I’m not one for sitting around all day and wouldn’t normally be keen on a place where running is considered unacceptable behaviour.
Still, after competing in or attending many major sporting events over the years, the Olympics and World Championships, All-Ireland finals in Croke Park, the Rugby World Cup final, Wimbledon and the Australian Open too, the chance to visit Augusta National Golf Club for the US Masters was too good to pass.
Every major sporting event has its own different attraction. It always means so much more when you have skin in the game, some emotional investment. It brings so much more to the experience and reason to be there, with Rory McIlroy, Shane Lowry and Séamus Power all in the mix.
Arriving late on Thursday afternoon, I had three days to soak up as much of the Masters experience as I could, the second day of qualifying and then the final two days. Only for the weather to give way and overlap the days and the schedule.
On Saturday morning, leaning over the ropes peering down the fairway hopefully to spot Lowry, as he was finishing off day two on day three, I turned around to be greeted by Shane’s father Brendan. We walked together to the 18th hole to see Shane safely make the cut, which would see him back out on the course a few hours later.
There are so many rituals and routines that people seem to live by. The returning spectators, known as patrons, already have a game plan
The rain was relentless as I walked back, trying to catch a glimpse of Tiger Woods on the approach to the 18th green. With so many people walking alongside him, nine or 10 deep, all holding the green and white umbrellas, it was hard to find any gap. Tiger did make his 23rd cut in a row, equalling the record of Gary Player and Fred Couples. Though he didn’t make it back to tee off again, his ailing body let him down.
I was staying at a rented house close to the course. By all accounts many locals rent out their homes for the Masters week, earn a tidy tax-free packet, as there aren’t enough hotels around Augusta to accommodate the influx of visitors.
From the off the Masters is a very different event to any other I’ve been to: no phones allowed, which means no pictures, and you also have to carefully plan where or when to meet up: under the tree, under the scoreboard at seven, or maybe back at the chairs you left out earlier in the day.
Surprisingly it was an added bonus to have no phone all day as it encouraged living in the moment and talking to more people to get information. Maybe it should be more common at sporting events to leave the phones at home.
There are so many rituals and routines that people seem to live by. The returning spectators, known as patrons, already have a game plan, stand out too from us newbies, trying to work out a plan for the day.
Going in through the security gates, each patron is allowed one chair and a small bag. Umbrellas are also allowed and were certainly needed. Your entry badge is scanned and a wrist band is attached, so you can’t leave and have someone else come in later in the day.
Gates open at 7am and once through security it was like a race walking trial event. Everyone is moving as fast as they can without breaking into a ‘run’, as outlined in the spectator guidebook.
Still the race is on to get a prime spot to place your chair. The green director chairs branded with the Masters logo can be bought for $35 and placed anywhere outside the ropes, people racing to their favourite spots and staking their small piece of Augusta National for the day.
The first spots to go are alongside a tee box with a good view of a green or most coveted at the 18th for those that arrive well before sunrise. Some people will sit there all day. Others just place the chairs, walk around, then retreat to the front row later in the day when they need a rest.
While the chairs are vacant anyone can come along and sit until the owners return. At one point I returned to our seats just as Shane Lowry was finishing up at 13, also known as Azalea and walking over the bridge to 14 to tee off. It felt like you were too close, in the silence, as the players teed off, then the march of followers keeping pace outside the ropes.
The holes are all named for 18 different plants in recognition of the former Fruitland nurseries on which the golf course was built in the 1930′s.
Not for that sitting around, the best part is walking the course alongside the players. You really need to align yourself with one pairing, to get a feel for the course and experience the elevation throughout.
One thing that everyone seems to make time for at The Masters is the golf shop
The one thing you also truly appreciate is the difficulty of the putting greens, smooth for sure but by no means flat, lots of technical decisions on which tangents to hit to get the ball anywhere near the pin. There are a few replica greens that you can try out and only for the guidance of the local pros, I would probably still be out there trying to find the pin and that’s just starting on the edge of the green.
After sitting for a bit on Friday the clouds were rolling in and a storm was looming, an air horn could be heard throughout the course which means play is abandoned and all patrons are requested to leave the course. We picked up our chairs and headed for the exit, only to be called back before we reached the gates with play about to resume.
We decided on a quick drink and snack, which are plentiful throughout the course, and reasonably priced too; there are also phones available for anyone to use free of charge to call home.
We made a quick dash to the viewing area overlooking the 16th green, high up on a hill and just as we were getting comfortable, right in front of us we watched as three pine trees came crashing to the ground. People were running now, in all directions, frightening to watch and a miracle no one was seriously injured, or worse.
Once again the siren screeched out and everyone was sent home. We were still in shock and disbelief after watching the fallen trees, like watching something happen in slow motion, only all over in less than four seconds.
What was even more surreal was over the next two days the number of times I found myself standing right in the area where the trees fell, a popular spot probably lucky there were less people on the Friday after the initial evacuation. Many did not return. Only for the extra bark covering the spot you wouldn’t even know Augusta National back to perfection no doubt approved by the Beautification committee.
Just like all major sporting events there are many different circles all overlapping. One thing that everyone seems to make time for at The Masters is the golf shop, the only place to buy Masters merchandise and if you don’t get in early the lines are longer than you might see at any theme park.
Leaving after the last day you also realise why so many people do return, an event that is much more than just the golf, it’s a masterful sporting experience.
