you are in a prison of trees as you eye the 25 yard corridor that opens into the 18^th fairway. We talked about how easy it would be to knock your shot right into the trees, little did we know we would see it first hand during the afternoon.

After watching from the right side of the first fairway for one group, we walked up to the grandstand beside the first green to take a seat for a few minutes. We watched a few groups come through the first, including Davis Love and Bubba Watson, then we stuck around to see the number one player in the world, Jason Day and his group. One of the people playing with Day was three time major champion Ernie Els. On Thursday afternoon, Els had made a 9 on the first hole, and after the round, said that he understood why someone would give up the game after his nightmare on the 1^st hole. From the middle of the fairway, Els nightmare continued. As soon as he hit his shot, you could tell it was not good. It was a low, hooking ball that everyone who has played the game has seen before. A total miss-hit. People yelled “fore”, but the patrons on the opposite side of the green never had a chance. Els’ ball struck a spectator on the side of the head and his ball bounced about 30 yards to the left of the 1^st green. Els would leave his chip short of the flag, then his first putt rolled about two feet away from the hole. Instead of marking his ball and letting someone else putt first, Els stood over his bogey putt proceeded to miss it. There was an audible sigh from the crowd. The first hole had gotten Els again. Els would miss the cut by the end of the day with a score of +9. He was +7 on the first hole alone.

We left the grandstand after the Day and Els group finished and headed for food and Amen Corner.

First lunch, as Bradley called it, for me consisted of a bag of chips, a coke, and a world-famous pimento cheese sandwich for the total cost of $4.50. I guess now would be as good a time as any to explain why the food at the Masters is so cheap compared to other sporting events. The reason is simple: they aren’t trying to make money. It is the same reason there is free parking on the grounds. 

Augusta National Golf Club is made up of some of the richest people in the country. You can’t join the club, you have to be invited, and if you let word get out that you hope to be invited, you will have to wait a little longer. Case and point, Microsoft founder Bill Gates. Back in the 1990’s Gates established himself for a while as the richest man in the country, worth well more than $40 billion. Gates mentioned in an interview that he hoped to be invited to be a member at Augusta, so they made him wait a few more years before extending the invitation. Why? Because it is rude to invite yourself, you should be patient. This concept may seem foreign, but it is the way it is done at the Masters. The Club has plenty of money, they want to put on a great event. Members of the club volunteer to run different aspects of the tournament each year. The reason the Masters is the best run sporting event in the country is because it is being run by some of the most successful businessmen and women in the world. Having these executives run the Masters would be the same as having the best chef in the world cook dinner for you and your family on a Tuesday night.

We walked up to the grandstand behind the 12^th tee and started working on first lunch. The first group of the day had made it to 11, so we were just in time to watch the first action of the day at Amen Corner. With the sun beating down, it got really hot in the grandstand, so after watching a few groups come through, we decided to be on our way.

A stop off at the restroom offered another interesting moment. There were cuing lines outside of the men’s room with a long line winding out the door, while you could see ladies walking straight up to the women’s restroom with no wait. This may be the only place in the world where men stand in line for the bathroom and women have no wait. Even though the line was long, the wait wasn’t. Even the bathrooms at Augusta National are efficient. There are ushers in the restrooms giving direction to open urinals or stalls so you can do your business and get back to the golf.

We walked to the 10^th green and watched a few of the morning groups come through. As we were standing behind the green, an African-American man walked by wearing a Green Jacket. He was wearing sunglasses so it was hard to see who he was, but he looked so familiar. I told Bradley that I thought it was Ozzie Smith, the former baseball player. It turned out to be Lynn Swann, the Hall of Fame football player who is a member of Augusta National.

Defending Masters Champion Jordan Spieth was about to tee off, so we decided to head back to the first tee to watch. We beat the crowed by about 10 minutes as it seemed everyone wanted to get a look at the young champ, who was leading the tournament after shooting a 66 on Thursday. Spieth laced a perfect drive down the first fairway to start his round to the delight of the patrons. With the crowd moving down the first fairway to follow Spieth, Bradley and I headed the opposite direction towards the par 3 course. There were a few other people walking in that direction so we kept going walking past the course, to the front of the clubhouse.

