Thrill of a lifetime as a 4th year medical student at the Medical College of Georgia and got to work the entire week, got to play the course before the summer, and during the tourney had full access (and somewhere in my boxes is a badge and a W2 from Augusta National)!
I met Jack's son, J. Miller, Norman, Crenshaw and others and it was a hell of a week. Most of all the roars from up top an ambulance was sittting on (had to treat at least one head injury from a ball the last round, chest pain scares, and a few bee stings) were louder and the golf atmosphere was more electric that day than anything I have heard ior seen in golf. We saw Jack birdie 13 and hit his drive on 14 and Ballesteros chink it into the water and Kite and Norman almost win the tournament, but it was Jack's day and I was happy for that as I also years ago attended Upper Arlington and caddied at OSU and finally got to meet him one day at the OSU Scarlet (designed by the same archictect and a hell of a course).
About that round, played with a broken ankle after I cut the soft cast off early, wore a splint, birdied 12 but the rest of the day was a series of 3-4 putts as one cannot believe the speed of the greens and/or how far the ball roles on drives on cut fairways there until one gets a chance to experience it. Broke 90 but we played mid tees but it was a hell of an opportunity. Sadly, cannot go back to my 25th reunion at MCG this year due to a dying relative situation but one of these days will try to get on Augusta again. Charles Howell III father was in a class ahead of me and sometimes takes out graduates of MCG, and he is a member at Augusta CC (which is also a fine course_) If anyone going try to also play Jones Creek or if you have military friends, Ft. Gordon has a true championship course (Gordon Lakers) that is phenominal and the course at the Army base near Columbia is not bad as well (and Ft. Benning has two great courses in Columbus, GA).
There are a number of other great courses around the area (and the Robert Jones Trail is only a few hundred miles away and well worth doing or any course in Charleston, Wild Dunes especially or a ton of great golf around Aiken and other parts of southern SC). Columbus College now Columbus State, which I attended before MCG & before a career in the military as a public health doctor: also won also the NCAA division championship, and amazingly then Augusta College won the top division level NCAAs a couple of years back. (If you go bet the locals carefully, Augusta must have 100s of low digit golfers, lots of which seem to play better than that when it counts for $, as some watch for "visiting rusty handicaps and by reputation live for awhile pretty good off their winnings from Masters week and the next week down there! ) Cheers and here is to a fun Masters this year!
I met Jack's son, J. Miller, Norman, Crenshaw and others and it was a hell of a week. Most of all the roars from up top an ambulance was sittting on (had to treat at least one head injury from a ball the last round, chest pain scares, and a few bee stings) were louder and the golf atmosphere was more electric that day than anything I have heard ior seen in golf. We saw Jack birdie 13 and hit his drive on 14 and Ballesteros chink it into the water and Kite and Norman almost win the tournament, but it was Jack's day and I was happy for that as I also years ago attended Upper Arlington and caddied at OSU and finally got to meet him one day at the OSU Scarlet (designed by the same archictect and a hell of a course).
About that round, played with a broken ankle after I cut the soft cast off early, wore a splint, birdied 12 but the rest of the day was a series of 3-4 putts as one cannot believe the speed of the greens and/or how far the ball roles on drives on cut fairways there until one gets a chance to experience it. Broke 90 but we played mid tees but it was a hell of an opportunity. Sadly, cannot go back to my 25th reunion at MCG this year due to a dying relative situation but one of these days will try to get on Augusta again. Charles Howell III father was in a class ahead of me and sometimes takes out graduates of MCG, and he is a member at Augusta CC (which is also a fine course_) If anyone going try to also play Jones Creek or if you have military friends, Ft. Gordon has a true championship course (Gordon Lakers) that is phenominal and the course at the Army base near Columbia is not bad as well (and Ft. Benning has two great courses in Columbus, GA).
There are a number of other great courses around the area (and the Robert Jones Trail is only a few hundred miles away and well worth doing or any course in Charleston, Wild Dunes especially or a ton of great golf around Aiken and other parts of southern SC). Columbus College now Columbus State, which I attended before MCG & before a career in the military as a public health doctor: also won also the NCAA division championship, and amazingly then Augusta College won the top division level NCAAs a couple of years back. (If you go bet the locals carefully, Augusta must have 100s of low digit golfers, lots of which seem to play better than that when it counts for $, as some watch for "visiting rusty handicaps and by reputation live for awhile pretty good off their winnings from Masters week and the next week down there! ) Cheers and here is to a fun Masters this year!
