Opinion & Analysis

Football is over, so bring on the Masters!

Published

12 years ago

Feb 5, 2014

Super Bowl Sunday came and went with a lackluster performance by the league’s top offense and a textbook result for the best defense. At least a good halftime show highlighted the night where the game play and commercials were overall below par. It’s time to move on, time to look forward to the golf season, warmer temperatures, golf on Sundays, fluffy white sand and the Masters.

A blanket of snow and ice fell on Augusta this month producing some of the best photos of Magnolia Lane I have seen. We can now look forward to the blooming of the azaleas and the year’s first major. Augusta will be full of great stories in 2014: Will Tiger break his major winless streak; will Rory rise back to the top; will Lee Westwood finally win a major and the newest story, the first father-son combination to compete together at the Masters. With Kevin Stadler’s win this past weekend, he received an invite to the Masters, where he will join his father and past champion, Craig, in April. Craig announced this will be his last trip to Augusta to play and what better way to go out than playing with your son!

This brings me to my story — this year will my first time making the pilgrimage to Augusta, Ga., to see the beauty that is the Masters. Along for the ride will be my father and best friends. My father helped to spawn my obsession with golf, my love for the beautiful game, and there was no better way to spend an April day than with him and the majestic oasis known as Augusta National.

As I entered the lottery for the first time, I won four tickets to Wednesday’s practice round/par-3 contest. When I received that email notifying me of the chance to purchase the tickets, it was a dream come true. It’s one of those surreal moments when you realize, wow, I actually won something! I immediately called my wife, saying “Sorry, but I will be gone on a dream vacation in April…to watch golf,” followed by a phone call to my father, informing him that we were going. Hotel was booked the next day and everything is set for this bucket list item to take place.

Wednesday, April 9, 2014 will also mark the eight-year anniversary of the death of my grandfather, who loved the game more than I do now. Every April comes with excitement of the Masters but follows with pain of losing him. We were supposed to watch the first round together the following day; instead I receive a phone call that he passed over night. My grandfather and I played golf several times a year, always enjoying each other’s company, talking about his life and the amazing stories he had. He would have been the first person I asked to accompany me this year; instead we will remember his life at one of the most sacred places in golf.

Now that football is over and with only 75 days until our travels begin, Augusta is calling our names. Pictures will be taken (thankfully cameras are allowed on Wednesday), pints will be drank, stories will be shared and new stories will be created. The bond between father and son will not only be shared by the Stadlers this April, but with my father, my grandfather and I.

Related Topics:Augusta

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Ben Snyder

Ben is new to fatherhood and resides in Maryland. A sales manager by trade, he is a die-hard Arsenal FC supporter and is obsessed with golf! Follow him on Twitter @bmoregooner

5 Comments

hokieputter

Feb 5, 2014 at 9:28 pm

Ben, it will be an amazing trip. I made my first trip last year. Same situation. Wednesday tickets from the lottery. Went with my dad and brother. Wouldn’t have wanted to be there for the first time with anyone else. Absolutely incredible. Can’t wait to get back. Enjoy!

Reply Report comment
- Ben Snyder
  
  Feb 6, 2014 at 9:47 am
  
  Thanks for the remarks, hokieputter. Can’t wait, should be amazing. Any suggestions on where to go first, what to do?
  
  Reply Report comment
  - Richard L Cox III
    
    Feb 6, 2014 at 12:14 pm
    
    Ben,
    
    Let me know when you get into town. Maybe we can meet up during the week (if you’re still there during the tournament rounds).
    
    Wednesday is one of the neatest days to experience. Although you won’t be able to see much golf on the big course, it gives you a chance to be much more intimate with some of the players out there. You can also take in the best day to watch the players at the practice facility. The range will blow you away.
    
    If you’re really ready to see as much as you can in one day, here’s what I’d recommend:
    
    7:30 am-wherever you’re staying, make sure that you’re getting near the golf course at about this time. Today’s traffic will be the worst of the week. Get there early. I can show you a back way to get to the biggest “patron” lot (if you have the credential for it) on Berckman’s Road if you message me.
    
