Bucket List Alert: Practice Round at the Masters
A trip to Augusta National Golf Course was on my bucket list before I knew I had one. The legendary home of The Masters Golf Tournament is the most iconic golf course in the country and a ticket to the event is among the hardest to score. The first week in April every year, I’m tuned in as much as possible. I know the course well and remember so many legendary shots over the years.
A few months ago, my brother Brian reached out to me. An old friend and golfing buddy back in NJ won tickets in the annual Masters lottery, and Jeff had an extra. Was I interested? “Hell Yes,” I was interested. We added a good friend from Florida to fill our foursome and made plans for our brief trip to golf’s Eden.
We all researched thoroughly to prepare for the trip, and our conversations beforehand were an excited mix of tips and approaches we were going to employ. We emerged from our cheap hotel on the outskirts of town while it was still dark, and started our trek to the course. As we drove down Washington Rd, our GPS told us we were less than a mile from the parking lot. To the right of us was dense foliage blocking our view of what was tantalizingly close on the other side. We were pretty sure it was the border of Augusta National, and when we cruised past Magnolia Lane, goosebumps arrived for the first time.
We hung the next left and pulled into the spacious North Lot. From there, we drifted through the gigantic main lot which is totally hidden from the road. The lot probably held 10,000 cars, which is an impressive investment considering it is used one week per year. But, from the moment you step out of your car, the only thing you experience is the majesty of Augusta. It’s immediately a fully-immersive experience and it’s an absolute treat. The walk to the front gate is a stroll through flowery trees and lush lawns – a teaser for what lies ahead.
Uniformed employees were everywhere as we processed towards the entrance gates. They were all cordial and helpful. From there, we traveled down the Main Patron Corridor passing by the humongous gift shop and several other impressive structures. All of the cabins and buildings were covered in white clapboard and accented by the traditional green and white awnings. Everything looked immaculate, everyone was pleasant, and I was already on Cloud Nine. We still hadn’t reached the course.
Minutes later, we rounded a corner and first glimpsed the iconic manual scoreboard as we stepped onto the course grounds. The area in front of the scoreboard is a few acres wide, with views of the course just at the crest of a large hill. I looked down at the astroturf covering the ground which stretched out at least 100 yards towards the course. After nudging it with my shoe, I realized I was actually standing on real grass! Goosebump moment two. It’s no exaggeration to state that the grass here was as nice as any fairway I’ve played on, ever… and, this was the grass in the common area, we were still far from the playing area.
The Masters also goes to great extremes to eliminate extraneous items from marring the patrons’ views. Trash cans and coolers were green, as were camera tripods, cameras, bleachers, and basically anything else (including gravel). They even had the cameras and photographers around Amen Corner camouflaged and hidden among the azaleas. Every detail is well thought out.
Augusta National is built on the former site of Fruitland Nurseries. When club founder Bobby Jones first laid his eyes on the property, he famously remarked: “Perfect! And to think this ground has been lying here all these years waiting for someone to come along and lay a course upon it.” He was right, the site was perfectly suited for golf. Jones then tabbed renowned designer Alister MacKenzie to route the holes, and the rest was history.
Each hole is named after a different plant, and there are literally thousands of flowering trees throughout the course. As an example, the famous Par 5 13th hole has nearly 2,000 azaleas bordering the playing area on that hole alone!
I’m going to spare you a walk through the entire course, but believe me, I could talk about the layout forever. We started our morning walking every hole and I can affirm that each hole is stunning and immaculately manicured. Everything was lush and green. It was like gazing through a kaleidoscope of magnificent green colors. The rough was a dark forest green, bordered by a slightly more pale kelly green fringe, with dots of lime colored greens accenting the view. Every hole is tree or shrub lined with pastel colored flowers often providing a serene backdrop.
Our actual path around the course was initially slowed because we quite literally bumped into Tiger Wood’s walking up the first fairway with Justin Thomas and Fred Couples. We slowed our anticipated pace and enjoyed about an hour watching close-up as the threesome of friends played the first four holes. The trio chatted with each other and were clearly less rigid than they would be later in the week. One of the advantages of attending a practice round is this ability to see the players in a more casual setting. One of the others is that cameras were allowed (but not cell phones).
During the practice round, the players generally play up to the hole as they commonly would. Once they near the green, though, they drop balls and chip from different vantage points. They also putt to a handful of locations on each green.
