The Masters, Augusta National. Wednesday Practice Day

Well after over 30 years of watching it on TV and dreaming about being there, it has finally happened.  I am at Augusta.

You have visions of what it will be like, and people tell you that it is a lot more undulating than you think.  It is very rare in this world to have such a high expectation, and then have it turn out to be far better than you expect.



The view of the chipping greens as you walk in the gate.

Security is higher than at LAX, no phones, but cameras were OK today.  I made the most of it, and got to all parts of the course taking nearly 400 photos.  Hopefully some of them are alright.

Looking up the first fairway.  This is how you reserve your spot.  Buy a chair, put your name on it, leave it where you like, and come back to it when you like.  Nobody touches it, nobody sits in it.  There are only a handful on grandstands on the course, as it has an amphitheatre effect to it that is astonishing.

We have another two days here, without the ability to take any more photos, so I will drip feed them in over the next few days.  Today I will focus on the activities of the day.  Some of the big guns were out early, and we caught up with them through Amen corner and on the 16th.

Tiger Woods firing one in at the 12th.  You will notice the black mesh on many tees.  This is used to define the "practice" tees, and protect the tournament tee areas.

As part of the practice routine, the players will hit multiple shots around the greens, working the ball to positions where the pin will be on future days.

Tiger and Freddie Couples pitching around the 15th.



Keegan Bradley approaching the 12th



Rory McIlroy hitting to the 12th

 After watching a few go through Amen corner, Paul Wright (Director of Golf Victoria GC) and I made our way to 16.  We hopped up into the grandstand to get a good look and the players working around 15 green, and hitting into 16.



The view toward the 16th green

Not long after we were in position, along came Bubba.

Bubba on 16.

Bubba teed off first, the ball flying slightly right of the pin, pitched and grabbed about 4 feet above and right of the front left pin.

And in it goes!  The crowd erupted for Bubba's hole in one.  Bubba celebrated with playing partners, then gave high fives all around the tee.



And the celebration continues all the way up to the green.



No need for the putter today

Speaking of Bubba, some of you may remember this location from 2012.

This is where Bubba was in the playoff against Louis Oosthuisen last year.

140 metres out, using a 52 degree gap wedge, having to get it up through the gap, and then hook it 40 metres.  Super impressive!

Wednesday is a day where the players are quite interactive with the "patrons".  Especially in the Par 3 tournament.  One of the key interactions on the course proper, is the players responding to the crowd and skimming balls across the pond at 16.



Keegan Bradley, Tiger Woods, and Fred Couples participating in a little syncronised skimming.

 The Par 3 event is played in the afternoon.  The players have wives, girlfriends or children caddy for them, and often have them hit some shots.  It is also where we see some of the older past champions come to play.



Arnold Palmer warming up in one of the cabins.

One of the groups for the Par 3 had a combined 13 Masters victories.  This was Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player.

No player that has won the Par 3 tournament has ever gone on to win the Masters in the same year.



One of the holes on the Par 3 course.

Ted Potter Jr., a Masters rookie, sank a 15-foot birdie putt on the second hole of a sudden death playoff, beating Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar to win the Par 3 Contest after a record setting five-way tie in regulation.  The playoff consisted of Potter, Mickelson, Kuchar along with Nick Watney (who had a hole in one during his round) and Ernie Els. 


Another of the Par 3 holes.

 Well that is enough for one day, I will put up some of the more picturesque shots over the next couple of days.  Lets hope we can get an Aussie over the line this year.

Osprey Point

Our final day on Kiawah Island sees us playing at the Tom Fazio designed Osprey Point.  An early start as we travel to Augusta after our game today.

As soon as we started, I could see that scoring would be hot today.  All the trouble was well in view, and clearly to the side of the fairway the majority of the time.  The greens were a good speed, and not grainy.  Our handicapping system, which has helped on the more difficult courses, will mean some high points scores.

It is interesting to see a resort that has courses designed by different people, and comparing how they play.  The Pete Dye courses are quite difficult, and have very penal bunkering and water hazards.  Fazio has a bunkering style of his own, but he is nowhere near as punishing as Dye.

Dick Kirby holed a bunker shot on the 8th hole for his second birdie in a row, taking him on his way to 47 points.

I promise no more alligator shots, but Osprey Point is riddled with them.  Here are four of the sunning themselves in the pond next to the clubhouse.

A very pretty course, and very playable.  Enjoyed by all but did not draw the superlatives of the Ocean course.

No shortage of 10 million dollar holiday houses here either.

Janice Kirby in action.

I mentioned that Dick Kirby scored 47 points today.  I also mentioned that the scoring would be hot.  We had multiple scores in the 40's, but it was Coralie Cazaly who got eveything to click today firing an astonishing 53 points!  Prepare for some re handicapping prior to Pinehurst.

We are off to Augusta now.  I can't wait.

Kiawah Island Ocean

Someone must have been listening to my no wind request. We arrived at the Ocean course with clear blue skies, and not a breath of wind.  Now today was going to be fun.
They don't do things by half around here, the clubhouse is massive and has been built to be hurricane proof.

