April 6, 2007
This will be the first of two installments of The Master's Diary with UTPA head men's golf coach Andrew Tredway
Thursday - April 5, 2007 (Round One)
I have been excited for weeks about finally getting a chance to step foot on Augusta National. People who know golf know that it's the toughest ticket in all of sports to get your hands on.
I've been blessed enough to have a great friend in Ben Crane, who graciously invited me to stay in their private houses (complete with a personal chef I might add) with his family and friends. We've been buddies since college, and I've caddied and helped him with his game in the past. This week I'm here as a friend and just to enjoy hanging out after the rounds.
Augusta National isn't quite like I pictured. It's very compact and squeezed together. You don't feel packed in, but the property itself isn't all that big. For example: 9 and 18 green are literally 20 yards apart. I've watched The Master's on TV since I was 9 years old and can recall every Master's winner, the year they won, and the defining shot(s) that they hit. It's amazing to actually see those spots in person. Tiger's chip in on 16; Larry Mize's chip on 11 in '87; and Jack's back nine run in 1986. Great shots just etched in my memory.
Ben was paired with Jeev Singh and Shaun Micheel. It was his first 18 holes of golf in five weeks because of his back injury. He kind of struggled early, but I was so proud of the way he grinded at the end. He's always done this, but it was awesome to see it on this kind of stage.
It was also fun watching Jeev Singh play because I actually played against him in the past down in Australia, and he's obviously improved a lot. He was leading through nine holes so he's doing something right.
Ben starts early on Friday, and he probably needs to shoot about two-under to make the cut. The greens are crazy fast, and they are talking about this being the toughest this course has ever played. Some of these pins are literally cut four paces from the edge, but with a huge slope two paces from the pin. You basically have five-to-six feet on two sides of the pin before it feeds off the green. You definitely can't see how severe the pin placements are on TV.
Being around the best players in the world always reminds me of one thing: they know how to be comfortable and focus when it's such a big deal. They still miss-hit shots all over the place, but they've got incredible short games and have course management skills that are that much better than the next level of elite players.
The first day of The Master's has been a blast so I'll be sure to give another diary at the conclusion fo the second day of competition.