Thoughts After A Trip To Augusta National

Thoughts After A Trip To Augusta National

A teacher friend of mine (who also is a former student) sent me a text message late last week asking “How was your religious pilgrimage?”

He was joking, but he wasn’t far off the mark. For this golfer, having watched the Masters for decades on television, finally getting to see the course was indeed a wondrous experience.

A happy confluence of two events led me to Augusta National: 1) I retired from schoolteaching, which freed up my week and 2) I decided to attend the annual Golf Writers Association of America meeting and awards dinner. A big thank you to the GWAA and August National for the complementary ticket to the practice round.

While on the grounds, I took a lot of photos, but unfortunately can’t show you any. The three-page agreement that came with my tickets stated that I can’t publish them. Blogging, I think, qualifies as publishing. If you see me out and about, though, I’ll be glad to show them to you on my phone once I’ve transferred the from my camera to my G photos account.

That said, I’ll try to convey my impressions from the perspective of a first time attendee:

The Course Is The Star

For all the talent that passes through Augusta National, and the thrills on the back nine on Sunday, the golf course really is the star. Augusta National is the brilliantly lit stage upon which the actors briefly perform before the curtains close and then open again the next year upon a new cast.

The stage, however, remains.

There was some talk on the television today about Gene Sarazen’s “shot heard ’round the world” on the fifteenth. That hole-out from 232 yards was ninety years ago. There also was discussion about the hole position on 16. It is in the same spot where Nicklaus buried a 40-footer in 1975, fifty years ago. The Sunday pin position on eighteen is in the same spot where Sandy Lyle and Phil Mickelson each made putts to win.

While the Open Championship, US Open and PGA Championship will from time to time return to courses upon which great matches were contested, Augusta National is special in that the Major returns year after year. Even if the course itself is also evolving, one can still see the bones of championships past.

Augusta National Is Hilly

Friends who had previously been to Augusta National (and one who has played it) all said that television does not accurately convey the course’s elevation changes. I went in expecting hilly terrain, and even then was surprised.

Nearly every hole had what I would consider a one- to three-club elevation change. My Garmin watch recorded nearly 800 feet in “total ascent.”

The drop on ten looks a lot like a ski hill’s “bunny slope,” diving more than a hundred feet downward over its 495 yard length. The eighth green is seventy feet above the tee. The eighteenth has fifty feet of elevation.

One description I read said that walking Augusta National is equivalent to walking forty flights of stairs in both directions.

Even that doesn’t accurately convey the sensation. I walk three to four rounds of golf a week — and add in two to three miles on non-golf days — and still thought it was a tough hike. I spent so much time going up and down that my calves were complaining all the next day.

I covered nearly seven miles in my trip around the course (my home course, Washtenaw, usually comes in around five miles with 400 feet of total ascent). My path at Augusta National would be shorter going down the middle of the fairways, but I also couldn’t walk from tee to green on the twelfth, or go back to the tee box on thirteen. I tried to stick as close as possible to the rope lines (which I could do on the less crowded practice round day).

I have tried to think of a course that I’ve played in Michigan with similar elevation changes on the holes, and the two that come to mind are the University of Michigan course and Black Lake (yes, I’ve walked Black Lake on a number of occasions).

The University courses is coincidentally an Alister MacKenzie design like Augusta National. It is much shorter (6, 765 yards vs 7, 555 yards) but still hilly.

Black Lake is a very different sort of course, but the elevation changes have a similar effect on the legs of walkers (or at least this walker). I think I’ll go back to walk Black Lake and the University course this summer to see what the “total ascent” is there.

The Bunkers Are Steep

I also was surprised at how steep the sides of many of the bunkers were. Again, the lens on television flattens things and really doesn’t convey the danger of being in the sand.

The Second Cut Is Friendly

Unlike a USGA setup, a ball off the fairway in the “second cut” is still likely to be in good shape. Offline balls on the practice round I saw were sitting pretty well. The real threat is a less than optimal angle — particularly when a tree is in the line.

That less dense second cut, however, also let balls roll out further into the treeline. Thicker grass would slow a ball down and stop it before rolling to a catastropic position

Some Random Hole Thoughts From My Notes

• The main scoreboard is at the bottom of a steep hill.
• There is a huge valley in front of the tee box on one that will likely never come into play for a pro. I would hit the face and have an uphill second.
• The shot downhill on the second is steeper than I thought.
• The routing flows very well. You can’t tell that from television as the camera jumps from hole to hole. There are several spots where the players have to walk back from green to tee instead of forward. That, I suspect, is the result of having to add yardage.
• Six is quite the downhill. Reminds me of the classic Up North Michigan downhill par 3.
• Nine’s dogleg is a sharper angle than it looks on television.
• The tee shot on ten just drops off a precipice. It looks a lot like a ski slope from above: the fairway heads out straight, and then just disappears from sight.
• Getting to eleven from ten is a bit of a walk. Again, that’s likely due to course lengthening. It also accounts for the tunnel like shot to the landing zone.
• The expanse from the twelfth green, through the thirteenth and the first couple of hundred yards on thirteen is basically one big fairway, roped off from the patrons. A golf writer friend said I should go to the back tee on thirteen, but I didn’t see any way to do that without getting gang tackled and banned from ever setting foot on the property again.
• Fourteen has a ton of mounding in front of the green. Again, tv doesn’t do it justice.
• There are a lot of blind shots off the tee at Augusta. Fourteen reminded me of that.
• Without the crowds, the tee shot on eighteen doesn’t look as intimidating.
• There’s an interesting confluence of holes on the hill where eighteen starts. To the left and slightly forward is the seventeenth green. A little in front of that is the eighth tee. The fourteenth green is behind and to the right. The fifteenth tee is also behind and to the right. Forward and to the left, down a hill is the tenth fairway.

