|
2009
Soap Box Archives Pinch Me Please don't take this column as being boastful or anything other than acknowledging the blessings of God giving me another desire of my heart. Due to a set of circumstances and the generosity of one of it's members, Hazel and myself played a round of golf at the Augusta National a few weeks ago, and with the Masters Tournament having just wrapped up, I thought I would share our experience with you all. And yes, it's all and more than you would even expect by all the years of watching the Masters Tournament on television. It is beautiful beyond words with every kind of flowering Southern plant and tree, the grounds and buildings are immaculate and every blade of grass is perfectly groomed. Standing on a tee box and looking down a perfect fairway at a perfect green and realizing that every famous golfer from Bobby Jones to Tiger Woods, from Arnold Palmer to Phil Mickleson, from Ben Hogan to Jack Nicklaus has stood in that same spot. The greatest golfers to ever play the game have felt the intimidation of taking a one shot lead into Amen Corner on a Sunday afternoon at The Masters. There are monuments to golf history all over the course, the Sarazen Bridge where Gene Sarazen hit his famous double eagle to win the Masters, the pine tree that US President and Augusta National member, Dwight D. Eisenhower, wanted to have cut down because it interfered with his tee shot. He was refused and the tree still stands, now appropriately known as the Eisenhower tree. Allowing somebody like me to play at Augusta National is a bit like serving caviar to a pig. I played my usual terrible game and left some divots in the carpet like fairways, but oddly enough I didn't lose as many balls as I usually do, thanks to the vigilant caddies. The beautiful old golf course was a hive of activity as the staff placed TV towers, tidied up scoreboards and manicured the fairways and greens to the perfection Augusta National has become known for. Of course Hazel played better than I did, just like she almost always does, but my awful round notwithstanding, I had a memorable day and one that I'll carry around until the end of my days. Many years ago I lived in Georgia and passed through Augusta quite a lot, but except for retaining it's Southern charm the Augusta that I remembered bears little resemblance to the bustling and vibrant major Georgia city it has become in the last several decades. The people of Augusta are just as friendly and hospitable as you would expect from Georgia folks, the kind of people that after ten minutes in their company you feel as if you'd known them for years. It was a wonderful and unique experience, thank you Augusta National for putting up with me. What do you think? Pray for our troops God Bless America Charlie Daniels
|