I knew one day I would go. I knew one day I would see the green grass, and the azaleas, and eat a pimento and cheese sandwich. I knew I would roam the cathedral of golf and hear the roars that every talks about. I knew I would get to experience a golf tournament that not many others get to, especially from my side of the US. I knew one day I would go to The Masters. Yesterday was that day.
Danny and I left Atlanta at 5:00am for Augusta - about a 2 and a half hour drive. We were painfully tired, but stricken with huge anticipation as we drove in the darkness. About 7:15 or so the sun came up, and so did our energy. We were close. We were also hungry!
We pulled into the parking lot (free parking for anyone who wants it at The Masters) at 8:15 or so, and had to walk to find my ticket broker who had our coveted tickets. Retail price on the ticket was $41.00. We did not pay $41.00. I'll leave that one for your mind to wander. Anyway, after walking about 2 miles to find this place, we finally made it to the front gate. After getting caught trying to sneak my cell phone in (nice one, moron), I had to check it at a checkstand and get back in line. It didn't take long, and WE WERE IN.
The very first thing you notice is all of the green grass. It is the greenest and most well maintained grass you'll ever see. And there is a distinct difference between "inside the ropes" and outside. The grass really is greener on the other side!! Anyway, we didn't really know what to do other than be in awe and start taking pictures. We took pictures of anything - signs, people, players, food, flowers, the grass, ourselves, beer, whatever. When the day was over we ended up with 419 pictures. Danny said "We'll probably end up with 3 good ones". I doubt it!
There a few places we knew we needed to go: Amen Corner (the 3 most famous holes in golf), holes 16 and 18, the par 3 course, and see the historical sights like the clubhouse, the Crow's Nest, Butler Cabin, and getting a pimento and cheese sandwich. Our first mission? Get food. We were hungry! We figured we'd just get a little something to snack on and get going. I got a sausage biscuit and a tuna sandwich, for a grand total of $3.00. Danny got 2 egg sandwiches and a water for $4.00. The prices are unreal! Beer? $2.75. ALL sandwiches? $1.50. Coke, water? $1.00. Needless to say we ate a LOT. And had a few beers along the way.
We went to check out Amen Corner after walking a bit of the front 9. On our way down there we ran in to Tiger on hole #4. Danny got some good shots of him! We just wanted to see him hit one shot, to say that we did, and mission accomplished. He hit a 5 wood on a par 3 to about 20 feet. Moving on! We walked the beautiful hills down to Amen Corner (holes 11,12,13) and just watched the players practice and hit some shots. It was pretty amazing. There is no noise there. All you can hear is the wind and the birds and an occaisional private jet overhead. It was peaceful and quiet and a great place to watch golf. And VERY picturesque.
We had no real agenda, which was nice. It was a practice day so it was extremely casual. The pros were talking to fans, hitting all sorts of shots, and not worried about too much. Neither were we. We wandered around, saw all of the holes, saw the practice facilities (it was amazing watching Phil Mickelson practice his short game), watched the guys skip balls across the pond on #16 (big Masters tradition), walked up #18 like we were champions, and just took it all in. In the afternoon they had the famous Par 3 Contest. The par 3 course is ridiculously cool. We stood by the 1st green - about 5 feet from it - and watched probably 10 groups come thru. We got to see some of the biggest names in golf history - Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Mickelson, Norman. We were so close it was very cool.
When it was all said and done, we left around 4:30 exhausted. I bet we walked 5-7 miles up and down hills all day, but it was worth it. It was worth seeing the most coveted place in all of golf. The hardest ticket to get in all of sports, they say. And we were there. Here are some interesting stats:
- Sandwiches consumed by Danny and Alex: 7
- Pictures taken: 419
- Holes in 1 on the par 3 course (we heard the roars, they were LOUD): 3
- Number of souvenier cups I took home: 5
- Number of Masters shirts I bought (you can ONLY get them at the Masters): 7
- Number of times we said "this is so cool": 217
Enjoy the day folks. Watching The Masters on TV will never be the same for me. Pictures will be up soon, so check back!
Now, on the first tee...
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