Friday, May 16, 2008

Day Three - Moving Day


MOVING DAY!! For those of you who don’t watch the Golf Channel religiously, every Saturday is moving day. It is the day players movie as much up the leader board as possible in order to be in contention to win on Sunday. After the Running of the Bulls, which was not as hectic for us today, because we only wanted to put our chairs on hole 9, which is a great hole to watch players hit their shots into the green. Again, we were fabulously blessed with a great spot, second row behind the pin. After we put our chairs down we walked to hole four. A tricky par three with grand stand seating where you can watch players tee off, putt, and tee off on hole 5. As we made our way to hole four the weather started to cool down and the rain clouds moved in. My dad and I went to the golf shop and bought an umbrella, some breakfast and continued to make our way to whole 4. I brought a pair of rain pants and a rain jacket, but I did not pack them in the car this morning since I did not think it would rain. Boy was I wrong! After the first group teed off it began to rain really hard, and everyone in the grand stand took out their umbrellas, and I am sure it was a site to see on TV, since you could only see the tops of the umbrellas and not the people. The rain was on and off through out the day and when each player would come everyone would lower their umbrellas causing the accumulated water on each umbrella to dump on the unsuspecting patron next to or in front of them. After about four groups had passed the rain became worse and the bull horn sounded and a suspension of play was called. The grandstand cleared and everyone rand to find shelter. It was quite cold, but thankfully the rain was warm and did not do to much damage to the course. We waited about 30 minutes and suspension of play was cancelled and everyone went back to their chairs. After a bit of walking around we returned to our chairs on the 9th hole and I was not surprised to find our chair soaking wet. I bought lunch before we sat down and placed our plastic bags on our chair so our butts would not get wet, but I did not think of covering our entire chairs to protect our backs from getting wet. So, after a while of sitting in the cold with my back side soaked I decided to go and buy a blanket because the sun had disappeared, the wind picked up, and we still had at least five hours to go before we left. I bought my blanket, walked back to my chair and began to unwrap the blanket and I looked up at the person that was sitting behind me and it was Carolyn Bivens! I definitely felt my heart skip a beat. We looked at each other and I began to talk to her. I told her that I thought I saw her earlier in the week and I surprised to find her standing right behind my chair! I then told her that I was excited about the improvements she was making, and she was quick to say thank you and add that I would probably be the first one to let her know once I was unhappy with something that she did. We both laughed and I continued to tell her about what I am interested in and if she had any names at the LPGA that I could contact for some advice. She was surprisingly very helpful and gave me a few names at the LPGA. She was really nice, relaxed, and I wish I could have lunch with her and just pick her brain. She is an amazing woman and I cant wait to see what else she does with the LPGA. After we talked I wrapped my self in my blanket like a burrito and enjoyed the rest of the day.

Thursday, May 8, 2008

Day 2


Friday started off the same way the other two days did, the running of the bulls was as crazy as yesterday, except today my mom was with us and we wanted to put our chairs down on hole 16 again. There are so many gates leading into Augusta National, and there is a gate right behind hole 16, so those who line up at that gate get a better spot than those who have to come all the way over from the main entrance of the course, so we thought. The tournament organizers roped off specific areas that were designated for chairs only, and we were lucky enough to be in the second row of seats right in front of the pin location for that day, which was a great spot. Many players tried to go for the pin, but since the pin was in a tight location we only saw two or three birdies the whole day. It was fun to have the players come so close that you could hear the conversations they were having with their caddies about the slope and speed of the greens. I sat with my parents until lunch had passed and I walked to hole four to meet up with one of my favorite players Justin Rose. He was tied for the lead with four under after the first day, which was a great start. When I saw him tee off yesterday I noticed that he has a swing just like my swing coach Kris! I was really excited about that, so I decided to follow him today and learn about his swing, pre-shot routines, and putting strokes. I followed him through hole 12 and met up with my parents again who were watching Tiger Woods on hole 13. We went back to our chairs and watched the rest of the field come in on hole 16. The last group came through and we packed up and made our way to our car. Normally the flow of traffic has not been a problem, but for what ever reason today the traffic cops made our side wait over 45 minutes before they would allow traffic to flow through to the main street. Cars were honking trying to change to the right lane so they could make a turn onto the main road going in the opposite direction and then make a U-turn when possible so they could go the direction they originally wanted. Eventually after an hour of siting in traffic we made it home just in time to watch Golf Central. We practically ate, slept, and breathed golf everyday that we were in Augusta, which is basically something I do on a daily basis any way, but it was nice to see that my parents were joining in on my obsession, even though it would only last for a week.