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| Hole #10 Augusta National Golf Club |
Yes, it is Masters Week for the world of Golf and the world of sports. All eyes of the sports world focus on Augusta National Golf Club as the 75th Masters Golf contest is played out. There will be millions of words written this week to convey and create the storylines – the evolution of the golf course, the traditions, Jack Nicklaus and Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods, the #1 ranking, the young stars, the international talent, Mickelson, Couples, and more.
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| Ben Creshaw - Circa late '70's |
For some of us it is personal. A direct connection to the participants – no matter the conditions – invokes a sort of reverence that is difficult to understand or describe. Many have that personal connection and have stories to tell. I will be watching my friend, Ben Crenshaw compete in his 40th Masters. And, Carl Jackson – Ben’s Hall of Fame Caddie – will be ‘on the bag’ for his 50th Masters. Let that sink in and say it out loud to try and comprehend the magnitude. Ben participating in his 40th Masters at the age of 59. Rory McIlroy, Jason Day, or Rickie Fowler will still need to be qualified in or about 2050 to accomplish the same. Incredible!
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| Hole #12 - Augusta National Golf Club |
This week I have again walked the heavenly fairways of Augusta National to enjoy the magnificence of this garden arena. The azaleas, dogwoods, and magnolias are all in bloom thanks to the rains that have watered this sanctuary for the prior weeks. The magnitude of the hills and slopes become real again as I have to work harder to climb the course which is felt in my legs and my breathing. The curves and undulations of the fairways and the greens remind me of a quote from Bagger Vance, “Golf course puts folk through quite a punishment!”
Being there in person provides witness to experiences not shown by television. In 2009, my brother Mike and I watched in amazement as Miguel Angel Jimenez showed his incredible skill to save par at the Par 3 Sixth hole. The sixth hole is the one you sometimes see where the players tee off from about 189 yards away at the top of a hill, flying over a valley filled with patrons, to a green that has three distinct levels.
That Sunday the pin was set at the lower, left front level which is guarded by a sand bunker only a dozen feet away. Jimenez hit what was clearly a mistake that landed on the tallest platform of the green at the top right. His ball was actually sitting on the tightly cut fringe just inches off the putting surface. We all assumed he was looking at a three-putt bogey or worse. After substantial study Jimenez pulls a 60-degree wedge from his bag and stands ready over his ball. He tosses aside his ever-present cigar and almost surgically slices his wedge under the ball sending it flying to that lower level. He had put just enough spin on the ball to keep it barely on the green and then miraculously sinks about a 12 foot putt for par. These guys ARE GOOD!
It is such a vignette that draws me to this game. These competitors are the ultimate “independent contractor.” Again pulling from the movie Bagger Vance the young fore-caddie Hardy says, “It’s the greatest game there is. It’s fun, it’s hard. You stand out there on this green, green grass and it’s just you and the ball…And there ain’t nobody to beat up on but yourself. It’s the only game I know of you can call a penalty on yourself – if your honest – which most people are. There just aint’ no game like it.
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| Harvey Penick |
So, like millions of others I will enjoy The 75th Masters as it again awakens the spring in us all. We will enjoy the stories of disappointments and champions from the past as new memories are made. But, forever etched in my heart is the memory of Ben Crenshaw’s incomparable victory in 1995 only days after laying to rest the great Harvey Penick – his teacher (and mine) – who died the prior Sunday. My Dad had died the prior Tuesday before Mr. Penick and in his final breaths he told me, “Ben is going to Win! God told me so.”
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