My Day at the Masters’ Tuesday Practice Round

I wanted to share, not as a humble brag, my day at the Masters.

• I was lucky enough to be invited to Wednesday's practice round in 2015. I've been in the lottery for 20+ years and finally won this year. I flew my dad in and we were able to see together in-person, something we watched together every spring for 18 years. I brought a co-worker who is a lifelong golf junkie, but never had the means/opportunity to attend.
• We used our hotel's shuttle bus to drop us off at the taxi lot. We arrived around 7:10AM. By then, the line to the North Gate was easily 1/3rd-mile long. Once the gates opened at 7:30AM, the line began moving intermittently. They meter entry as to not overwhelm security. Everyone is exceptionally polite and welcoming from the line attendants to the security staff.
• We walked in past the driving range and media facilities. The line to the merchandise shop was halfway down the driving range, topped off by a guy holding a sign saying "90-minute wait from here". Hard pass.
• We watched Hideki Matsuyama on the range, and then headed to #10. Having walked it before, I knew what I was in for, but seeing my dad look down the 130+ foot drop was fun. As everyone says, TV doesn't do it justice. Everyone was putting to 5 different potential pin locations.
• Amen Corner was not busy, so we had nearly-front row seats in the elevated gallery behind #12 tee. We watched guys work their way through 11-13. Marty Smith and his big-head/small-suit combo was interviewing golfers.
• We watched Keegan, Hideki, and Rory tee off on 13. Rory was playing solo, but was following the young Tom McKibbin. Rory was out-driving everyone by 20-30 yards.
• We popped over to 14 to watch the guys hit their approaches, then crossed to 15 to watch them all come back. The second shot on 15 is one of my favorites. The guys were dropping balls in the fairway, targeting the different typical pin positions. A group next to us chirped Rory, trying to get him to come drop a ball near us and replicate last year's magical 7-iron. Rory gave us a smile and nod.
• We crossed 17 and made our way up to the #7 green… arguably one of the best greens in the world. We watched Gary Woodland get some practice in in several of the bunkers. From our spots, you could see players coming down #2 (top 5 par 5 in the world), teeing off on 8, and teeing off on 3.
• Next up was lunch at the concession area between #8 and #18. For a group of 3, we each had a sandwich, a drink, a side, and a beer. The total was $32.
• We watched the UGA golfers (Harris English, Sepp Straka, and Mason Howell) tee off. Straka is built like a tank. Howell can't weigh more than his bag. The sound the ball made off his driver was insane. The chute to get to 18 fairway can't be 20 yards wide. Insanely narrow from behind the tee.
• We made our way up #18 and sat at #9 green for quite a while. We saw a ton of groups come in.
  • Haotong Li hits it a mile… easily 30-50 yards past the other guys in his group.
  • Fifa Laopakadee nearly drilled us, hitting the camera stand behind us. He dropped another ball and hit a guy in the back on the opposite side of the green. He walks up and says to his caddie "that camera stand is so small; pretty impressive I hit it, eh?". His caddie said "Two feet from the pin like the other guys would have been impressive, boss".
  • Colin Morikawa's approach easily went 20' higher than everyone else's. The dude is simply a Top 3 iron player in the world. His shot was 170 yards, uphill, to a pin 6' off the back edge and he hit it to 3'. The ball bounced once and checked-up so quickly.
• We watched Scottie, Jordan Spieth, Sergio, Bubba, and several others on the putting green. The tech and tools they use are insane. For a half-dozen golfers on the green, there were just as many caddies, coaches, analysts, managers, etc.
• The area around the clubhouse is insanely busy. People-watching is prime time.
• By the time we were wrapping up (4PM), the line to the merchandise venue was about 30 minutes. While very organized, it was still chaotic. The merch is all high quality and reasonably priced, until you get to the items co-branded with Peter Millar, etc. Masters' Tech shirts are $50-$80, PM-branded goods are $180-$240.
• We made our way back to the taxi lot. The attendants called the hotel on our behalf to send the van and gave us small bottles of water.

You can't replicate the level of generosity and care provided by the staff, or their demeanor. Every staff member or volunteer asked how we were enjoying our day, was it our first time, what was our favorite sight, etc. In the restrooms, the attendants were on their best game. The stalls were lining up and one attendant playfully shouted "There's a line growing out here guys. I know y'all aren't on your phones. Let's get moving!" We chatted with volunteers minding the ropes and they all had stories, recommendations, and other fun insights.

We did see one groundskeeping blemish. On 14 fairway, a reel mower skinned the lip of one of the drainage grates creating a 12" x 6" semi-bald spot. I'd drop the overall rating to 4 starts out of 5.

I've been blessed enough to attend twice. I genuinely wish everyone gets to attend at least once, especially someone that shares the love of the game.