It turned out that we were walking to the line for a complimentary Masters photograph. One of the newer attractions at Augusta National, the club offers a complimentary picture so you can commemorate your day. We stood in line for about 15 minutes and got a picture of the two of us and one of each of us individually.

We walked back around the Club house and down towards the main gate for second lunch. This time I had two pimento cheese sandwiches, a coke, and a Georgia peach ice cream sandwich, for the steep price of $7. We sat down for a few minutes while we ate, then we headed to the gift shop. 45 minutes and I won’t tell you how much money later, we headed across the first fairway to the 9^th green.

We watched a couple of groups come through, as we waited for Tom Watson, two-time Masters Champion, who was playing the tournament for the final time, come through the 9^th hole. The ovation he received as he walked up the hill to the 9^th green was thunderous. We had a good spot just to the side of the 9^th green, so we ended up spending most of the afternoon there. We watched as group after group came through, trying to navigate the up-hill approach shot to the green that is devilishly constructed. There are three tiers to the 9^th green. The pin was on the right side of the green in the middle tier. The perfectly played shot would have the ball land about pin high, release up the embankment behind the hole, then check up and roll back down the hill giving yourself a fairly flat putt for birdie.

As group after group came through, we only saw a couple of players manage to put their approach shot on the right level. Multiple players including Jordan Speith failed to carry the ball far enough and had their shot roll back down the hill in front of the green.

As we stood there, we sparked up a conversation with an older gentleman and his friend. They had both been coming to the Masters since the 1970’s. They were also both Veterans of the Vietnam War. We listened to them talk about how things had changed around the course, how the local schools shut down for the tournament so people can rent their houses out to people coming to the Masters, but the thing I remember the most, is how he talked about the way the patrons at Augusta National behaved so much differently than those at other golf tournaments.

He said, “You will never hear any idiot here screaming ‘Get in the hole!’ when someone is putting. We don’t do that.” He also talked about how the patrons respect the grounds so much that there is never a piece of trash on the ground. Interestingly, about an hour after he said that, a green plastic sandwich bag blew across the 9^th green into the bunker right in front of us. He saw the bag and couldn’t believe it. He asked his friend, “When was the last time you saw that?” Neither of them could remember. When the next group came through, one of the caddies saw the bag in the bunker, got the rake, and pulled the bag out. We all applauded.

We spent about two and a half hours at the 9^th green, watching the large leader board at the 18^th green update the progress of the second round. We headed over to the 18^th green for what was sure to be a special moment.

Tom Watson isn’t the greatest American golfer of all time, but he is right up there. His eight major championships still hold up today as one of the most impressive records in golf history. During the day, Watson had flirted with making the cut, but trouble on the back 9 had all but guaranteed that this would be his final round at Augusta National. Knowing that, the area around the 18^th green had gotten very crowded. The best Bradley and I could do was to stand behind the green and up the hill where the golfers walk as they head to the clubhouse to sign their card. We could watch the play on the green and got an up-close view of the players as they left.

We were still about three groups from Watson and apparently we weren’t the only ones who wanted to make sure we were there for this historic moment. Three time Masters Champion and CBS commentator Nick Faldo climbed out of the 18^th hole broadcast tower and walked right past us. As he did, we said hello, to which he replied, “running off to restroom.” Judging by the way he walked up the hill to the clubhouse, Sir Nick’s lunch was not agreeing with him.

Watson received another thunderous ovation as he walked up the 18 hole. He missed a long birdie putt, but when he did hole out, there was an extended ovation as one of the Masters greatest champions said goodbye. Watson was emotional as he embraced his family and members of Augusta National, including Chairman Billy Payne, who had come out to be here for this historic moment. It was amazing to be there and feel the energy from the crowd.

After that emotional time, we walked back down the 18^th to watch the Speith group tee off on Augusta’s final hole. While Speith was the reason for the crowd, the story of the 18^th hole on Friday afternoon quickly turned from the leader of the tournament to an amateur playing with him, Bryson DeChambeau.

