A Visit to the Masters

By John Craig

AUGUSTA, GA – Here’s advice from a volunteer “Gallery Guard” with 19 years experience at Augusta National. You get an egg salad sandwich and a bag of BBQ potato chips. You crush the chips and sprinkle it over the egg salad, then “smoosh” the bread down.

“The bread is fresh, the egg salad is plain,” he said, “so it makes it great.”
And “don’t pass up the oatmeal raisin cookie,” he added as he held court behind the second green, “it is unbelievable.”

So began my day during my first experience as a “patron” at the “Masters” golf tuna-ment, the first men’s professional major of the season. It also included Amen Corner, low prices and a sighting of a legend.

TIGER TRACKS

All the big names are here, including Tiger Woods, whose troubles have been well documented over the past several months. In the Chinese calendar, it is the “Year of the Tiger” but it hasn’t been in his favor, yet.

Traffic was backed up here beginning at 6:45AM Monday as those lucky enough to get tickets came to see the world’s number one player return on the world’s number one stage.

Gates didn’t open until 8:00AM and it was a scramble to find seats as they expected him to play an early practice round before his 2:00PM much anticipated press conference. Woods played with his friend and fellow Masters Champion Fred Couples (1992). By the 13th hole, Jim Furyk had caught up to them and they finished the round together.

On Tuesday, Woods was back on the course by 8:05AM, this time with 1998 Masters Champion and good friend Mark O’Meara. O’Meara took him under his wing when Woods first joined the PGA Tour in the fall of 1996 and the two have been close friends ever since.

On the 7th hole, “Pampas”, a par-4 450 yarder, Woods drove it right, literally. His first tee shot wound up in the pine straw about 20-feet from the fairway and the patrons quickly surrounded it. His second tee shot was down the center-left. Caddie Steve Williams retrieved his first ball, much to the chagrin of the fans who hoped to see Woods play out of jail. Instead, he walked to his second ball, watched as O’Meara hit his approach, and then, about 25-yards in front of his buddy, smacked his approach to the elevated green.

I lost sight of Woods after that. He pressed on and the wave of Tiger fans continued to follow.

One woman, standing on the rope line, said to her friend, “We just want to say we saw him.” The friend asked, with a laugh, “You don’t want to run out and kiss him?”

Right behind Tiger was Phil. That’s true in the rankings and on the golf course Tuesday morning. His group included Hunter Mahan, Dustin Johnson and Sean O’Hair. As Lefty strolled up the 7th fairway, he was wearing some shimmering tan pants, to which a fan said, “Look at those pants. What is this, Scarface?”

Mickelson did put his second shot on the green, but it rolled off the front.

Later on the 13th, the third part to famed “Amen Corner” – the 11th “White Dogwood,” 12th “Golden Bell” and 13th holes “Azalea” – Tiger hit his first tee shot down the right side. It was a high blast that followed the contour of the dogleg left par-5. His second was a low screamer that cut more of the corner. O’Meara hit his drive almost as far.

Woods then walked up to a smattering of applause and belted his approach onto the green, showing the past form and how he has brought the par-5s at Augusta National to their knees before. The smattering of applause turned to outright cheers for the four-time Masters Champion.

Mickelson was practicing around 12 and presumably didn’t see the Woods shot. His tee shot was about 30 yards further than Woods’s but Mickelson’s second shot wound up in the tributary from Rae’s Creek that runs in front of the 13th green. Advantage Woods on that hole, anyway.

Finally, on the Woods Watch, after his round, he made his way back to the brand new practice facility, unveiled for the first time to the public this week. As he walked the path to the practice range, I watched as his head disappeared amongst the crowd and he signed about a half dozen autographs and promised more after hitting balls. He seemed a bit more gracious on the course and around the patrons, something he said he would work to do.

LUNCH

When you come to Augusta, they say you have to have a pimento cheese sandwich. I did, along with that egg salad modification. However, I probably should have taken some whole chips out of the bag before crushing the rest of them because I wound up with a lot of crumbs – too many to fit on the egg salad sandwich – and then had to “drink” the rest of the bag of chips. My brother did the same thing. Rookie mistake, but a tasty one. Thanks to that marshal.

Overall, our THREE lunches came to $22.50! Can you believe that? Not anywhere else and any other sporting event anywhere can you do that. (Except maybe a little league game.)

OTHER ITEMS

I came to Augusta with my father and brother. I entered the lottery for practice round tickets last Spring, got the application in the mail, and last fall had been informed that my request for three on Tuesday was approved. How about that? The first time I entered, I got it. Not bad.

I met a man from Illinois, now sitting in a motorized wheelchair cart, with 28 Masters pins on his hat. Some were from being a volunteer, some from the Masters junior golf program. The oldest one I saw dated to 1991 but he said he had older ones….

A mid-morning snack of a blueberry muffin, banana and water: $3.50 TOTAL!

After watching play at 13, 12 and walking up 11, all of a sudden a groundskeeper in a pink oxford shirt appeared with a tree-trimming saw-stick, the ones with the curved blade on one end that would be used to pull down or saw a branch off a tree. We all gazed to see what branch that wasn’t in play was going to come down and then, gasp, a snake wrapped itself around the blade and stick and it was out of the tree.

The groundskeeper retrieved what turned out to be a “rat snake”, showed it to the patrons who wanted to see it, said “We protect our wildlife around here, “ and walked off with the snake.

One woman sitting on the grass around the turn of the 18th said, “all you need is a pillow,” about her respite.

In the restroom – after plenty of Masters brand water, lemonade and iced tea – the attendant made sure that as I finished washing my hands, “Have a good day, sir.” I said, thanks and it had already been, and he responded, “Thank you.” When have you, A: had a restroom attendant, and, B: had a polite one that made sure to thank you?

Here was as sighting, up near the clubhouse at high noon, I thought I saw club chairman Billy Payne. I was right and by the time I got up near the rope line that separated the patrons from the club members having lunch, there was Payne about to sit down and instead, tapped on the shoulder by four-time Champion Arnold Palmer. What a thrill to see “The King” making the rounds first with Payne, then with others, including posing for photos with guests and kids.

FIVE THINGS

My brother and I were walking between the ninth and first fairways when we stopped to chat with a couple of the “Gallery Guards.” We chatted for a while and found out that after this year, the one marshal will have been volunteering for 25 years and earns himself a pair of tournament badges.

The two men said one of the perks of the job is that they get to play the course. One of them said his best score was a 77. The other an 81. He said one marshal took a 13 on the 13th. Tough day.

We left with a smile and laugh when he laid this on us: “Name five things you won’t see out here?”

Tick….tick….tick….give up?

1. Weeds; 2. Ball washers; 3. Electronic Scoreboards; 4. Women’s tees; 5. Women golfers.

There are others on that list, to be sure, including “Quiet signs” that the marshals hold up at other tournaments and periscopes the fans use. Not here, not at Augusta National.

If you go, make sure you try that BBQ chips on egg salad trick. I did it on the pimento cheese and I hear it’s just as good on the tuna salad. Maybe next time.

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