What It's Like to Play Augusta National the Monday After the Masters
They say the Masters doesn’t start until the back nine on Sunday. Well, for me, my Masters continued right up to 11:20 a.m. ET on Monday morning when I had the honor of playing Augusta National less than 24 hours after the final putt dropped.
Here’s my story about the day of a lifetime.
To add some context, media on site for the week have the option to enter a lottery and this year 28 individuals were drawn to play the course on Monday. On Friday afternoon, an announcement over the press building speakers declared that the winning names were on the display screen downstairs. Myself and my colleague Jeff Ritter stood halfway up the stairs and watched as the first screen rolled by and then ... there it was, my name on the bottom of the second screen. I got chills then and got them again just writing this.
Sunday morning we received our tee times in true Augusta fashion, an envelope with a formal invitation. My tee time was set for 11:20 a.m. with arrival at 10:20 and not a minute sooner.
This will be framed in my office in short order.
Augusta National, being Augusta National, delivered formal invitations for media playing the Monday rounds.
As my regular golf buddies will attest, I have a habit of pulling into the parking lot five minutes prior to my tee time, taking two practice swings and away we go. That was not going to be the case on Masters Monday.
I pulled into Magnolia Lane seconds after the clock struck 10:20 a.m. and the officer at the gate joked “15 under is the number today, go get ‘em.” I responded with a subpar joke and down Magnolia Lane I went, as slowly as my rental car would allow, head swiveling left then right, then back again. I thought about the iconic players who had made this same drive, and after finally feeling I had soaked it in (and to avoid creating a Magnolia Lane traffic jam) around the drive I went.
Next came breakfast, which was set up inside the Champions Dinner room. Augusta National does not waste time as I noticed the group photo from Tuesday’s dinner hosted by Hideki Matsuyama was already framed and on display. Following breakfast I made my way into the Champions locker room to get changed. Everything is very intimate in the clubhouse, smaller than one would think with a piece of history at just about every turn. My locker belonged to Charl Schwartzel and Seve Ballesteros. Charl, if you happen to read this, you left a piece of mail behind which I left untouched.
So then I was off to the range. A golf cart took me from the clubhouse to the range and I thought back to the throngs of patrons that awaited Tiger Woods there each morning last week. This was a much quieter scene, and I met my caddie, Kelly, on the range. After about 25 swings working my way from wedge to driver I headed over to the practice green to roll a few putts. Before departing I hit three 50 footers and the last two putts dripped in. I thought to myself two things: my caddie definitely thinks I’m far better than I actually am, and I surely hope I didn’t use up all my good putts on the practice green.
Then I was off to the first tee, where we played the member tees, which measure 6,365 yards. I thought part of the Augusta National experience was to play a shot from the pine straw and I wasted no time doing that, finding the left trees off the opening tee. Five shots later it was an opening double bogey and we were off.
Every golfer is familiar with the classic scenario where you’re on a par 5 and you’re close enough that it warrants waiting, so you wait for the green to clear while the group behind you watches, only to top it 100 yards from where you stand. Well, that’s exactly what I did on No. 2. This left me 75 yards in and I flipped a wedge that caught the famous slope towards the right pin and left me eight feet for birdie. A good read from Kelly and a serviceable stroke added up to my first birdie at Augusta National and I’m not sure my feet hit the ground on the way to No. 3.
At the third I was sure to look left and notice where Scottie Scheffler completely shifted the momentum on Sunday with his chip-in birdie. I can safely say that given 500 attempts at that same shot, not once would I have pulled off what he did.
I continued through the front nine with a smile on my face the entire way, never having been in a better mood on a golf course. Another birdie at No. 8 and I had two circles on the card along with plenty of squares.
Off to the second nine I went, sending a drive sailing down the hill with a nice draw just like the pros do. That’s where the pro comparisons ended on No. 10, as I clunked my next one through the fairway bunker, giving me even more of an appreciation for the severity of the sidehill lies. Up and down for par and it was off to Amen Corner.
No. 11 is the perfect blend of scenery and difficulty. I took a moment to look back at the tees where the pros play and it's such a hike that I could have hit a sand wedge from our tees to the back. Our caddies walked ahead and I gave them a scare with a heely cut right over their heads. I avoided the pond on the left but walked to No. 12 with a double bogey.
At the 12th we waited for about 10 minutes as the group ahead strolled over Hogan Bridge. When the time came, I took the anti-Cam Smith approach, launching my shot well over the green and into the flower bed behind the green. It never had a chance of dropping into Rae’s Creek, but it never threatened the green either. Up and down after taking an unplayable meant a bogey.
Far and away the highlight of my round came at 14, when I brought my approach off the back slope two inches from the cup for a gimme birdie at Augusta, something I certainly was not planning on experiencing when I arrived a week prior. This marked my third birdie of the day and would be my last. Every step of the way around the second nine I continued to gaze around and think of the history that had unfolded here over the years. The roars at Augusta are like nothing else but the peaceful quiet making my way around the second nine was like a religious experience.
At the 16th my tee shot found the "Tiger spot" where he famously delivered perhaps golf history's most dramatic chip-in. To this day the clip is played dozens of times throughout broadcasts and of course was on my mind as I played my second with a very different result. Together, Tiger and I walked away from that spot with a combined score of six. I'll leave the math to you.
At the penultimate hole, I found the right trees — a common enough theme that my caddie pointed out an Augusta National feature I never would have noticed. Each tree is tagged at the bottom with it's own number. While many can recite the names of all 18 holes at Augusta, the bonus round now is can you name each tree's number?
Finally came the walk up 18. The leaderboard remained as it was on Sunday afternoon with Scottie Scheffler’s name three clear of Rory McIlroy. I was drawn back to the excitement Rory and Collin Morikawa had delivered Sunday afternoon, both holing out their bunker shots. For me, a different tale as I took two more shots to get out of the left bunker than they did combined.
Three putts later (one less than the Masters champion, I might add) I strolled off the green, turned at the top of the hill and soaked it all in one last time. There is truly something magical about this place and to be able to have hit some of the same shots the legends of the game have played – and many more that they didn’t – is a memory I’ll carry with me for the rest of my life.