I have been several times and on the years I don't go it's still 4 days of bliss. This year was a year I scored a few golden tickets. With the help of a good pal I was on my way to the "National".
DeAnn decided if I was going to Augusta then she was going to the beach. We loaded up Friday and tried out Mom's new place for the first time. Jerry, Robyn, Alison, and Zach joined us and it was a pretty laid back weekend. We just don't do it like we used to. The only excitement was Red Bar crab cakes and my new passion, $5 scratch tickets. Saturday night everyone went to bed and I dreamed of egg salad and Augusta green.
Sunday I was up with the sun and waking everyone up because the train was leaving from Elba at 11AM. I had previously packed a bag for the Masters trip because with DeAnn I knew I'd be short on time. When will pulled into the driveway I grabbed my shaving bag out of the beach bag and was ready.
Dad and I were meeting Uncle Daniel in Montgomery and Blake Lambert, aka Willie Wonka, in Atlanta. We corralled the troops and hit 20 headed the South. We hit Augusta around 6 and got checked in. Since my 1st trip in 1994 I have always wanted to eat at T-Bonz, but we have always been there on Tuesday and it was never an option. This trip however was different and we decided to give it a shot. Top 5 steak I have EVER had! Great food and great atmosphere. After supper we head back to the hotel to get a few hour nap.
Monday started with an alarm at 5:30 and a greeting from Uncle Daniel. Whew it was early, but it's not like I was working so I popped up. The gates didn't open until 8 but we were out the door at 6:45. After an egg mcmuffin to kill time we turned onto Wheeler Road that used to be the secret gate. Now it's 1 of 2 gates that patrons enter the course.
Once we we entered the gates I was pretty emotional. The one thing I told Dr. Fletcher was I want to get back to Augusta and now 5 years later I was there. They have made the course more gallery friendly with signs and decent directions. We didn't need them as we had Dad.
We went straight to 16 to show Daniel. A very nice security guy almost begged us to put a chair down. We did. It became a theme that all the security guys went above and beyond. One nice fella told Daniel and I very sternly "Hey, we don't allow drag racin' around here" before breaking out into a huge grin. As there was not anyone close to 16 we started moving and caught Bubba Watson and Rickie Fowler on 3 green.
After watching them tee off on 4 we slowly made our way to the clubhouse. Once there we saw the new driving range and watched the 14 year warm up. After that we tried to get a picture made at the front of the clubhouse, however there was a hour wait. We settled on 1 tee for the first round og egg salad/pimento cheese sandwiches. After watching several groups go off we hit the pro shop where as I was checking out the guy in front of me had a $3400 bill. Yikes! Next we started the trek to the Cathedral they call Amen Corner. Such a sight to behold. Dad took Uncle Daniel to 12 tee to see a few groups and I sat beside 13 fairway just taking it all in.
After leaving there we went back to 16 as a lot of groups were coming through. Being at ANGC the chair we left hours before was still there with a mountain of people around it. As we were coming up a security guard moved the masses and put us at the rope with a great view of 15 green and 16. He checked on us periodically, making sure we were happy. We spent the rest of our afternoon there. During the practice rounds the tradition is for the groups to skip a ball over the pond. It was funny to hear the gallery scolded player lightly until the relented and skip. When we were leaving the security guard saw us and cleared the path. That just doesn't happen everyday.
The ride home was very uneventful and we had Daniel talking about next year. Too funny!
Thanks for letting me put this on paper for you guys. Also, one more BIG THANK YOU to Blake Lambert for the tickets.
Fins Up,
Jr
