PREVIOUS JOURNAL ENTRIES
Sunday, April 6
Tom Shaw, Vanderbilt’s Head Men’s Golf Coach, is caddying for Michael Thompson at the 2008 Masters. Thompson played for Shaw at Tulane before transferring to the University of Alabama prior to last season. He earned a spot in this week’s event by finishing second at the 2007 U.S. Amateur. Shaw will be contributing exclusive content from Augusta to vucommodores.com all week.
MONDAY, APRIL 7
Monday was the same as Sunday at Augusta National – except for the addition of 40,000 people! Today was the first day for the general public and the scene reminded me of a Macy’s opening on the day after Thanksgiving. People were bursting at the seams to get on the grounds. Beginning at 8:00 a.m., the patrons shot out of the gates like racehorses, most of them off to find Tiger Woods, who kept to his normal tournament routine of playing very early in the morning. The ones that did hang around the first tee and practice putting green witnessed a very wide-eyed college kid and his sore middle-aged caddie who were trying not to notice the numerous eyes on the both of them.
We had the pleasure of playing with Vanderbilt great Brandt Snedeker today, along with Boo Weekley and Heath Slocum. Brandt is a true gentleman, spending time conversing with Michael during the round and sharing his own experiences as an amateur at the Masters a few years back. Everybody loves Boo Weekley – a true good ole boy with not a care in the world about tradition or circumstance. He is as down to earth as they come. He may also be the best ball-striker on tour, which was good for Michael to see.
Unfortunately, there we many chants of “Roll Tide” throughout the day when folks saw the Alabama bag that I was carrying. Understandable, of course, but annoying after a while for a Commodore man. There were a few “Go Commodore” yells for Brandt, so it is good to see that he is so readily identifiable to the general public as being a Vanderbilt grad.
The highlight of the day was on the par-3 16th, a hole that has produced quite a few incredible shots over the years. After each group hits (Rory Sabbatini shanked his iron in the group before us – nice to see the pros struggle from time to time), a Masters tradition on Monday is for each member to attempt to skip an iron shot over the water and (hopefully) onto the green. The crowd (probably 1,000 in number) really gets into it and cheers or jeers each shot. Brandt’s attempt skipped about eight times before climbing on the green to an eruption of the gallery. Michael was not so fortunate as his first shot plunged quickly in to the pond to a resounding “boooo”. His next attempt successfully navigated the water and wound up on the putting surface, allowing Michael to successfully navigate through another Masters “right of passage.”
The Caddyshack (where I reside much of the time) has food for the caddies at breakfast and lunch, served by a gentleman that looks like he knows a thing or two about good-tasting food. He also looks like he has been there for 40-plus years. Not sure of his name, but he can make a mean BBQ sandwich. It is a neat place to hang out, listen to the true professionals of the caddie world and learn the amount of time and work they put in to their craft.
I will need all of that expertise, as we are scheduled to play with Phil Mickleson and Adam Scott tomorrow morning. There will be just a few folks watching that group! Adam supposedly attracts the largest female gallery, while Phil is a definite fan favorite. It should be interesting trying to work in that environment, but Michael and I are both up for it.
Until tomorrow…
