Today I had the incredibly good fortune of being able to attend The Masters.
The Masters for me was like one of those outer body expriences you'd expect to find on someone's bucket list. It isn't really a Golf Tournament it is more like the day you graduate from high school. What I mean by that is the day has this odd perfection to it that you realize is part real and part surreal.
I was lucky enough to be invited by a company that I have worked closely with for years.
The first thing I had to learn about the Masters is- where is Augusta, Georgia? My immediate preparations to attend was met with the stark reality that you can't get there very easily from any urban city. Expedia has a multitude of connection choices, none of which are appealing. Ultimately I flew into Atlanta and took a 2.5 hour bus ride there.
Augusta is a place that has that small town feel to it. People wave as you drive into town. Being from New york you know that never happens. This place is really important for five days a year, other times, I am sure they like their small town feel.
I attended with a group of guys that come every year. They have a strategy to maximisze viewing of holes and players. My strategy consisteed of standing between 3 and 4 most of the day. This paid off early as I was able to see a lot of close up action on the approach shots to 3 and the tee shot on 4.
The day is fairly straight forward until about 1:50 when Tiger tees off. Then you learn that your viewing strategy has to be mindful of where he is at all times.
While you can get very close to Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Gary Player on any hole, Tiger is different. At any one time it is 8 people deep and very hard to see. Some people walk the entire 18 holes with tiger shot by shot however I found that to be exhausting.
At any one time you know exactly where he is with two metrics- noise and the sea of humaity that moves with him.
In order to see tiger, he had to come to me. This meant I went a few holes ahead and he played to me. It seemed like a good strategy until you realize that you are not asd smart as you think. The sea of humanity extends for holes in front of him with the same strategy as yours.
Tiger finished yesterday at Even which is respectable but it meant he needed a good day. I saw him on 2,3, and 4 and he was basically even wheni left. The leader was 8 under par.
It ain't easy being tiger. He has to be mindful of all that is going on around him. Players that did not have a crowd for part of the day suddenly get big crowds following the come to me strategy. Tiger is also mindful that his shots will create crowd noise so as a courtesy he let's the people ahead of him play out their holes.
Overall it was an incredible day. The course is picture perfect without a blade of grass out of place.
We decided to pack up at 4:30 and head for home. That seemed like a good strategy. Our custom coach ride was fun. We watched Tin Cup on the way out and Caddyshack on the way home.
The only snag to the day was that my colleague from St. Louis was unable to make hit. His flight was cancelled. I could sense he was heartbroken. My flight home was delayed 2 hours due to weather. I'll be lucky to be home by 1:30 am.
The Masters for me was like one of those outer body expriences you'd expect to find on someone's bucket list. It isn't really a Golf Tournament it is more like the day you graduate from high school. What I mean by that is the day has this odd perfection to it that you realize is part real and part surreal.
I was lucky enough to be invited by a company that I have worked closely with for years.
The first thing I had to learn about the Masters is- where is Augusta, Georgia? My immediate preparations to attend was met with the stark reality that you can't get there very easily from any urban city. Expedia has a multitude of connection choices, none of which are appealing. Ultimately I flew into Atlanta and took a 2.5 hour bus ride there.
Augusta is a place that has that small town feel to it. People wave as you drive into town. Being from New york you know that never happens. This place is really important for five days a year, other times, I am sure they like their small town feel.
I attended with a group of guys that come every year. They have a strategy to maximisze viewing of holes and players. My strategy consisteed of standing between 3 and 4 most of the day. This paid off early as I was able to see a lot of close up action on the approach shots to 3 and the tee shot on 4.
The day is fairly straight forward until about 1:50 when Tiger tees off. Then you learn that your viewing strategy has to be mindful of where he is at all times.
While you can get very close to Ernie Els, Phil Mickelson and Gary Player on any hole, Tiger is different. At any one time it is 8 people deep and very hard to see. Some people walk the entire 18 holes with tiger shot by shot however I found that to be exhausting.
At any one time you know exactly where he is with two metrics- noise and the sea of humaity that moves with him.
In order to see tiger, he had to come to me. This meant I went a few holes ahead and he played to me. It seemed like a good strategy until you realize that you are not asd smart as you think. The sea of humanity extends for holes in front of him with the same strategy as yours.
Tiger finished yesterday at Even which is respectable but it meant he needed a good day. I saw him on 2,3, and 4 and he was basically even wheni left. The leader was 8 under par.
It ain't easy being tiger. He has to be mindful of all that is going on around him. Players that did not have a crowd for part of the day suddenly get big crowds following the come to me strategy. Tiger is also mindful that his shots will create crowd noise so as a courtesy he let's the people ahead of him play out their holes.
Overall it was an incredible day. The course is picture perfect without a blade of grass out of place.
We decided to pack up at 4:30 and head for home. That seemed like a good strategy. Our custom coach ride was fun. We watched Tin Cup on the way out and Caddyshack on the way home.
The only snag to the day was that my colleague from St. Louis was unable to make hit. His flight was cancelled. I could sense he was heartbroken. My flight home was delayed 2 hours due to weather. I'll be lucky to be home by 1:30 am.
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