Today we had caddies, and we walked to Ocean course.  The caddies certainly work hard, they were on theri second round for the day, and carry two bags at a time.  Ian & Alva, our caddies, were great young guys, and added to the experience.

As we have mentioned previously, the Ocean course has hosted the 1991 Ryder Cup, the 2007 Senior PGA Championship, and the 2012 PGA Championship.

The trees here are gnarled and many have been shaped by the prevailing wind from the Atlantic Ocean.

Both nines are different, with the second nine heading along the Atlantic.  Both having plenty of marshy swamp land, and water hazards.

Below is the 13th hole, the building you see at the end of the hole is the residents' beach club.

There are vast areas of sandy wasteland, so much so that all sand areas are declared not to be hazards.  In any sandy waste or bunker, you may take a practice swing and ground your club.

Looking back to the clubhouse on hole 16.

 Looking at the 17th green over the water.

Another view of the 17th from behind the green.

Looking across the sandy wasteland back to the clubhouse on the last hole.

Today's winner Peter Lucas, who scored 36 points, firing a drive down the 16th hole.  John MacKenzie performed well today and scored 40 points, but was disqualified for taking performance enhancing drugs.  Or it could have been that he had already won this week.  We like the drugs story.

 The group sitting on the deck of the clubhouse in preparation for our "low country" group dinner.

Today was a special day for one member of the group.  It was Lorraine Mance's birthday today.  Alan Mance is pictured here speaking to the group wishing Lorraine a happy birthday.

We play our final course at Kiawah in the morning, Osprey Point.  After golf we make the 4 hour journey to Augusta Georgia, ready for the Masters.

Turtle Point

Sunday saw us make the three hour drive north up to Kiawah Island.  What an impressive place this is.  The hotel is grand and palatial and as we headed down to the Turtle Point course we realised that the courses are in the same mode.  The clubhouse at Turtle Point is magnificent.

Turtle Point is a Jack Nicklaus course, and certainly has a Jack Nicklaus feel.

The conditioning was great, and playability was very good.  The biggest challenge that we faced was the extremely grainy greens.

We thought that the Alligators we had seen previously were impressive, well Turtle Point should be renamed Alligator Point.  This one below was just out soaking up the sunshine, and was huge. If you look closely you can see Dick Kirby's Titleist sitting next to his tail.  Not sure why Dick didn't play this one. 

Strategy plays a big role here, and the decision when to attack or lay up needs to be made quite regularly.

The course swings out to the ocean on 14, 15 & 16. As it does you can see some of the smaller properties here on Kiawah. 

Jeff Faure is pictured below firing his approach to 2 feet on the par 3 14th, just in front of a couple of these extravagant holiday houses.  Jeff went on to record 37 points.

The view down the 15th hole is also very impressive.  The Atlantic ocean on your left, $200 million of housing on your right.

It was Nola Faure who took the title today at Turtle Point, scoring a very impressive 42 points. Well done Nola.  Tomorrow we are off to the Ocean course.  I hope it's not windy!!

Harbour Town

We were met with a beautiful Sunny day for our round at Harbour Town today.  It was our day one champion John MacKenzie, who led the field away.

This certainly was a step up in quality from yesterday.  A very impressive layout, beautifully manicured, very narrow from the tee with small hard greens.

Today all groups had a forecaddie.  The forecaddie provides assistance with your line from the tee, and information about the hole.  He then runs down the fairway and watches where all the balls finish.  he gives yardage information and assistance at the green.  Our forecaddie Gary was brilliant, and was very helpful.

Much like Augusta, large areas of the rough are actually pine needles.  The lie in these needles can be quite unstable, making clean contact quite difficult.

Being a sunny day the wildlife was out in force again, on nearly all of the lakes there were turtles sunbaking on the emabnkments, and of course also sunbaking were our alligator friends.  Joe Dason found this one on his way to his approach shot.

The hardest hole on the course is hole 12, very tight from the tee and then you are faced with an unusually shaped green with a massive bunker that has all of its faces lined with sleepers.

After negotiating the 12th, you are faced with this shot.  The par 3 13th.  Anything right of the flag ends up in the water, and if you bail out left, then it is nearly impossible to hold the green with your pitch shot.  I think Pete Dye was a bit grumpy when he designed this section of the course.

The tournament infrastructure is starting to take shape, and many holes had grandstands and marquees set up on them.  Coralie Cazaly is pictured here approaching the Par 5 15th.

The last three holes change from the early structure, as they head out towards Calibogue Sound.  Don't hit it right on 17 or you are in the grandstand.

One of the most famous images in tournament golf is the lighthouse behind the 18th green.  Here is the view from the 18th tee.

The winner today was Jenny Lucas, who scored a magnificent 40 points.  Jenny (pictured below) teamed with Pam MacKenzie (36pts) to comfortably defeat their husbands in their match today.

We head off to Kiawah Island in the morning and play Turtle point in the afternoon.