Our first visit to Augusta National

To see the golf course and the Augusta National Women's Amateur

Hilly.

It doesn’t take much time or thought to hit the nail on the head when describing—with a first impression—the golf course at Augusta National Golf Club, especially since everyone who knew I was going to Augusta National and who had been there before told me the layout is especially hilly, a constant uphill, downhill trek, more so than what I experience on a regular basis at my home course. This was my first visit to Augusta National.

Hilly is an understatement. There are holes—such as the 1st hole—that start way above the fairway, dip in elevation (not just a little), and then climb to the original distance or more above sea level. There are holes that start high and finish low, not bad on walking but remember the twist on an old adage, “what goes down must eventually go up.” It’s that way at Augusta National.

There’s a par-3, the 6th hole that’s only 180 yards from the back tees that are so high above the green that patrons can sit on the grassy bank in front of the tee and the players back there will never see them as shots are hit over the spectators and to the green. It’s a steep walk down which is greeted with a walk uphill later. To a first-time course walker, even with advanced notice, Augusta National is very hilly, even the parking lot and the patron walk to the first tee.

There’s a beauty in it all as the landscape is dotted with flowering shrubs—azaleas primarily, natural for the layout because the golf course took the place of a vast nursery, the plant type not the children’s version.

In a gentle and dignified way, there’s a theme park-like atmosphere from the entrance/exit gate to the first tee with patrons by the hundreds cordially strolling to get in and to find lines on which to wait to for the golf shop to buy souvenirs, the concessions stands to purchase pimento cheese or egg salad sandwiches (both noted for their substance and $1.50 price), the restrooms, and course viewing areas.

Everything is labeled so getting lost is not an option; signs suggesting which way to go to everything are strategically located; but if you think you’re lost, volunteers are pleasant and informative and help you find your way. Expect no less from Augusta National. I could go on and on. It was a treat to be there.

The opportunity to see Augusta National up close was not for the Masters, the annual love feast of all of golf world-wide that’s completing the third round as I write this and fourth and final round later today. It was for the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the opportunity to walk those hallowed grounds of Bobby Jones for the first time ever in my more than 70 years. Being a spectator, a patron if you wish, was fun, exhausting, and exciting, walking the course and watching the best women amateurs play.

The ANWA golf tournament includes two rounds at another Augusta area course, one practice round at Augusta National for the entire field, and one day of competition at Augusta National for the skilled women who made the cut after 36 holes. We secured badges for the one day of competition at Augusta National. While watching the women play was satisfying—to see excellent golf skills—the primary purpose of our visit was to see the course from angles not seen on television during the Masters.

On April 1st—and this is no April Fool’s joke—my wife, Nancy, and I had the opportunity, which we took, to walk the course from the first tee right through the 17th green and then—about five hours later because of a rain and thunder and lightning storm and delay in play—the 18th hole from the tee to the green, just as the best men professionals and some top men amateurs did this week and where the top amateur women did on the first day of April in the final round of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur.

This was a long time coming. Prior to Saturday the closest I had come to to the exclusive venue was driving on Washington Road in Augusta past several access gates including the famous entrance, Magnolia Lane, while years ago in town trying to sell garment storage conveyors to the Richmond County (Georgia) Sheriff’s Department for inmate property storage. I made the sale, but the sheriff couldn’t oblige my suggestion he secure badges for me to see a Masters tournament.

In all my years, I’ve never entered the lottery for badges to the Masters, but I’ve wanted to go to Augusta National. Most golfers do. So, thinking it would be a breeze to get two badges for ANWA, I registered for the ticket lottery last June at the same time reserving a room for two nights in nearby (24 miles) Aiken, SC, where the rates, nine months in advance were much, much, much less in price than anything closer to Augusta. I was disappointed when my luck didn’t produce the badges, but I had a good feeling and hung on to the hotel reservation.

Months later, in January of this year, the question of the week on the golf website, The First Call (take a look and subscribe), was: What do you think will be the biggest golf story of 2023? As my answer, I wrote in short, that Jim Pomeranz will somehow receive two badges to the Augusta National Women’s Amateur, explaining my age, 70, and that I’ve played golf for nearly 65 years, and never been to Augusta National.

The editor of the website posted my response and two days later the editor sent me a note telling me of a subscriber who wanted to connect with me. He had two badges coming to him in mid-March and couldn’t use them. they were mine if I wanted. Wow! And, I still had the hotel reservation. The badges arrived in mid-March. I was excited; Nancy was less so. She resisted going but soon changed her mind but questioned weather issues. It didn’t stop us.

