2009 Masters In Photos

I had a chance to go to the Tuesday practice round of the Masters this year. It was a bit cold, so not all the players were out there on the course, but the usual suspects made an appearance even if it was just at the range or the putting green.

This is the first thing that greets you when you step on the course. Not a bad sight.

The merchandise selection is vast. So is the crowd at 8:00 AM. The best advice I received was to hit the store first and get your bag checked (free). Then pick it up on the way out. That probably saved us a 30 minute wait.

Yes, 18 looks even tighter in person than it does on TV.

Two words. Recession proof.

We were told that every “critical” pine was wired with a lightning rod. I saw MANY critical pines.

From 115, hitting into 15 looks simple. After watching Danny Lee hit it once in four tries from near that distance though, I thought otherwise.

The setting of 13 green is amazing. Beautiful, serene and challenging.

Twelve tee sits only a handful of yards from 11 green and provides one of the most famous spectator areas for golf.

You can see the elevation change from the tee down to the green. Even though players will hit from a downhill and/or sidehill lie, the most challenging part of this hole is the green.

The elevation change is the first thing that jumps out at you when walking the grounds at Augusta. Every hole – except for #1 – goes downhill away from the clubhouse.

Miguel Angel Jimenez shares a laugh with Chez Reavie walking down 10.

Might be my favorite shot of the day. The Azaleas are all in full bloom and the course provides many vistas like this one.

We started by walking the course backwards. This was the first weed I saw… on #4. I saw one more weed the rest of the day. There are more lightning rods on the course than weeds.

Two of the greatest South African golfers ever sharing some thoughts with each other.

Phil was helping Drew Kittelson throughout their Tuesday practice round. Here they are discussing how quickly balls will roll off the front of 15 green.

Another great place to watch during the Masters is the stands next to 15 green. If you get the right spot, you can watch the action on 16 as well.

You may never have seen it on TV, but yes, there is a putting green. Yes it is very, very big.

The famous Butler Cabin sits right behind the practice green.

A tradition during the practice round is for players to skip balls across the pond in front of 16 and onto the green. Danny Lee nearly killed a patron right before Ross Fisher nearly holed this one out. I believe that Vijay did just that later in the day. (Holed one out that is…not kill a patron.)

It’s hard to imagine any place more picturesque than Augusta. Looking back down 13 with Rae’s creek winding towards twelve green is beautiful

The famous Magnolia Lane was not as impressive as I thought it would be.

From the front, the clubhouse looks much, much smaller than it actually is. Unfortunately, I didn’t get any from the back to show you what I mean.

A large selection of balls are constantly refreshed by about 5 attendants that sort and bag balls.

Looking down at the Par three course. The next day this place would be packed.

Tiger gets the usual reps in. I seriously don’t know how the man can get any work done. I wonder where he would fall on the list of most photographed persons in the world.

The Par 3 winner Tim Clark warms up on the range. For a while he looked like he could break the curse streak of Par 3 winners that haven’t won the Masters.

Very, very tall and big Georgia Pines. All of these were “critical” and wired appropriately.

Beautiful.