It was interesting to watch their routines as they prepared for the four day tournament. It was more interesting observing the greens. The undulations and humps on many of the holes ranged from subtle to enormous, and the breaks ranged from sublime to ridiculous. No idea exactly how fast they were but for the golfers reading this, I’d guess they rolled about a 14 on the stimp meter (for the non-golfers, imagine putting on glass). I’m a decent golfer, and I honestly think I’d have a hard time breaking par if I teed-off just 50 yards short of every hole.
After breaking away from Woods and Co., we jumped over to the legendary Par 3, 16th, and toured the course backwards. It was a good approach that let us see and enjoy more of the natural beauty of the course. As we stood behind the green, memories of Jack in 1986 and Tiger in 2005 flashing through my mind. This was a special place in a special place.
Sand traps were filled with lush white sand and were edged meticulously. The pine trees near the course and between holes sat above a well-manicured beds of pine straw. Every detail on the course was perfect. Despite the thousands of trees on the course, there weren’t any leaves or pine needles on the playing surface. This place was just absolutely impeccable.
My highlight was our approach to the 13th green and fairway. The view is iconic, the hole is named “Azalea” for good reason – there are 1,850 of them along the bank behind the green. It’s legendary, and it looks so much better in person than on TV. Goosebumps for sure, and I sat there for minutes soaking it in and thinking how lucky I was to see it live. The entire area around Amen Corner and Rae’s Creek is simply beautiful, whether you’re a golf fanatic or not. Without a doubt, the most beautiful place I’ve seen on any golf course ever. It doesn’t hurt that they are three magnificently designed golf holes.
The Twelfth is another stunningly beautiful hole dripping with history. At #12, I marveled at the site where Fed Couples ball defied gravity and stuck on the steep bank instead of rolling into Rae’s Creek back in ’92. Those banks are close to vertical, are cut short and drop into a dire lie. Somehow, Freddie’s ball stopped. An amazing bit of good fortune courtesy of the Gods of Augusta.
There were plenty of other highlights, including beautiful views of #3, #6, #7 and #15, but it is no exaggeration to see that every hole had its special features. As we wrapped up our morning and our tour of the course, we also realized how incredibly hilly the layout is. TV offers beautiful shots of the course but fails to show any of the undulations and elevation changes. Our feet and thighs certainly noticed them.
We spent the last half of the way revisiting some of our favorite spots, including a few visits to #16 to watch players (and caddies) try to skip their balls across the bond. We sat for a while behind the tee at the short 6th hole where we had a great view of the tee shots for about a dozen of the competitors. We were literally a few feet from their back swings. The ball-striking was impressive and awe-inspiring.
We also made brief visits to both the practice putting greens and driving range for some opportunities to watch these stellar golfers hone their craft in a beautiful setting. Good stuff!
The guests on the course are called patrons, and they are clearly different than the customers who attend most golf tournaments. This is no TPC Scottsdale. This is a sacred experience at a sacred place, and it’s treated that way by the patrons. Everyone is dressed nice. For Masters week, they’re all polite and well-behaved. They cheer for good shots by everyone (even the LIV players) and treat each other with kindness. It’s a special vibe.
The staff at the Masters were equally impressive. First, there are staff members everywhere. They were all friendly, helpful and eager to please. We also spoke to a few of the hundreds of volunteers on the course and they were equally accommodating, and every one of them seemed to savor their opportunity to spend a week at this golfing nirvana. Who wouldn’t, right?
Food and drink were as affordable as any I’ve ever seen at a sporting event. I tried the famous pimento and cheese sandwich ($1.50) and found it to be interesting and an amazing bargain. Between the four of us, we tried a handful of sandwiches, which averaged about $3.00. The unquestioned highlight was the Masters breakfast sandwich. If you go, try one (or two), and make sure you look before 9:30. Soft drinks were $2 and beers $5. Bargains!
There were two huge gift shops, with tremendously long lines to get inside. The lines moved at a fair pace, and we realized they got shorter as the day wore on. The merch was not cheap, but it’s high quality stuff, and the selection was impressive.
We will be publishing our tips for first-timers and a slew of photos from the course in subsequent articles, so make sure you Follow us on Facebook and Instagram below!
After ten hours on the course, it was time to depart. And we all left with huge smiles plastered on our faces, and bags of souvenirs in our hands. This bucket list item lived up to all of the hype and more. Next year, I’ll be entering the lottery, too!
Bob
Sunshine Vagabonds
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