They’re the long-lasting pictures that each golf fan remembers, the marvellous Masters moments at Augusta that depart mere mortals awestruck.
Contemplate Bubba Watson’s banana bender across the nook from deep within the woods in 2012 to win the inexperienced jacket from Louis Oosthuizen, who himself conjured a miracle when scoring an albatross on the par 5 second gap named Pink Dogwood.
Because the commentator intoned, “This one might be very good. Oh ‘Come to papa’. YEEESSS”.
There’s the chip shot in the course of the 1987 playoff on the eleventh, named White Dogwood, from Larry Mize that broke the guts of Greg Norman and plenty of Australians.
Assume the tee shot from Jack Nicklaus on 16 within the 1986 Masters. And Tiger Woods on the identical gap 33 years later that successfully helped him seal a win for the ages in 2019.
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Over the following week, as this yr’s area seeks to enter the annals of the well-known match, these spine-tingling moments will likely be replayed in all their glory in the course of the reside protection.
About 18 hours after the Masters is full, one other group lives their childhood goals, with extra mortal members of the media granted entry to the course by way of a poll.
It’s pot luck, with the writers receiving discover on the weekend of their success. They’re required to attend a particular briefing, pay heed to each guideline related to their invitation after which set forth on Monday on {the golfing} journey of a lifetime.
Conscious that many Australians who watch The Masters are common golfers, foxsports.com.au determined to ask a fortunate quartet what it was prefer to reside out the fantasy spherical.
The challenges abound, not least as a result of the pins are left in the identical place as they have been within the championship spherical on Sunday.
Securing golf golf equipment is usually a trick. So too sneakers. Avoiding the temptations on the well-known Tbonz Steakhouse which caters to followers and gamers alike after the 72nd is up there as effectively. Then there may be the duty of discovering a driver accountable sufficient to comply with the strict tips of the Augusta Golf Membership to make sure you arrive on time.
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Information Corp Australia journalist Julian Linden, Martin Blake from Golf Australia, Queensland Reds media man Jim Tucker and AAP scribe Darren Walton clarify what it’s prefer to play Augusta as a daily golfer, from the misleading digital camera angles to beers earlier than Hogan’s Bridge, from utilizing the locker of a champion to utilizing the amenities heading in the right direction.
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Julian Linden (2011)
Information Corp Australia
First course: Bathurst Golf Membership
Main course: Wollongong Golf Membership
Handicap: N/A
Rating: Didn’t rating
For a second on Julian Linden’s first go to to Augusta in 2011, he was on the cusp of the best sporting expertise an Australian golf fan may think about.
Based mostly in New York on the time as Sports activities Editor for the Americas for Reuters, Linden’s good mate Larry Superb had entered him within the poll for Augusta and, to his astonishment, his fortunate quantity got here up.
However by means of to the 72nd gap on an spine-tingling Sunday, the chance lingered that Linden is likely to be about to report on an Australian first as Adam Scott and Jason Day launched dynamic bids to safe the Inexperienced Jacket.
“One of many difficult bits about successful the poll is that you’re so enthusiastic about taking part in the course, it’s nearly exhausting to focus on the ultimate spherical of the Masters, which you might be alleged to be protecting,” Linden stated.
“It was a day when Adam Scott and Jason Day each made an amazing cost and I feel they teed off on the 71st gap as co-leaders. So I believed all of my chickens have been coming house to roost, however that was the yr that Charles Schwartzel reeled off birdies on the final 4 holes to win.
“So whereas I used to be excited, there was additionally an air of disappointment as a result of I had been so near seeing an Aussie win, an Aussie break that drought. It was like, ‘Oh no, the Masters curse continues.’”
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The Bathurst bulldog was so unprepared for the prospect of really taking part in at Augusta that he was compelled to supply every part earlier than his spherical on the Monday morning.
He opted towards drowning his sorrow on the near-miss by Scott and Day at Tbonz and was in mattress fairly early awaiting a 7am alarm and a splash to an area golf membership to rent golf equipment, buy golf golf equipment and supply appropriate clothes for the spherical of a lifetime.
“Each different day as a journalist, you are available by means of the general public entry, which is on one other highway, however when you will have a ticket to Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Manufacturing unit, you come up the driveway of Magnolia Lane … and it’s like driving to the White Home. It’s phenomenal,” he stated.
