jgeorge322
Living Legend
- Joined
- Aug 29, 2011
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for the golf fans on the board, i was lucky enough to go to the friday round at augusta. i flew into atlanta thursday night after a week in southwest florida and stayed with my girlfriends family. i heard traffic can get back in atlanta so we were on the road by 6:30 am and made the ~150 mile drive in 2 and a half hours. the speed limit is 70 mph down there and most people were doing 80+ that included bad spells of rain. we arrived at 9 am about an hour after the gates opened. parking was free (i expected to shell out $40 bucks or so) and the lot was right next to the gate so it was only a 5 minute walk inside.
stepping inside, felt like going back in time. the place is like oz. everyone is extremely courteous. just to give you an example, i had to use the bathroom after downing two cups of coffee on the morning drive. before entering the stall, an employee sprayed down the toilet and whipped down the stall to make sure its clean. the toilet paper was highest quality. i realize that is sort of an unusual example (and im sure ill get some wise cracks if anyone bothers to read this) but it impressed me quite a bit. i was laughing to myself thinking of the troughs at the dome.
i wanted to walk the entire course, so we started down one. phil had just teed off. rory was behind him with keegan bradley. they were followed by jason dufner, one of my personal favorites. in hind site, if these pairings werent back to back to back, i probably would have started 18 and gone in reverse because it took me much longer to get around the course than anticipated. i took my time because i wanted to see the different angles of the course and all the greens up close. however, it turned out well because these were by far the best groupings of the day so i didn't mind not seeing more variety of players.
as for the course, obviously it is spectacular. for those who haven't been there, i dont think you realize how hilly the course is unless you see it in person. almost every hole has significant elevation changes. ive never played in georgia personally, but most of the courses ive played down south are much flatter. they typically make up for it with water which is why i prefer northern/donald ross style golf courses. augusta to me, was styled much more like a northern course. the second biggest "surprise" (i put this in quotes because you can notice it on TV but just not the extent) is the undulation of the greens. people talk about the challenges with putting but i cant imagine trying to chip to some of those pins. the margin of error is so small and when you miss its basically a one stroke penalty. thirdly, conditions are immaculate. couldnt find a weed on the course. they dont keep the rough long like a us open or even a pga. i think the idea is the course presents a different type of challenge where its more about shaping your shots and course management then simply keeping it in the fairway.
after walking the 18, we sat on the grandstand at the par 3 16 tee. i was in the first row at the exact level of the tee. i mention this because it was hardly a wait to sit in the grandstands, which is much different from other tournaments ive been too. i think the reason is two fold. 1. there arent as many patrons let in 2. people bring their own chairs and put them down and leave them. the rule is you dont move peoples chairs and you dont sit in them.
after 16, we moved to amen corner and sat behind the 12 tee which also overlooks the 11th green. we saw a few groups including tiger go through. this is a popular spot, however, my opinion is its not as great as youd think. you cannot see the approach shots on 11 unless someone bombs it (tiger actually did this) and secondly, you its difficult to tell where the shots land on 12. 12 is a great golf hole but its very difficult to get any depth perception from the stands.
tiger was the second to last group, so we walked to the 15th green where there is another grandstand. we watched tiger go through again. we saw tiger bank the shot off the pin into the water. when he walked over to check out the drop area before deciding to rehit from the same spot, he was about 15 ft away from where we were sitting. no one in the stands could tell he dropped 2 yards back and im quite amazed a viewer noticed it on tv. i wont get into my personal stance on the ruling, but it was a really bad break either way. arguably cost him four shots. we then followed tigers group in.
other tidbits:
-the concessions are very reasonable. $3 beers ($4 for import), $1.50 for egg salad sandwich, $1 for cape cod chips, $3 for chicken sandwich/pulled pork sandwich/turkey wrap, etc. tried a pimpento cheese sandwich but found them nasty. only dissappointment was i waited to long to try the peach ice cream sandwiches. they sold out quickly.
