The Masters is one of the hardest tickets to get in sports. They run a lottery for tickets each year and I’ve entered most years since they started doing it. Last June I got the lucky email: I’d gotten four tickets to the Monday practice round. Though we planned to take off and start traveling at the end of 2017, I knew there’d be a trip through Augusta, Georgia on April 2nd, 2018.
While living in Portland 16+ years, we made many trips to escape to the sun during the long rainy season. This included a March trip to Spring Training in Phoenix most years. We decided to add a couple of more weeks to our US travels and spent March 14th to 18th at Spring Training.
That left a couple of weeks until the Masters. I went to New Jersey to see family and was hoping to get in some golf with Dad. We got out on Monday and had a nice day in the mid 40s though my game was very rusty. On Tuesday and Wednesday it snowed 10 to 12 inches. That ended the NJ golfing but I was able to help Dad put up some shelves in the kitchen. I went through some boxes of my stuff at the house. That was really nostalgic, especially the box of notes and cards mostly from my high school years.
I messaged an old high school friend (Colin) through Facebook on Thursday and suggested we meet at another high school friend’s (Pete) brewery. Sometimes last minute plans work out. It was great to see Colin and surprise Pete. We hung out for a couple of hours and caught up. They’re both running their own businesses and doing great.
Dad and I drove down to Hilton Head on Saturday and Sunday and spent the week playing golf. My friend Don from Portland flew in Wednesday night, and my brother David joined on Thursday. We drove up to Columbia, SC, about 75 minutes east of Augusta, on Sunday night.
We drove over Monday morning, and after some traffic and parking, went through the gates about 9a. The weather was perfect with a high temperature in the 80s.
In front of the clubhouse with Dad and David, then with Don.
We started walking the course and caught up to Rory McIlroy on the 6th hole. We decided to follow him (and Wes Bryan and Matt Parziale) for the rest of the day. Rory looked really good.
Rory on the 6th green.
Rory at address on the 7th tee. He split the fairway. I’ve been to a handful of golf tournaments and I’ll note two things from this shot: 1) You can get really close to the players, and 2) It’s very nice to be 6’5” at times like this.
Rory from the 9th fairway.
Rory putting on 13.
Rory with the full release!
The greens of Amen Corner (11, 12 and 13).
I knew the course well from years of watching on TV. I’d heard so often about the dramatic elevation changes that the only one that really surprised me was the drop from the 10th tee. I somehow thought the 7th hole went a little left, but it’s a straightaway par 4. I also learned the layout of the course – how the holes fit together. Amen corner is a great spot, and you can understand why the wind on #12 can be so vexing. The 11th and 13th fairways are perpendicular to each other, collide at the 12th green, and it’s the lowest point on the course. As we’ve heard from announcers for years, the wind swirls in there. With a 155 yard shot, guys are hitting short irons high in the air and are at the mercy of any unexpected shift in the wind.
We grabbed lunch – just $11 for two sandwiches, chips and a beer – and went through the merchandise tent.
We headed back out to 15 and 16 to watch groups come through. We saw Sergio and Luis Oosthuizen on the 9th.
Jordan Spieth working on and around the 16th green.
Here’s some guy who loves golf but will never play in the Masters. I bet he could do better than a 13 on this hole though.
We had seen on an information board that Tiger was on the range in the early afternoon, and I knew from some research that he’d played 9 holes starting at 3:30p in 2015 on the Monday practice day. We soon saw a large gallery and figured it was him.
We caught up to Tiger on #7. He was playing with Fred Couples and Justin Thomas. Everyone in pink!
Walking to the 8th tee.
Jordan Thomas is a small guy, but he almost goes airborne at impact. Talk about leveraging the ground for power!
We followed them through 9, watched Tiger for a bit on the practice tee, then called it a day. It went by quickly but it was perfect.