“If you win the lottery, you get to make use of the Champions Locker Room, the place the place solely Tiger Woods and Jack Nicklaus and Nick Faldo, whoever, are allowed into, so it’s a tremendous privilege.”
After having fun with a southern breakfast, Linden stated, gamers head to the observe fairway, the place their caddy, golf equipment and a pyramid of 100 balls are ready.
Ready on the first tee is the membership chairman, who welcomes the gamers and poses for pictures.
Gamers nonetheless feeling peckish after breakfast, or seedy after a later end at Tbonz, can order steak sandwiches or burgers at completely different stops and having fun with a beer or two whereas taking part in is way from frowned on.
Images for social media are a no-go however private pictures are allowed, so too any which may characteristic in a information article in regards to the expertise.
“It’s such an expertise you need to do every part when you can and it will get to the purpose the place there are a few holes with bathrooms on there and also you need to go simply to see what they’re like. Not surprisingly, even the bathrooms are magnificent,” Linden stated.
“I’m fairly certain it’s the twelfth, as a result of blokes have been on the course for 3 hours and they’ll need to have a slash.”
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Linden is an occasional golfer and moderately than check his capability towards the cardboard, he finally opted as an alternative to take up the supply from his caddy to play pictures from areas the place the greats of the sport had created memorable Masters moments.
“You get seduced by the fantastic thing about Augusta however it’s got enamel that chunk you on a regular basis,” he stated.
“The very first thing that strikes you in regards to the course is how huge the fairways are. All the things in regards to the course is completely pristine and beautiful and fantastic.
“The primary fairway, it looks like you may’t miss it. It’s as huge as a soccer area. Nevertheless it seems which you could. And since there are the next variety of doglegs than traditional, for those who slice and go proper, you make these holes a lot longer than traditional.
“We performed some pictures from well-known landmarks … and there are a selection of holes there the place it is sort of a mirage. You goal left for it to return again proper, though your eyes are telling you one thing completely different. It is rather difficult.”
Linden’s favorite gap is the well-known par 3 twelfth named Golden Bell, which sits within the midst of Amen Nook.
“It’s each golfer’s dream gap to play. It’s simply beautiful,” Linden stated.
“You may hit a seven or eight iron and it’s a fairly good straightforward swing and it’s the shot we now have all seen on TV one million occasions earlier than. Nevertheless it has a very difficult touchdown space.
“It’s a very huge inexperienced, as huge as a cricket pitch, however your precise touchdown space, for those who quick you trickle into the pond and for those who go lengthy, you bounce into the comb behind.”
The 18th can also be particularly difficult, Linden stated, and never simply due to the check it gives your golf. There’s additionally the sinking realisation that, having liked each side of the course, the prospect could be very actual you’ll by no means get the chance to play Augusta once more.
Darren Walton (2023)
Australian Related Press
First course: Coffs Harbour Golf Membership, New South Wales
Main course: Carnarvon Golf Membership, Sydney
Handicap: 10
Rating: 97
The directions have been spelled out to Darren Walton by the officers of the Augusta Golf Membership final yr as he ready for the most important spherical of his life. Each order have to be adopted.
“They provide you a pleasant invitation and say that you need to be there one hour earlier than. It was not 59 minutes earlier than. It was not 61 minutes earlier than. You have to be there precisely an hour earlier than,” he stated.
“Brent Learn (Sydney journalist) drove me up Magnolia Lane within the rent automotive and I used to be warned that he needed to exit the property instantly after dropping me off.”
After arriving, Walton was taken to the Champions’ Locker room and was issued with the locker utilized by Canadian Mike Weir when he received the Masters 20 years earlier.
The long-serving AAP journalist, who can also be protecting this yr’s occasion, felt nervous initially however “truthfully thought I used to be taking part in at my house course as soon as I settled down, as a result of it’s not overly lengthy and the fairways are fairly forgiving, though the greens are treacherous.”
Walton managed to par the fourth, six and eighth holes on the entrance 9 to succeed in the flip in an affordable place, having shot 43 regardless of three-putting the ninth, however his pleasure bought the higher of him on the break.
“I felt like Charlie within the Chocolate Manufacturing unit, that I had received the golden ticket. And after I had two pars on the entrance 9, I felt like ‘Augusta’ Gloop. However then Amen Nook bought me,” Walton stated.
“I had a few beers on the half-way mark after which rushed to the tee field on the tenth … and was fully seduced by the sweetness that’s the beast. It was probably the most lovely sight in my life. It’s only a majestic gap, however it’s an absolute monster.”