We drove the five hours to Aiken on Friday, March 31, going south on US 1 from Cary, through Southern Pines, NC, to just north of the Rockingham, NC, Motor Speedway where NASCAR doesn’t compete anymore but should and where we took a slight shortcut through Hamlet and then merged back onto US 1 near Cheraw, SC, and through Camden, SC, where I believe noted Washington Post columnist Kathleen Parker lives, before we merged onto Interstate 20 west, traveling around Columbia, SC, and back to a US 1 exit to Aiken, a neat old town that’s developed a thriving downtown shopping and night life of restaurants and bars.

Most of the drive on US 1 was two lanes but fellow travelers maintained respectable speeds, so we moved along without incident, enjoying the country-side and, by using US 1, we stayed off of Interstate 95 in North Carolina, full of construction. There was no reason to hurry. We departed at 10:30 a.m. and arrived about 3:30 p.m. with a couple of stops along the way.

We had a dinner reservation for a downtown restaurant, Whiskey Alley, but being late in making the reservation, it was for 5:45 p.m. We decided that was too early and canceled, so a bit later we walked across the hotel parking lot of Aiken’s Fairfield Inn & Suites to the Aiken Fishhouse & Oyster Bar, also highly recommended. Now reporting the good and the bad, The Westbook (Mount Pleasant, SC) IPA draft beer was very good; the Firecracker Shrimp appetizer was delicious; the blackened scallops and the blackened grouper were over-cooked and chewy but the coleslaw and red beans & rice were good. If we’re back in Aiken, maybe next year same time and reason, we will return but just get a double order of the shrimp.

Our plan to get to Augusta National Saturday morning called for departing the hotel no later than 5:30 a.m., sans the daily morning breakfast supplied by the hotel. We were told that cars on Washington Road forming lines to the parking lot started very early and lines of patrons to get in at the 7:00 a.m. gate opening were usually long.

Google maps on my iPhone 14 was set to steer us to the golf course through what appeared to be backroads and the quickest way, but because of a wrong turn here and there, we quickly found Interstate 20, heading slightly north before turning back south (west on I-20), soon leaving South Carolina and entering Georgia.

The Washington Road exit traffic just after 6:15 a.m. was heavy, at least it seemed that way. We were directed into a huge parking lot, land previously full of small homes purchased over time by Augusta National and developed into parking lots especially for the patrons of the Masters golf tournament.

Our walk from the car, which we parked t 6:30 a.m., to the entrance gate was about half a mile. (The parking lots are huge with some distances surely over a mile and a half away.) The lines to get in when the patron gates opened at 7:00 a.m. were long but steady in making progress toward the course. There was a security stop where we entered through scanners. Once inside, the line to the golf shop had already developed length so we bypassed it. “We’ll come back later,” are famous last words.

We made our way to the first tee and were greeted by an uphill walk to the back tee and the view of the first hole that dips deeply in front of us and then rises to the green.

Hilly? In a way, television doesn’t do the course description justice. It became apparent as we made our way around the course that the television directors concentrate on tees and landing areas and not entire fairways from tee to green unless the ball is rolling rapidly and long downhill such as on the 2nd hole and on the 13th hole if players can cut the left dogleg and keep the ball in the fairway.

Cellphones and cameras are not permitted at August National, especially for these events, the ANWA and the Masters, so we have no documentation of being there except for our badges, a course map, and a few receipts for food and drink.

Throughout the day, we indulged on egg salad sandwiches which need—in our humble opinion—a little improvement, pimento cheese sandwiches which lived up to their hype, a classic chicken sandwich with a small amount of chewy chicken now off our radar for another, a couple of beers (an interesting wheat beer and a suggested IPA but not so much), a cup of wine, a Georgia salty peanut caramel cluster, a Georgia peach ice cream sandwich, a bag of chips, and a small bag of southern cheese straws. Total expenditure on food and drink was less than $30.

We also took advantage of free telephone calls from various banks of phones scattered around the course. Nancy wanted to call her brother to check in on her 93-year-old mother. I suggested pulling an April Fool’s joke on the brother by saying I had run into a college buddy who is a member at Augusta National and that he had invited me to return in a few weeks to play the course. I wish! Nancy didn’t want to take part in the joke. Oh well, maybe someone reading this will help me with that bucket list item.

If I ever get to play Augusta National, it will not be from the same tees the men use for the Masters. That’s 7,385 yards in total length. And I doubt playing from the same tees as the women played in the ANWA would be on my radar, a layout of 6,310 yards. A course of about 6,000 yards seems to be my limit these days and unless Augusta National is dry and fast, yardage may be reduced more.

On each hole, we made every effort to stand behind the back tees to get a better overall look at the course. Some tees, such as the 13th hole, are not accessible to the patrons. We estimated a total walk of about eight miles that day which included the course, side-tracked areas, and two trips to and from the car. Two trips? Yes, read on.

It was about 10:30 a.m. when we arrived at the 18th hole in our trek around the course, hole-by-hole. We had secured seats in the 17th hole grandstand for a couple of groups to play through but decided to head up the steep 18th fairway. I was walking to the back of the 18th hole back tee when horns sounded, stopping play because of approaching thunder and lightning storms. Little by little, resisting the orders to vacate the course, we made our way to the exit gate and to the parking lot.

