I finally got to go to Augusta National. Let me tell you, TV does NOT do that place justice!! In a small way I was expecting a let down--I had been building that place up in my mind since I was 13-14 years old, and I was expecting to be absolutely blown away. Well, I was. Words literally cannot describe the place. I was simply amazed. Here are some bullet items worth mentioning:
Hilly!! I didn't realize the course was so hilly. All the TV cameras are elevated, so you really don't get the perspective of the amount of relief on that course. On so many holes you can't see the flag from the tee (for reasons other than dog-legs). There are numerous blind approach shots. The approach on 2, 5, 8, 9, 17, and 18 are drastically up hill. You can't get the full effect from TV. I walked the entire course and it makes Florence Country Club and Turtle Point seem flat.
Grass--Rye grass. The fairways & roughs are bermuda and the greens are bent. The bermuda is not green yet. Everything but the greens is overseeded with rye. So, basically, the whole tournament is played on rye grass.
Close. With all the equipment improvements and course modifications, the holes are really close together. If that was a normal country club or public course, people would be getting shelled with errant approach shots while they teed off. Some tee boxes are literally 15 yards from greens.
Long. With the latest modifications, the par-4's are monsters. It's one thing to read about a 495-yard par-4, it's another to stand behind the tee box and look at it. 10 is 495 yards, BUT it looks like a 75-100 foot elevation drop from tee to green. 11 is 490 with only the last third down hill. most of the rest seem to be up hill.
Pretentious. The National makes a very bold statement between the "have's" and the "have-not's." You know right away where you can and cannot go--and they're not discrete about it.
Crowds. Simply the most well-behaved and polite large group I have ever been around. We got in the gates around 7:30. We walked to 16 and put our chairs down right in front of the ropes just behind the green. We then proceeded to walk the course and got back to 16 around lunch time. At this time, the crowds were 15-20 people deep all around the green. Right there, on the front row, were our two empty chairs. A couple of "pardon me's" and "excuse me's" and we had rock star seats. The people around us immediately brought us up to speed about what we had missed in the last 3-4 hours. We ate our sandwiches, drank our beer and left again.
Price. Sandwiches--$1.50, Cokes--$1.00, Beer $2.00, candy/chips--$0.75. You can take $25 to the tournament and eat and drink all day. The gift shop, that's another story (I dropped $254 in there--and it fit in such a small bag!!).
Logos. None. I saw no corporate logo (except on the players bags and clothing) the whole time I was there. I had a 20-oz. Mountain Dew as I was walking in. I had to rip the label off the bottle or throw it away. The beer was sold as "regular," "lite," or "import." The import was Hineken (they poured it out of bottles into green cups. The chips and candy were in normal bags/wrappers, so I guess there were SOME logos.
I could go on forever, but here's a funny story. I took over 200 pictures while there. I got several shots of every hole from behind the tee, approach, behind the green, etc. I also snapped every golfer I saw that I could recognize. Around 4:30, we get back to our chairs at 16 to watch the rest while sitting down. Just as we got there, I was thinking what great timing because Davis Love III and David Duvall were teeing off (we had been at 1 tee when they started). Love has always been one of my favorite players, so I started snapping pics. Being late in the day, I thought this might be the last group. I saw what looked like a group walking down 15. After taking my binocs, I confirmed that it was not only another group, but none other than Jack Nickalus and Tom Watson!! I was stoked. I snapped another picture of David Duvall and my low battery light came on. No problem as I keep an extra set in my camera bag. Only, my camera bag wouldn't fit into the matchbox-size (10"x5"x5") template at the gate--it was in the truck. No time to get batteries. I was livid and was ready to pay $100 for 4 AA batteries. Luckily, the batteries held out and I got some good shots of Tom and Jack on the green. The day could NOT have ended better.
If I ever get to go again, I will likely enjoy it better. I approached this trip as if I would never go again and tried to see as much of the course as possible and take as many pictures as possible. I will take pictures the next time, but it won't be with the do-or-die attitude.