Walton’s wheels fell off. He triple-bogied the tenth, named Camellia, after which double-bogied the eleventh, which is known as White Dogwood. And he was shocked when arriving on the twelfth gap, the well-known par three named Golden Bell.
“Probably the most superb factor is that … if you end up watching on TV, it appears like a drop shot, like they’re hitting downhill. However that’s truly an phantasm,” he stated.
“The tee field is under the inexperienced and you might be truly hitting to an elevated inexperienced. That, to me, is one thing I couldn’t consider.”
Australian journalist Graeme Agars, who celebrated his fortieth Masters final yr, had suggested Walton to take two golf equipment greater than he may suppose he wanted on the 141m gap.
However he didn’t pay attention and ended up within the water. A double-bogey there additional rattled his confidence and whereas the Sydneysider regrouped to par the 14th, the 500m fifteenth named Firethorn proved prickly for Walton. He finally recorded a 9 as his hopes of breaking 90 fell away.
“It’s the most tough gap on the course for an beginner participant as a result of it doesn’t matter the place you might be, your second shot is treacherous,” he stated.
“I laid up with a 9 iron as a result of I wasn’t ready to go 230 yards (210m) over the pond … however unexpectedly you might be on a downhill lie making an attempt to hit a wedge on and I did what Jason Day did final yr within the second spherical, which was the start of the top for him, and plumped one straight within the water. I planted one other one within the water and eventually went down and had a drop … and chipped on for an unpleasant 9.”
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Martin Blake (2012)
Golf Australia. Previously The Age.
First course: Stawell Golf Membership, Victoria
Main course: Yarra Yarra Golf Membership, Melbourne
Handicap: 11 (13 when he performed Augusta)
Rating: 98
On his third journey to Georgia to cowl The Masters, Martin Blake had simply returned from a number of hours on the course monitoring the Australian contingent on Saturday when all hell broke free.
Officers have been operating from all instructions to let him know that his identify had been known as within the poll and that he would wish to get cracking with the intention to assure the invitation stood.
A part of him puzzled if he was being arrange for an elaborate prank however, certain sufficient, Blake’s identify was on the poll board alongside fellow Aussie scribe Jim Tucker.
There have been a few obstacles to beat.
It was the primary time he had travelled to Augusta with out his golf golf equipment, so the Melbourne-based journalist jumped right into a cab and visited native programs, the place he was finally saved by a membership professional who was so amazed by the chance that he leant his personal golf equipment.
Standing on the primary tee the day after Bubba Watson hit probably the most outstanding pictures in Masters historical past to edge Louis Oosthuizen on the second playoff gap, Blake had one other downside. So thick was the southern drawl of his caddy, he couldn’t perceive a phrase.
“Then once more, he couldn’t perceive me both, however we managed to get through the use of a type of signal language,” Blake stated.
Enjoying from the Members tees, Blake began effectively when thumping a drive straight down the center of the 406m par 4 known as Tea Olive, which helped him safe a gap par.
“It was very nerve-wracking standing on the primary tee … however my reminiscences of the day are simply Jim and we have been simply laughing with one another,” Blake stated.
“We have been pinching ourselves. ‘Is that this ever actual? Is that this truly taking place?’.”
Then writing for The Age, he stated he fluked a par on the par 3 sixteenth gap, named Redbud, regardless of slicing a ball far to the appropriate and into the timber.
“I’d by no means seen anybody find yourself there and I needed to hit it again in direction of the water, straight down hill in direction of the water, however in some way managed to cease it on the inexperienced and make par,” he stated.
The one gap Blake needed to play completely was the well-known twelfth gap, a 141m par 3 often called Golden Bell. However the event bought the higher of him.
“We stopped on Hogan’s Bridge and bought our pictures taken on the bridge as we got here off the eleventh, after which I proceeded to knock one straight into the drink,” he stated.
“I flared it straight out to the appropriate and anybody who has watched it should know that the creek runs at an angle and it bounced straight into the water.
“I dropped it and ended up in a nasty little spot and I flubbed it straight again into the water, so I ended up taking six on probably the most well-known par three on the planet. That was not perfect.”
Equally to his colleagues, Blake stated the undulation of the course is one thing that’s not simply identifiable for individuals who are watching on tv and that the situation of the course actually “must be seen to be believed”.
“There’s not even a weed there. And you actually do really feel like you might be on some form of hallowed floor,” Blake stated.