We, and thousands of other patrons, resisted leaving the course because the immediate weather seemed to be so nice and calm, but it was just before the storm. We made it to the comfort and security of our car just in time as a spring Georgia gully washer let loose, sending some of the patrons in their cars away from the area, calling it quits for the day. We stuck it out, napping a little and surviving on water and a small cup of Cheerios picked up at the hotel that morning on the way out.

It was at 1:30 p.m. when we exited the car to beautiful clear, blue skies. We had moved our car closer to the entrance gate and headed to the course as play was about to resume. We had come this far and didn’t want to leave before the tournament was over. Most of the patrons remained and the course was quickly populated in places to see the last two groups complete their rounds. The last two groups included Rose Zhang and Jenny Bae, the only two battling for the win.

Eventually Zhang won the ANWA, defeating Bae in a sudden death playoff with pars at the 18th and 10th holes, in that order, while Bae parred the 18th but bogeyed the 10th. The two tied after 54 holes with a total of 207 strokes. Zhang shot 66-65-76=207 while Bae had 69-68-70=207. With the win, Zhang joined Tiger Woods as the only golfers to win a U.S. Junior Amateur, U.S. Amateur, NCAA Individual title, and win at Augusta National.

That morning our walk, much of it without the competition which started at 7:40 a.m., included a few stops to rest, eat, and watch the competition. We enjoyed viewing various places but especially approach shots at the par-four 11th hole, play on the par-three 12th hole, tee shots on the par-five 13th hole (there you go, Amen Corner: 11, 12, 13), play on the par-three 16th hole, and approaches and putts on the par-four 17th hole.

When play resumed at 1:50 p.m., we walked a few holes and were amazed at how quickly the massive amount of water disappeared from the walking areas alongside the fairways. It appeared the same was true of the fairways.

Our final hole of walking was the 18th as the players completed the last hole of the final round, and we tried to watch from above the green but the depth of the patrons standing between us the rope was too deep to get a good view. We thought the playoff started on the 10th hole, so we made our way to that tee, but soon decided to call it quits for the day just as the two players zipped past us, heading to the 18th tee, not the 10th, to start the playoff.

We walked to a location to have our picture taken in front of Founder’s Circle in front of the clubhouse, but that was shut down when the early delay happened that morning. We did get a good view of the par-3 course and the primary practice range.

On the way out, we once again passed the main golf shop but decided not to stop for shirts, caps, or anything else with the Masters or Augusta National logo. We had a couple of green cups in which our beer was poured, and a smaller clear cup used for the wine. I think an umbrella would have been nice purchase as well as two armless camping chairs to use if we return some day.

On the way back to Aiken, we had to cancel another reservation for Whiskey Alley because again it was for 5:45 p.m., the only time available, and we would not get back to Aiken until 6:15 p.m. But we wanted a little dinner and to visit the downtown area which we would have extensively on that Saturday afternoon if the tournament had not been weather delayed. Weather at Augusta this time of year can ruin the best planning.

So, we headed into downtown Aiken proper and walked into Whiskey Alley to see if space was available. We were offered a table, but it was so noisy in there—how noisy? Conversations were impossible—we left and went next door to Tailgate Tavern where we split a black and bleu hamburger, had a couple of Pernicious beers and a Skrewball on the rocks and watched the San Diego State last second basket win over Florida Atlantic in the semifinals of the NCAA basketball tournament. It wasn’t too noisy until that shot went down.

Sunday, we detoured on I-20 to Florence, SC, to the Mellow Mushroom for lunch with longtime friends and then cut back through the country of South Carolina and eventually through Laurinburg, Aberdeen, and Southern Pines, NC, and back home.

Along the way, we discussed the three-day, two-night excursion, satisfied we had enjoyed walking Augusta National, that we had followed some of the tournament play, and sampled some of the inexpensive Augusta National cuisine, but that we wish we had secured seats on several holes (the 18th specifically) to watch more competition, and that it would not have stormed. And we wanted more time to visit Aiken.

I recalled a question Nancy had asked, surely tongue in cheek, early in our walk through the golf course. We were strolling through the first and only level of what golfers would call rough, grass not cut as low as the fairways but still very playable turf. She was studying the fairways, wanting to touch the perfectly cut green grass, all so perfect without a blade of unwanted weeds or different grasses. She asked, “Is Augusta National the only course where the fairways are artificial turf?” (Insert laughter here!)

Nancy resisted going to Augusta National, but after being there all-day Saturday, exhausted yet fulfilled, she wants to return. That’s how good the trip was for us, even with the (yes, it’s) hilly terrain. Now, we need two badges for the next Augusta National Women’s Amateur, April 6, 2024.