We were lucky enough to draw out in the lottery for tickets to the 2015 Masters Practice Round. We were so excited. It ended up being a great tournament where Jordan Spieth started and ended with lead, tying the record for the lowest scoring round. He knew on Monday that this would be the outcome. I caught this shot on the practice range.
Before we went I did a lot of research, like I always do, and found that there are some, but not very many personal accounts with thoughts and ideas. We really didn’t know what to expect-but that we would be in awe. I wanted to share our experience for anyone who finds themselves in our shoes in the future and wants to know what to expect.
We stayed in Atlanta, however, we heard that Aiken SC is a great place to stay and also if you are lucky you can find some chain hotels in Augusta for a reasonable price. We opted to drive and it wasn’t that bad. We left the hotel at 5:15 AM. We hit it just right. We thought about maybe waiting a little longer and after we arrived, we thought maybe that would have been okay, but I think we hit it perfectly. We got to Augusta right at 8 AM. The freeway and all of the side streets get backed up, so it takes a while, just be patient and go with the flow.
There is plenty of free parking if you get there on time. The lots did fill up but we got a great spot very close by arriving at 8. It may be surprising I know, but they have done this a lot. They have parking and the gates down. We pretty much walked right in through the gates. Just make sure you read the rules and expectations because we saw a few people that they turned around because they didn’t dress appropriately, brought chairs with arms, or bags that were way too big.
Practice Day was awesome! It was so relaxed, we got to see the whole course and a bunch of players. The best part-I got to take my camera and get incredible shots like this:
It was unreal.
Everything I read told us that as soon as we get there to go and shop. So we found the main gift shop, waiting in line for about 20 minutes (even though the line was so long we thought it was going to be an hour) and bought all of our merchandise. We then ran it back to the car so we wouldn’t have to pack it around. It worked well for us, but we missed something. We missed the Chicken Biscuits. By the time we were done shopping and made it to the concessions they were all out. It was so sad. I was looking forward to it. The lines were about the same at the merchandise later in the day so I guess you just have to decide what is most important. Next time…I’m going for the biscuit.
We walked the course. The good part about being there earlier, it was slower. It seemed to get busier in the day and people did follow the best players. There are a lot of great places to sit, so for us, we didn’t bring a chair and it worked out just fine. If we were to go on a tournament day we may follow others to set up a chair at 18 before walking around, but for a practice day there are a lot of grandstands and even an awesome grass area above 16 that you can sit and watching the skipping contest. That was so much fun.
We walked a lot surprised by just how hilly the is. Even the fairways have hills-really. It’s wonderful. Sometimes you get to see the up and coming and if you catch them just right they may even return your wave. He did even though I missed it on camera-hoping for a great future for him!
We also found that at the green on 5 and the tee box on 6 was a great place to watch because you could move from one to the next and it wasn’t too busy.
Of course, make your way to Amen Corner. It’s too beautiful to resist and the shape of 13 blew me away. TV just doesn’t do this course justice.
Make sure to try the pimento cheese and the egg salad sandwiches. Both are awesome and I personally enjoyed the moon pies. Sweet Tea and Beer are all so reasonable you need to have at least one of each, plus this allows you to take home the souvenir cups that are dishwasher safe people-see they know you are going to be taking them home. Cheapest souvenir of the day!
Once you see the course, head back to the practice range (unless there happens to be someone playing that you really want to see). I wish we would have spent a little more time here. There are plenty of places to sit and lots of opportunities for really great pictures of the players.
Most of all, take it all in. Don’t stress. As I said before they have done this so many times it goes smoothly. We thought we were going to be late and miss everything but we didn’t. We saw it all-in all of its glorious beauty. I can’t wait to go back again. It’s magical. Enjoy the journey.
