Patron for a day

It's Masters week my people! One of the most anticipated weeks of the year and this time I was there to witness the magic live and in person. Talk about starting the week off right. I had not been this excited since...wait...I don't think I had ever been this excited.

Under the "big oak tree" behind the clubhouse...apparently this is where the magic happens. By magic I mean interviews, business deals, famous people, etc.

Thanks to Lucy's guidance (my GPS) we made great time. We hit the road at 6:00am on the dot and got there right at 8:00. Weather was nice and cool, low traffic, short lines, free parking and what better time to watch Tiger Woods and Freddie Couples swing off the morning dew at Augusta National during Masters week?

The entrance was like a security checkpoint at the Atlanta Airport. Metal detectors and bag checks everywhere, good thing we traveled light. But once you get past that, boy are you in for a treat.

The place is remarkable. The course itself is unreal. Television does not do it any justice. The elevation changes, wow! I mean the place is sooo hilly. Bobby Jones had it right when he bought the former indigo plantation back in the day. Although, he wasn't right when he said "all players shall be white and all caddies shall be black." Guess who's rolling over on his grave?

Speaking of rolling over...I rolled over on the grass a bunch. That grass was so comfortable. I even took a nap on hole 9.

This isn't hole 9, but it was fun to roll around in this huge grassy area.

Going back to golf course talk...Every single structure blends into the nature of the grounds. Restrooms, concessions, golf shop, ATM machines, phones...Basically everything on site is green and brown. That’s all you'll see. I absolutely loved that...the cleanliness and natural beauty of the place is like no other.

Now I understand why some say it's like another world in there. One is truly stepping into hallowed grounds.

Other people say: "oh the place is so fake"..."they spend $5 million on maintenance and that's not realistic"..."they only have 300 members and the course is only open 5 months out of the year" and yadayadayada...But I say, so what? Walt Disney World has a huge puppet mouse walking around hugging little kids and nobody ever said he was fake.

Azaleas hadn't bloomed yet, but that's oka. It was truly a great opportunity and I'm just glad I experienced the highly venerated grounds, live and in person. Karen on the other hand, took a piece of Augusta National with her. Her life long dream of stealing a divot came true as we were walking out. One of the divot filling maintenance crew members threw a divot out in a trash bin, but little did he know that Karen had been watching him like a hawk. As soon as he tossed the divot that girl flew to the trash bin, grabbed it and put it in her zip lock bag that already contained other botanical assortments from Augusta National GC.

All in all, great times were had. To my golf buddies and family members from the island of enchantment: your presence was truly missed. We have to plan another golf trip ASAP.

Stay tuned...Next stop: The Players @ TPC Sawgrass.

Ciao for now.

LD

PS: More pics on facebook

Sneak Peek: The Masters

Magnolia Lane

Overthinking on Easter Sunday

I had a great Easter Sunday! My friend/boss/die hard golf fan Karen is visiting from PR so we spent the day hanging around Athens. It was kind of sad she came on a day where 1) all the stores were closed because of the holiday and 2) they didn't start selling alcohol until 12:30. Good thing we went to brunch at noon so we only had to wait around for our mimosas for 30 mins...Worth the wait...it was good times.

Note to self: I cannot go to brunch on a date! I ate so much at Porterhouse! Omelet, eggs benedict, bacon, potatoes, lamb, salmon, olives...on yeah and salad. It's the hungover person's dream. At least we took a good walk around downtown afterward...I was able to burn off some of the calories (at least that's what I keep telling myself).

Then we came back to the apt and took a much needed nap. When we woke up, guess what? It was time to eat again so we grabbed a bottle of wine and headed over to Cali & Tito's for some hors devours. Fun times.

That's when our overthinking began. we are headed to the Masters tomorrow (or today, depending on when you are reading this) so we had to establish our plan of attack. We discussed things such as:

Karen: How do we steal a divot? I brought a zip lock bag, but I have to throw out the platanutres in them.

LD: Ummm, I have zip lock bags here.

Karen: De las grandes?

LD: Do I want to just bring my camera by itself or in the case?

LD: Should we buy stuff in the morning to avoid rush hour or in the afternoon so we don't have to carry everything around?

Both: Autographs, do or don't?

LD: What are you going to wear? Should I wear long pants or shorts? Is it going to be cold in the morning?

LD: What time are we waking up? We definitely want to be there by 8.

LD: Are you showering first?

LD: Do you think Tiger will remember our first kiss when he sees me?

Karen: What time do they start selling beer?

We basically talked about the things 2 people traveling to "hallowed grounds" for the first time would discuss. We are very excited to say the least. Wish us luck!

Peace out,

LD