We were  on the left side of the fairway, watching the players tee off. Speith pushed his tee shot to the right of the fairway, just into the rough. Jordan seemed a little frustrated. Even though he was still leading the tournament, he had struggled on the day. As DeChambeau hit his tee shot, we lost sight of it. I asked Bradley if he had seen it, and he said he had lost it too. There was a good reason we both lost it, it had gone right over our heads, into the trees. We walked down the side of the fairway to where a crowd was gathered, as DeChambeau and his caddy walked past us looking for the marshal who had spotted where his ball had landed. Even though he was only two shots out of the lead, the amateur looked nervous and maybe a little embarrassed for hitting such a bad shot. His ball had hit a tree and come to rest under a huge bush on the side of the fairway. There was no way he could play the ball, so his only choices were to take a drop, or head back to the tee box to tee off again. He elected to go back to the tee, so we walked back up to the rope on the side of the fair way to look back up and watch him his third from the tee.

Then the unthinkable happened. He hit it in almost the exact same place. The ball hit off a branch right above us, flew away from the 18^th hole, bounced off the back of a building and came to rest about 25 feet behind us. We walked over and waited for DeChambeau to make his way over toward his ball. This time, he was visably shaken. There was a glossed over look in his eye, as if he wondered if he would ever hit another good golf shot in his life. If you have ever played the game, you know what feeling I’m talking about. The ball was too close to the building for DeChambeau to get a stance, but the marshal did a fantastic job of helping the young man. He got right up in his face, almost too close, and gave him his options. He could take a club length drop away from where his ball was and hit his fourth shot from there, or, and the marshal emphasized his next statement, he could go back on the other side of the building and take a drop without a penalty stroke because the building stopped the flight of the ball to where it would have landed had the building not been there. The marshal then commented that there was a nice flat area on the opposite side of the building with an open view of the green. DeChambeau seem to wake up from his glazed-over state, told the marshal he wanted to take the drop on the other side of the building, and away we went. DeChambeau hit his fourth shot up towards the green and we walked up the hill beside him, we saw the camera man walking so we made sure to get where we would be on television in the background. DeChambeau ended up making a triple bogey 7 on the hole which dropped him back to even par for the tournament, but he would finish the weekend as the low amateur, so he was in Butler Cabin on Sunday afternoon when the green jacket ceremony was taking place.

I was very impressed that the marshal was able to read the fact that DeChambeau needed someone to basically tell him what to do in that moment, and that the marshal knew the rules of the game well enough to advise him so well in the pressure-packed moment. Augusta National doesn’t just take care of its patrons, it takes care of its players too.

We spent the rest of the day watching groups play the 17^th green and then tee off on the 18^th hole. The final group of the day featured Masters Champion Adam Scott, one of Bradley’s favorite players. We saw the first tee shot of the day and we saw the last.

We knew the day was over, and there was a bit of sadness to that, but it had been a full day and an eventful one.

We walked out of Augusta National at 7:30 pm, nearly 12 hours since we had walked in. I can’t tell you how far we walked, but I would guess it would have been somewhere between 7-10 miles. 

Driving home, we tried to think if there were any holes we hadn’t seen a shot hit on, and amazingly, we think we saw every hole except 7, 8, and 16. Not too bad for a single day.

It has been a year to the day since we had our day at the Masters. Hopefully, it won’t be our last. But if it is, we made the most of it.

There are so few things in life that live up to the hype. Augusta National lived up to the hype and surpassed it. If you love golf or just sports in general and you get the chance to experience the Masters, take the chance.

When we got back to the car, we checked our phones, because we had been out of touch with the rest of the world for the entire day. That is when it hit me, part of what made the day so great, was just being where we were, in that moment, together. Not looking at social media. Not watching the news of the day. Not getting text messages from work.

It was like the pines of Augusta National cut you off from the rest of the world and provided a peaceful and perfect day without the distractions of life.

Every year, the Masters lasts four days, but for me, the memories made on our day at the Masters will last a lifetime.