We Need A Nap-Of-The-Earth Drone Flight of Augusta National

I’d really like to see a nap of the earth drone flight through the holes at Augusta National. A drone flying at about six feet above the earth would give a much better perspective of the course.

The Course Is Very Pretty

One thing that television does get correct is that Augusta National is a very pretty course. It is not just the flowering plants, the perfectly coiffed pine straw areas and the manicured trees. Those are extras.

What makes it pretty to me is the way the holes are framed by those trees, the curves of the landforms and the flashing of well-placed bunkers.

I once read a theory by an evolutionary psychologist that the reason we love golf couses is that they mimic the areas of transition from forest to meadows in which early humans thrived. If that’s the case, Augusta National has mastered the art (forgive the pun). All the while I was there, I just wanted to lie down in the shade of some of those trees and spend the rest of my day watching the wind rustle the leaves.

Disneyworld For Adults

An Augusta National volunteer (employee?) I talked to said that the property was “Disneyworld for Adults.”

She was not wrong in the sense that — like Disneyworld — the property has a carefully constructed and highly organized sense of perfection. Everything at Augusta National seemed measured and intentional. This also comes across on television.

How measured and intentional? After the practice rounds were over and all but a few had left for the par three contest, I saw groundskeepers raking up and replacing the pine straw around the trees.

Like Disneyworld, all of Augusta National’s processes seemed finely honed. The line into the souvenier shop appeared hopelessly long, but moved smoothly and efficiently. The turnstyles and badge checking were equally fast. Foot traffic flowed smoothly from one spot to the next.

Food operations on course were similarly efficient. Again, what looked like a long, snaking line moved expediently. My only disappointment was that the peach ice cream sandwiches were sold out.

My route to the course was well marked with signs and police directing traffic. Parking in the free lot between the North and South gates was expediently handled by attendants (although they parked me so close to the car in front that he couldn’t get his tailgate up. I had to back up a bit after the attendants left so he could get his stuff).

Another thing that reminded me of Disneyworld was that food and beverage and custodial operations were tucked in places largely out of sight of the patrons. Food appeared, and garbage removed unobtrusively. If you told me August National had underground tunnels through which logistics passed, I would believe it.

The staff also was unobtrusive. I talked to a crossing guard who said that they were taught to be conscious of where the cameras were pointing, and to stay out of view. He told the story of one guy a twenty years ago who waved at a camera and never returned.

Granted, I was there on the less populated practice round day, but everything I saw made me believe it would work equally well on the final round Sunday.

The Prices For Food You See On Social Media Are Accurate

Yes, the prices are actually the same as you have seen on social media. I had a friend message me to ask, and I confirmed.

The egg salad and pimento cheese sandwiches were $1.50 each. A pork BBQ was $3. Beer was $6.

Compared to other sporting events — including other golf tournaments, those are ridiculously low.

The Pimento Cheese and Egg Sandwiches Are Good

I like a pimento cheese sandwich, and even have my own pimento cheese recipe. The pimento cheese at The Masters is very good. I ate two.

The pimento cheese spread was a little “thinner” than others I have eaten. It had a hint of onion, a bit of a tang from the pimentos, and some other little bit of kick I couldn’t identify.

I am not, however, a fan of egg salad. I actively dislike eggs. In the name of science, however, I tried one. It was actually pretty good, in that I didn’t hate it. If you like egg salad, I think you’d really like it.

The No Cell Phone Policy Is Great

Augusta National is serious about its no cellphone policy. They’ve even got a little house just ouside the gates to collect phones from people who forget to leave them in their cars.

Without the distraction of phones and other electronic devices, Augusta National’s patrons are forced to be present. And that’s a good thing. We should all strive to be more present at all times.

I did, however, find that I wanted my phone — not to check it, but to adjust my hearing aids. I had them adjsted to a general setting, which is fine in most cases. However, during the Golf Writers annual meeting, I wanted to change them to a lecture hall setting.

Visiting Augusta Is Well Worth A Trip

If you are a pro golf fan, and can make the trip, I think visiting Augusta National is well worth it. The course looks very different in person than on television, and will give you a different perspective on the tournament.

Now to figure out a way to actually play there.