    8 am- I’m counting on you to be going through the gate at this time. Be prepared for an Airport-like security check…my strategy would be to try and go through the line closest to the ‘PGA member’ line (all the way to the left) because most people crowd around the three middle lines and don’t even realize that there are almost two dozen lines available.
    
    As soon as you go through the line, I would make a bee-line to the merchandise tent. Be decisive, be committed. This is like getting around in a subway. Buy what you want and then immediately exit left to the bag check line. It might take you fifteen minutes to do this, but you’ll thank me later when you notice that you aren’t lugging around all of that crap you just bought the entire day. The system is extremely efficient and it’s just plain worth it.
    
    9am- get to the course. Go straight towards the clubhouse, and take a left up the hill in the direction of the Veranda and the first tee. Go past it to the putting green, and head to the back nine. This way you bypass a lot of the traffic that’s not sure how to navigate the course. Go down the tenth fairway and follow the back nine in order through Amen Corner. (do NOT forget to stop and get a beer at the concession stand beside the eleventh/fourteenth)
    
    by 10am you should be behind 13 green/14 tee. Take a couple of tee shots on 14 if you can. Walk up to the 14th green (one of the best on the course) and, maybe, walk across to the previous concession area and reload.
    
    Walk down 15, and go to 16 tee. Make sure you go to the left side of sixteen. There is a new walkway that goes to the hill left of the pond (and leads you up to the 6th tee) that provides one of the neatest views of the golf course. You can view 5,6,15,16, and take in a general view of the scenery. (I’m talking about women here…prepare yourself)
    
    At this point, we’re nearing the time for a feeding. Make your way up the hill to six tee, and then cross the fifth fairway and retire to the large concession area behind the fifth green. There’s ample seating, phone booths, a bathroom, and the guarantee that you will not be in the most populated concession area on the course. It’s a little oasis back there. You shouldn’t miss it. Go for the gusto, one egg salad and one pimiento cheese. You are not allowed to have the chicken sandwich.
    
    After your fueling stop, go backwards down the fifth fairway to the fourth hole. Stand behind the fourth tee for a bit, where you can see the third, second, and seventh. You also start to comprehend how delightfully compact the property is, even though it seems like it’s miles wide because of the terrain.
    
    Go back up the third hole to the second green. Look back up the fairway and notice the ridiculous elevation change. Look behind you at the seventh, and down the eighth fairway. Go up the eighth to the green, and cut over to look down the first fairway. Take in a tee shot or two on the ninth.
    
    Go down the left side of the ninth hole, and take in the uphill approach. Cut across the first fairway and make your way to the eighteenth green. Imagine what will transpire four days from then.
    
    At this point, you may want to wander back to the practice range. People will be warming up for the Par Three contest, or just going about their routines. Stay there until about half an hour before the contest starts, and make your way to the Par Three course. (past the putting green on your left-hand side)
    
    At the Par Three contest, there’s really no good strategy for watching golf, other than to walk all nine holes. If nothing else, you can see why people call it “the best golf course at ANGC.” The roughly 870 yards of the par three course are some of the most breathtaking short shots you’ll ever see. Make sure you find a way to watch at least a few shots into the ninth. That may be my favorite shot to watch at the National.
    
    Finish your day any way you please, but try to wander around the putting green/Veranda area, and just watch the guys in their final preparations for the tournament. Look for celebrities, look for Fortune 500 CEO’s, look for the pro’s wives (this is the best), or just look around.
    
    Don’t forget your merchandise at the bag-check.
    
    Feel free to message me if you have any questions.
    
    Reply Report comment
Double Mocha Man

Feb 5, 2014 at 12:50 pm

Good job. Well-written. Touching. Love the pics of Augusta National as we’ve never seen it before.

Just a couple weeks before pitchers and catchers report for Spring Training!

(Seattle expects up to half a million fans lining the parade route today)

Reply Report comment
- Ben Snyder
  
  Feb 6, 2014 at 9:49 am
  
  DMM, Thanks for the comments! Saw the photos on twitter, and had to write about it! Maybe my cubbies will finally win…..dreaming.
  
  Reply Report comment

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Opinion & Analysis

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