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The Masters 2013: A Dream Come True
Apr 15, 2013 2:30 PM
By Lauri Hacklin '14 - '14
A small group from Coosa Junior Golf Academy had the privilege of attending The Masters last week with our head pro, Mr. Brian Albertson. It was me, Hanna Grevelius, Moana Kubo and Ava Xing. We left the Darlington campus around 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday drove for two hours. We stayed overnight in a hotel in a small town between Atlanta and Augusta. To avoid the traffic in Atlanta Thursday morning, we left the hotel before 5 a.m. Everyone was very excited.
We arrived at Augusta National about 7 a.m. We were almost late because honorary starters (Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer) teed off at 7:50 a.m. and the security check took forever. Well, there were about 40,000 people, so it could have taken even longer... So respect for security! We came to the main gate and just watched. I was thinking, "Can this be real?!" Every single detail was perfect -- the flowers, grass, buildings... everything!
Then we ran to the first tee and saw the greatest players of the game of golf, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The area around the first tee was very crowded. There were probably 15,000 to 20,000 people watching those three shots. That was awesome! After the honorary starters, the first group teed off.
After that, we walked around and tried to find "big stars." Finally, we found the No. 1 player in the world, Tiger Woods. Last year's winner, Bubba Watson, was in same group with Tiger. That was a pretty popular group. When Tiger snap hooked his second shot on No. 2 (a bad shot), I thought that I probably could have hit that same shot! ;)
After that, we just walked around and enjoyed good golf and good weather. It was sunny day, 84 degrees and warm. We saw the best course in the world, and the best players in the world. Augusta National is really hard -- much more difficult than it looks on TV. There were more hills and slopes than we thought. The greens were exactly as I thought, though, fast and hard. It was the most beautiful course I had ever seen. We walked 12.5 hours around the course, and my legs noticed that. We were very tired.
We had a 3.5-hour drive back to Darlington and were back by 12:30 a.m. on Friday. Friday was a very long day at school and I was a little sleepy in my classes, but it was worth it. This was very important experience for me and a dream come true. I think that this was the first tournament that Ava had ever seen -- a pretty good way to start to like golf! I know that everyone did not get this opportunity, and I want to thank Mrs. Mann, who got our tickets; Mr. Albertson, who drove seven hours to take us; and, of course, my friends, Hanna, Moana and Ava. We had very nice trip to The Masters!
We arrived at Augusta National about 7 a.m. We were almost late because honorary starters (Jack Nicklaus, Gary Player and Arnold Palmer) teed off at 7:50 a.m. and the security check took forever. Well, there were about 40,000 people, so it could have taken even longer... So respect for security! We came to the main gate and just watched. I was thinking, "Can this be real?!" Every single detail was perfect -- the flowers, grass, buildings... everything!
Then we ran to the first tee and saw the greatest players of the game of golf, Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. The area around the first tee was very crowded. There were probably 15,000 to 20,000 people watching those three shots. That was awesome! After the honorary starters, the first group teed off.
After that, we walked around and tried to find "big stars." Finally, we found the No. 1 player in the world, Tiger Woods. Last year's winner, Bubba Watson, was in same group with Tiger. That was a pretty popular group. When Tiger snap hooked his second shot on No. 2 (a bad shot), I thought that I probably could have hit that same shot! ;)
After that, we just walked around and enjoyed good golf and good weather. It was sunny day, 84 degrees and warm. We saw the best course in the world, and the best players in the world. Augusta National is really hard -- much more difficult than it looks on TV. There were more hills and slopes than we thought. The greens were exactly as I thought, though, fast and hard. It was the most beautiful course I had ever seen. We walked 12.5 hours around the course, and my legs noticed that. We were very tired.
We had a 3.5-hour drive back to Darlington and were back by 12:30 a.m. on Friday. Friday was a very long day at school and I was a little sleepy in my classes, but it was worth it. This was very important experience for me and a dream come true. I think that this was the first tournament that Ava had ever seen -- a pretty good way to start to like golf! I know that everyone did not get this opportunity, and I want to thank Mrs. Mann, who got our tickets; Mr. Albertson, who drove seven hours to take us; and, of course, my friends, Hanna, Moana and Ava. We had very nice trip to The Masters!
