KEEPING ALL IN PERSPECTIVE...

Augusta National #13 - "Azalea"

All majors are special, but although The Masters (April 7-10), is the “youngest” of all, it has a mystique that no other major has. If nothing else, it is the home of Bobby Jones which alone, makes it special.

Augusta National #15 - "Firethorn"

 But there are other things: it was intended as an invitational (“Augusta National Invitational”), but it became a championship, though is still an “invitational”; most of us can think of more “Masters moments” than all other majors combined; it is played in the spring, before the real golf season begins in most places across the nation; it is the only major played in the same place every year and the only major that never announces the purse until after the event; it hosts a “champions dinner” and has a “champions locker room”, along with a cabin that hosts all amateurs in the field, the “Crow’s Nest”, free of charge, including meals; it is the only major with a Par-3 tournament to start festivities and the only major with honorary starters; the only course that has a tree named after a president (the “Eisenhower Tree”), and bridges and places named after great champions of all times; the only major that has been won 6 times by any one player and the only major that starts with less than 100 players in the field; and don’tforget, the only major where you only pay $2.50 for a pimento cheese sandwich and $1.50 for a Coke, not to mention that trash is picked up before it hits the ground, literally.

There are many “onlys” concerning The Masters. And who can argue that both, hosts and TV make a fascinating place even more fascinating and desirable: the photos and scenes never show a blade of grass or a grain of sand out of place, never show a yellow piece of grass or even dirt in the “roughs” which are filled with wood chips; and of course, always show beautiful blooming flowers, with each hole having been named after a flower, my favorite holes, #13 (Azalea) and #15 (Firethorn) could not be named any better.

However, in the real world of minuscule budgets compared to those of “megabucks” funded by CBS, Cadillac,The Travelers and others in the PGA Tour, The Masters is also a pain in the neck for many able and hard working maintenance crews all over America where their bosses, instead of asking “are we better off now than four years ago?”, they choose to compare their course with Augusta National… like comparing a brand new Cadillac, paid in cash with a 5 year old car of any brand, that you are still making payments on and that you have taken from coast to coast... almost like one of those Obama “clunkers” that he wanted off the roads! 

The truth is that most of these hard working people do so with pride and no recognition, no even when they perform small unseen and unheralded miracles. How come when our Titleist doesn't go in, we tend to blame it on the green, but when we make one, even if in less than perfect greens, it happens to be our skill and we “forget” about the conditions? 

Abandoned Teeing Area - USA

Keeping all in proper perspective, let’s not confuse “less than perfect” conditions, with the expensive path of destruction some true maintenance impostors leave behind. For those golfers who think that all golf courses should permanently be in pristine conditions, I ask, “why are the Rules of Golf are written so that when there is damage or ground under repair you get free relief?”

Elk City GCC - View of #7 & #6

So, next week, while you are watching The Masters (and cheering for Phil Mickelson), think about HEAVEN and EARTH, you are on earth… right along with your course superintendent, and if you have a playable golf course, LEARN TO APPRECIATE IT AND THANK HIM!