See? The short version is that the Pretty Boy and I know someone whose family has tickets to the Masters every year, and they're not going there, so they let us go. Score!
Anyway, today was the first day that I have ever been to a pro golf tournament, and it was a good one to start out with. It might not be fair to all the other tournaments in the future, but that's not the point right now. The point is that I have a few thoughts to share on it, and I thought I would share them with you.
Doleros
This surprise started when I found out the price that's on that badge: $175. Sure, that's not chump change or anything, but it's really not bad for 4 days of admission to one of the premiere golf tournaments in the world. Plus, our admission came with a parking pass that allowed us to park -- at no additional charge -- right next to the course. That's just crazy, and it's certainly in direct contrast to all of my other professional sports experiences. So it's not expensive to get in and out of there for face value, but there just aren't many tickets. I don't think they've sold any new tickets for more than 20 years.
But that's not all. While we were spectating and walking around the course, we needed sustenance. So we headed to the concession and prepared to drop some serious coin. The price list didn't look right to us, but we might not have seen it correctly as we quickly moved through the line. We gathered the following items:
- 3 beers (in commemorative Masters plastic cups that we could take home with us)
- 2 bottles of water (in Masters-branded bottles of water, which we decided not to take home with us)
- 2 sandwiches in unusual-to-us green wrapping (that we didn't even consider taking home)
- 1 package of peanut butter & crackers, in standard packaging (please)
The total cost of that feast? $11.50. We were downright gleeful, and those beers were just marvelous. Really, the sandwiches were quite good, too. The Pretty Boy has been to a U.S. Open and a PGA Championship, and he thought we would spend a pretty penny on food and drink at the course each day.
Unfortunately, the stuff in the golf shop wasn't ridiculously cheap, too.
Cool Watching
The weather was beautiful, if a bit cool for early April in Georgia. But that's not what I'm talking about. What I am talking about is that there are roped off areas all over the course (definitely at each green, and in some other places) where patrons can put little chairs down to sit and watch. What's cooler is that one can set down a chair, go wander around the golf course for a while, and come back find his chair sitting, empty, in exactly the same place. No one will bother it! It's amazing to me. Naturally, one has to label his chair, but it's still pretty cool.
Pretty!
I have often pondered on whether watching many sporting events on TV isn't as good as or, in the case of HDTV, better than being there in person. And I have even claimed that seeing the splendor of Augusta National in HD is better than being on a golf course in person. Well, having seen Augusta National in person now, I say that's a bunch of hooey. The course is amazing. Everything is green. Except for the flowers, which are all blooming. It's just ... wow.
180
I'm not talking about an about-face, that's the minimum score I think I'd shoot if I tried to play this course. It's long and everything, but having been out there and seen the angles and difficulty of different shots and the undulations of the greens -- which are things that I've never quite been able to grasp on TV -- I can say for sure that this course would soundly kick my ass.
Stay Away From the Tiger Cage
Everyone knows that Tiger Woods has the biggest galleries on the course, but I didn't know how much bigger they are. We spent a large part of the day walking the course and watching Ernie Els, Fred Couples, and Geoff Ogilvy play. Els and Couples are both incredibly popular, and Ogilvy is one of the better young golfers in the world. All 3 have won major championships. There was a pretty good crowd following them, but as they finished up, we watched Tiger tee off on one par 3. The crush of humanity around his group was ridiculous. We waited at the tee box before he got to the green on the previous hole, and we still didn't have a great angle. Not to mention that the caddies stood right between us and the green anyway. We decided it's just not worth fighting through the people to try to watch the best in the world play. His gallery was at least 3 times as large as any other we saw today.
I hope you all enjoyed a good day of golf, be it playing or watching, today.
