Saw where Brent said earlier today that he had wished he could have been present on the Back 9 of the Final Round of the 1986 Masters Golf Tournament. Well I have been to the Masters only 1 time and it was in 1986. I was present on the Back 9 of the Masters that great Sunday.
But the reason for the post is to share a crazy bizarre account of how I ended up there. Hope you enjoy it.
My best friend was and still is a PGA Club Pro. As a member of the PGA of America, he gets in all PGA Tour events free and at that time (maybe still does) he got in the Masters free too. So all we needed for the 2 of us to go was for me to get a ticket. WE finally found a friend who worked for Toro Equipment Company who had a Ticket for the Week. Toro was the equipment sponsor of the Masters and my salesman friend got a ticket and he did not want to go. He had promised it for Monday through Friday to a customer but gave it to me for Saturday and Sunday. We were set.
WE arrived on Friday night and stayed at the Admiral Benbow Inn on Washington Road (real high dollar place lol) but it was next to the Shoney's and we were assured of the Breakfast Bar and Strawberry Pie at night. lol We had been assured the room had 2 double beds but it turned out to be 1 double bed. If you have seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles, you can kind of see the picture of our sleeping arrangement. lol
But Saturday came and off we were. IT was a great day and we spent the whole day at the course. Jack Nicklaus had a good round and was in the hunt even though he was several strokes back. We were looking forward to going Sunday until we got back to the room on Saturday night and the red message button on the phone was flashing. The front desk told me my Toro buddy had called and said his customer had changed his mind and was coming back down for the final round and my ticket which was mine was now the customer's. We did not have cellphones or I would have called my Toro buddy and wore him out. How could he do that to me? But that he did.
Sunday came and we decided that my PGA Club Pro friend would go and I would go to Bennigan's and just watch it all afternoon on TV and meet up afterwards. It was depressing to say the least.
Security is very tight at the Masters. I mean real tight. There was no way I could "slip in". First, there is massive security at the gate and then there are marshalls looking for your badge once you get in.
But then my friend came up with a stroke of genius----he would go in and give the Concession guy selling Cokes money to come outside the gate and give me the badge my friend had gotten in on. Once I got in we would just bounce around and hopefully not get caught. Well, we were desperate so my friend got in, got his badge and while I was on the outside I saw him go to this young man selling cokes and tell him of our plan. The young man smiled and gave me a thumbs up and walked outside the gate with my friend's badge and gave it to me as I purchased a coke from him. I then nervously approached the gate with the badge and got right in. WE were in. Now could we make it. IT was 10:30 am. The first group of the day was on 6 when we got there.
We decided the best thing we could do was go to 16 tee box. WE would get a choice spot. No one would be there for hour and a half and we would be away from the constant searching by the Marshalls. So that is what we did. We just walked around 13, 15 and 16 for the time being.
We noticed a Security Guard was walking in our direction and feared the worst. He turned out to be a soldier at nearby Fort Gordon who was working security at the 16 tee box where we were. He walked up and said "What are you guys doing over here when the first group is just now leaving 11. There won't be any players here for awhile." For some reason, I just decided to level with him. I told the whole story of how my Toro friend had messed us up and how we had travelled from West Tennessee for the event. I expected him to ask me to leave when he said "Man, you guys have been through alot. I hate to see that guy mess you all up. So I tell you what--I will take care of you. You guys just stay here and everything will be alright". Never will forget that soldier. We spent the rest of the day there and if you watch Jack Nicklaus hit that 5 iron to a foot on 16 you will see me and my friend in the center of the TV picture.
A day we will never forget. The crowd was so much behind Jack. We followed him to 17 and 18. And then waited on 10 green for the playoff only to happily learn Greg Norman had bogeyed 18.
Long story but hope you enjoyed it. Brent, you would have loved being there. IT was such a special day that my friend and I decided then we would never go back since we could never "beat that day".
But the reason for the post is to share a crazy bizarre account of how I ended up there. Hope you enjoy it.
My best friend was and still is a PGA Club Pro. As a member of the PGA of America, he gets in all PGA Tour events free and at that time (maybe still does) he got in the Masters free too. So all we needed for the 2 of us to go was for me to get a ticket. WE finally found a friend who worked for Toro Equipment Company who had a Ticket for the Week. Toro was the equipment sponsor of the Masters and my salesman friend got a ticket and he did not want to go. He had promised it for Monday through Friday to a customer but gave it to me for Saturday and Sunday. We were set.
WE arrived on Friday night and stayed at the Admiral Benbow Inn on Washington Road (real high dollar place lol) but it was next to the Shoney's and we were assured of the Breakfast Bar and Strawberry Pie at night. lol We had been assured the room had 2 double beds but it turned out to be 1 double bed. If you have seen Planes, Trains and Automobiles, you can kind of see the picture of our sleeping arrangement. lol
But Saturday came and off we were. IT was a great day and we spent the whole day at the course. Jack Nicklaus had a good round and was in the hunt even though he was several strokes back. We were looking forward to going Sunday until we got back to the room on Saturday night and the red message button on the phone was flashing. The front desk told me my Toro buddy had called and said his customer had changed his mind and was coming back down for the final round and my ticket which was mine was now the customer's. We did not have cellphones or I would have called my Toro buddy and wore him out. How could he do that to me? But that he did.
Sunday came and we decided that my PGA Club Pro friend would go and I would go to Bennigan's and just watch it all afternoon on TV and meet up afterwards. It was depressing to say the least.
Security is very tight at the Masters. I mean real tight. There was no way I could "slip in". First, there is massive security at the gate and then there are marshalls looking for your badge once you get in.
But then my friend came up with a stroke of genius----he would go in and give the Concession guy selling Cokes money to come outside the gate and give me the badge my friend had gotten in on. Once I got in we would just bounce around and hopefully not get caught. Well, we were desperate so my friend got in, got his badge and while I was on the outside I saw him go to this young man selling cokes and tell him of our plan. The young man smiled and gave me a thumbs up and walked outside the gate with my friend's badge and gave it to me as I purchased a coke from him. I then nervously approached the gate with the badge and got right in. WE were in. Now could we make it. IT was 10:30 am. The first group of the day was on 6 when we got there.
We decided the best thing we could do was go to 16 tee box. WE would get a choice spot. No one would be there for hour and a half and we would be away from the constant searching by the Marshalls. So that is what we did. We just walked around 13, 15 and 16 for the time being.
We noticed a Security Guard was walking in our direction and feared the worst. He turned out to be a soldier at nearby Fort Gordon who was working security at the 16 tee box where we were. He walked up and said "What are you guys doing over here when the first group is just now leaving 11. There won't be any players here for awhile." For some reason, I just decided to level with him. I told the whole story of how my Toro friend had messed us up and how we had travelled from West Tennessee for the event. I expected him to ask me to leave when he said "Man, you guys have been through alot. I hate to see that guy mess you all up. So I tell you what--I will take care of you. You guys just stay here and everything will be alright". Never will forget that soldier. We spent the rest of the day there and if you watch Jack Nicklaus hit that 5 iron to a foot on 16 you will see me and my friend in the center of the TV picture.
A day we will never forget. The crowd was so much behind Jack. We followed him to 17 and 18. And then waited on 10 green for the playoff only to happily learn Greg Norman had bogeyed 18.
Long story but hope you enjoyed it. Brent, you would have loved being there. IT was such a special day that my friend and I decided then we would never go back since we could never "beat that day".