“I keep in mind that on the fourth, I took an enormous divot and thought, ‘That is sacrilege. I’ve dug up Augusta’. However I feel the course is playable … from the members’ tees.
“It is rather like the previous Lee Westwood line, like ‘Disneyland for Adults’. It was simply sensible, one of many highlights of my life and I can let you know I’ve dined out on it since.”
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Jim Tucker (2012)
Queensland Reds communications, previously Courier-Mail
First course: Warringah Golf Membership, Sydney
Main course : Indooroopilly Golf Membership, Brisbane
Handicap: 13. Now off 9
Rating: 92
Jim Tucker’s nerves have been already jangling when he stepped onto the primary tee alongside Martin Blake, a very good mate, for his dream spherical at Augusta in 2012.
As soon as once more, the strict edict related to the invitation to play Augusta required some fast pondering.
Tucker, who filed his final story on that yr’s Masters at 1.30am on Monday morning, had arrived in Georgia with none golf golf equipment however ventured into the storage of his rental home and located a set owned by the son of their landlord.
One other problem got here with truly discovering a strategy to Gate 3, Augusta Golf Membership, to take up the invitation on Monday.
The membership made it clear that arriving by way of a cab for such an auspicious second wouldn’t do and so Tucker, who had by no means pushed in the US earlier than, employed a automotive and picked up Blake on the best way.
“It was like ‘Driving Miss Daisy’. It was fairly a fraught journey simply to get to the course after which I used to be nervous I’d take out a magnolia tree on Magnolia Lane,” he stated.
As soon as there, nonetheless, the geniality of the membership got here to the fore.
Tucker was proven to the Champions’ Locker Room _ he used the locker of Fuzzy Zoeller, who received the Masters at his first try in 1979 _ after which invited to breakfast.
A go to to the professional store was additionally so as. Tucker is right-handed however he putts left-handed, not that it mattered as a result of the borrowed equipment was with no putter.
The membership professional advisable the newest mannequin Scotty Cameron putter however, as Tucker stated, it scarcely did him any favours, with the Brisbane-based media specialist having 40 putts in his spherical of 92.
Other than the magnificence of the course, a few reminiscences stand out for Tucker.
His caddy was named Warren Leffler, who had performed on lower-tier excursions and, “after some prodding from his fellow caddies”, divulged that he had as soon as scored an albatross on the 500m fifteenth identify Firethorn.
Enjoying alongside Tucker and Blake was knowledgeable named Bob Casper, whose father Billy Casper received the 1970 Masters and likewise two US Opens in a profitable profession.
Bob Casper, “a beautiful man” who shot 33 on the again 9, had introduced an honest digital camera for the spherical which allowed Tucker and Blake the possibility to safe treasured pictures of their day.
However he additionally relayed tales about his dad, a prolific tour winner who died in 2015, and stated that after his taking part in days have been completed, he would proudly put on his inexperienced jacket to Augusta and place himself close to the clubhouse, joyful to speak to anybody who walked by.
“He simply liked the neighborhood that that membership is,” Tucker stated.
“We solely see it in the course of the match, however for the week of the Masters, it’s a splendidly welcoming membership. All of the members will do you any favour you may dream of out on the course.”
The eleventh gap, a 475m par 4 named White Dogwood, shocked Tucker, who stated “it’s a a lot better gap than you actually would have seen on TV”.
If a participant is lucky to drive straight, Tucker stated; “You do see the entire panorama of ‘Amen Nook’ in entrance of you. It’s a patch of sacred floor for golfers and from that perch, halfway down the eleventh gap, you may see the entire of Amen Nook.”
Tucker bought on a roll when parring 10 by means of 12 and had a 30 foot putt for birdie on the thirteenth, solely to 4 putt.
Among the many highlights was making an attempt to imitate the well-known shot Watson hit a day earlier within the playoff to clinch a outstanding win.
“The caddies present you the place all the nice pictures have been hit, from (Phil) Mickelson’s shot from the timber on the thirteenth to the place Larry Mize chipped in on the eleventh,” Tucker stated.
“Nevertheless it was the yr Bubba Watson performed his freak curveball shot from out of the timber on the tenth, on the playoff gap. A right-hander may by no means play that shot and it needed to be a loopy, one in one-thousand curveball from a left-hander to try this, and you’ll’t think about there being a greater shot ever performed at Augusta. It was simply unattainable to grasp.”