Derek at The Masters 2012

I left Dave holding the fort and made a quick trip over to The Masters back in April. I took my first trip in 2010 when we won The World Clubmaker of the Year award and was very fortunate to make my second visit this year.

I arrived on the Monday, which is practice day and spent the first day walking around the course and soaking up the atmosphere. I followed Justin Rose for a few holes and also walked a few holes with Angel Cabrera who was playing on his own. Most of the players play alone and a few buddies team up for a very relaxed first look at the course.

Tuesday was a similar sort of day and this time I walked a few holes with Sergio Garcia, Luke Donald and Justin Rose. Tuesday is “skip” day on the 16th hole where the gallery taunts the players to “skip, skip, skip”. The pros drop balls at the front of the water that guards the green and proceed to skim balls across the water, dam buster style to try and skip them onto the green. Martin Kaymer delights the crowd with a  hole in one – Augusta skip style.

Here are a few of the best bits of my four days :

• After an invite to the TaylorMade US Tour Truck, I spent an afternoon with Keith and Henry on board this beast of a bus catching up on all things Taylor Made. I got a sneak peek at some of the prototype products too.
• I met up with Conor Ridge and all the lads at Horizon Sports for a few beers in the house they had rented for the week. It was good to catch up with all the players and Rory even managed to sneak in a photo for me in front of the clubhouse the next day.
• The big Oak tree right outside the back of the clubhouse is about 150 years old and is where all the media and people in the know hang out. During the few days I manage to spot: Ian Baker-Finch, Chubby Chandler, Arnold Palmer, Tom Fazio, John Solheim (owns Ping), Shane O’Donoghue, Dermot Gilleece, Chris Evans, Ant & Dec and Bob Vokey.
• My special member guest pass is like gold dust and allows me to have lunch “on the lawn” each day, favourite snack is the crab cake sandwich and sweet ice tea.
• I got asked to stop by for tea on Wednesday afternoon in The Eisenhower Cabin by one of the members. It was built in 1953 for US President Eisenhower and has really interesting pictures and Masters memorabilia on the walls.
• The food courts dotted all around the course serve snacks and drinks, prices are not inflated at The Masters. The price for a drink in a Masters plastic cup, a hot chicken sandwich and an apple is only $3.60.
• The merchandise area was specially built for The Masters and I saw one guy buy over 40 shirts to take home. The queues in this area can be 20-30 mins long and there are 20 checkouts. Once you buy your mementos you can stop by the Fedex area right next door and get it shipped home, genius.
• The players mostly hang out in the locker-room and have a private restaurant called The Grill Room where they can escape and relax. I manage a quick look around at the names on the lockers and all the Tour bags lined up.
• The caddies have their own building over by the side of the practice ground, where I’m informed by one of the Irish caddies they do the best steak.
• I manage to hook up with Irishman Eoghan O’Connell who now lives in Florida and runs The Fox Club golf course. The same Eoghan who gained memorable halved singles in the 1989 Walker Cup at Peachtree Golf Club in Atlanta against up-and-coming left-hander called Phil Mickelson.

I really admire Augusta National and The Masters, it’s by far the greatest golf event in the world. Just to walk amongst the tall pine trees and soak up this electric atmosphere is by far one of the best experiences in golf.

Derek came home with some gifts from The Masters which we gave away to people on our newsletter email list, if you want access to extra news and giveaways – you should sign up to get our monthly email. You can sign up on our website www.foregolf.ie

Tags: Augusta The Masters