-i got my tickets for $75/piece through online lottery. not sure what the chances of hitting on that. i won 2 of them. i could have sold them for $3k to $4k each on stub hub but figured this might be my only shot to go and i didnt want to anger the golf gods
-the merchandise is a bit steep. if they get you anywhere its here. however, the quality is very nice. i dropped $450 for 2 shirts, a pullover, 4 hats, and a ball marker set. they check your bag for free so you dont have to carry it the entire day
-my girlfriend was wearing a cuse hat and we got a lot of compliments from different fan bases excited to have us in the acc. surprised some of the fans were excited to travel to syracuse for football games. i met people from unc, fsu, and clemson.
i think thats about it. sorry about the terrible grammar but i wanted to get it all down. i probably shouldnt admit i graduated from newhouse or they would try to take my degree back. i hope this gives some insight into a day there. it is an amazing place. now if i could just figure out how to play it...
stepping inside, felt like going back in time. the place is like oz. everyone is extremely courteous. just to give you an example, i had to use the bathroom after downing two cups of coffee on the morning drive. before entering the stall, an employee sprayed down the toilet and whipped down the stall to make sure its clean. the toilet paper was highest quality. i realize that is sort of an unusual example (and im sure ill get some wise cracks if anyone bothers to read this) but it impressed me quite a bit. i was laughing to myself thinking of the troughs at the dome.
i wanted to walk the entire course, so we started down one. phil had just teed off. rory was behind him with keegan bradley. they were followed by jason dufner, one of my personal favorites. in hind site, if these pairings werent back to back to back, i probably would have started 18 and gone in reverse because it took me much longer to get around the course than anticipated. i took my time because i wanted to see the different angles of the course and all the greens up close. however, it turned out well because these were by far the best groupings of the day so i didn't mind not seeing more variety of players.
as for the course, obviously it is spectacular. for those who haven't been there, i dont think you realize how hilly the course is unless you see it in person. almost every hole has significant elevation changes. ive never played in georgia personally, but most of the courses ive played down south are much flatter. they typically make up for it with water which is why i prefer northern/donald ross style golf courses. augusta to me, was styled much more like a northern course. the second biggest "surprise" (i put this in quotes because you can notice it on TV but just not the extent) is the undulation of the greens. people talk about the challenges with putting but i cant imagine trying to chip to some of those pins. the margin of error is so small and when you miss its basically a one stroke penalty. thirdly, conditions are immaculate. couldnt find a weed on the course. they dont keep the rough long like a us open or even a pga. i think the idea is the course presents a different type of challenge where its more about shaping your shots and course management then simply keeping it in the fairway.
after walking the 18, we sat on the grandstand at the par 3 16 tee. i was in the first row at the exact level of the tee. i mention this because it was hardly a wait to sit in the grandstands, which is much different from other tournaments ive been too. i think the reason is two fold. 1. there arent as many patrons let in 2. people bring their own chairs and put them down and leave them. the rule is you dont move peoples chairs and you dont sit in them.
after 16, we moved to amen corner and sat behind the 12 tee which also overlooks the 11th green. we saw a few groups including tiger go through. this is a popular spot, however, my opinion is its not as great as youd think. you cannot see the approach shots on 11 unless someone bombs it (tiger actually did this) and secondly, you its difficult to tell where the shots land on 12. 12 is a great golf hole but its very difficult to get any depth perception from the stands.
tiger was the second to last group, so we walked to the 15th green where there is another grandstand. we watched tiger go through again. we saw tiger bank the shot off the pin into the water. when he walked over to check out the drop area before deciding to rehit from the same spot, he was about 15 ft away from where we were sitting. no one in the stands could tell he dropped 2 yards back and im quite amazed a viewer noticed it on tv. i wont get into my personal stance on the ruling, but it was a really bad break either way. arguably cost him four shots. we then followed tigers group in.
other tidbits:
-the concessions are very reasonable. $3 beers ($4 for import), $1.50 for egg salad sandwich, $1 for cape cod chips, $3 for chicken sandwich/pulled pork sandwich/turkey wrap, etc. tried a pimpento cheese sandwich but found them nasty. only dissappointment was i waited to long to try the peach ice cream sandwiches. they sold out quickly.
-i got my tickets for $75/piece through online lottery. not sure what the chances of hitting on that. i won 2 of them. i could have sold them for $3k to $4k each on stub hub but figured this might be my only shot to go and i didnt want to anger the golf gods
-the merchandise is a bit steep. if they get you anywhere its here. however, the quality is very nice. i dropped $450 for 2 shirts, a pullover, 4 hats, and a ball marker set. they check your bag for free so you dont have to carry it the entire day
-my girlfriend was wearing a cuse hat and we got a lot of compliments from different fan bases excited to have us in the acc. surprised some of the fans were excited to travel to syracuse for football games. i met people from unc, fsu, and clemson.
i think thats about it. sorry about the terrible grammar but i wanted to get it all down. i probably shouldnt admit i graduated from newhouse or they would try to take my degree back. i hope this gives some insight into a day there. it is an amazing place. now if i could just figure out how to play it...
