In 2011, former Penn State Assistant Professor of Chemistry Larry Hendry and his wife Wendy invited my wife Heidi and me to visit them at their home in Augusta, Ga. I had become friends with Larry because, in his spare time at Penn State, he was the Icers head coach when the club program was resurrected in 1971 after a 25-year hiatus from fielding a team. He was inducted into the Icer Hall of Fame in 2003 and has remained a good friend of mine for years.
Larry is a retired researcher and entrepreneur in the biomedical field (a really smart guy!) but it was his “side job” that brought us south. He just happens to be the supervisor of the marshals at the famed 18th green at the Augusta National Golf Club for the Masters tournament. We enjoyed a magical day at the Masters compliments of Larry and Wendy and I thought it would be my last chance to ever see the magnificence that is Augusta National Golf Club.
Fast-forward to April 4 of this year and it was Déjà vu all over again. But this time we were fortunate enough to bring along our golf-playing 15-year old son Ryan with us.
The Hendrys’ southern hospitality has a distinctly northern touch as both lived in the Northeast. Along with visiting Larry and Wendy, we spent time with their daughter Kerry and her son Miles, visiting from New York, and their granddaughter Caroline.
Ryan and Heidi attended the Monday practice round and due to traffic; I decided it was best to drop them off at a back gate at the Augusta National Golf club. It turned out to be rather fortuitous. As they made their way to the 16th green they arrived just in time to see Rory McIlroy’s hole-in-one. Rory described the reaction as the loudest cheer he has ever heard on a golf course. And this was at a Monday practice round.
Ryan and Heidi tooled around the course all afternoon. Ryan was in awe of the great golfers, the history, and the course itself. Heidi was people watching and looking for the “cutest” golfer (In 2011 it was Aaron Baddeley and this year her choice was Frenchman Romain Langasque).
Kerry Hendry was actually at the course working at a press conference announcing a new commercial for IBM that shows their computer “Watson,” interacting with former Masters Champion, Tom Watson. That evening she surprised Ryan with a Masters golf flag autographed by Tom Watson who was playing in his final Masters at the age of 66.
On Tuesday I attended the practice round with Ryan and enjoyed one of those special father and son experiences that you hope every dad gets to enjoy with a child at least once in their lifetime.
As we entered the main gates we immediately went to the practice range and were treated to seeing some of the greatest names in the game of golf today.
Ryan was able to get his picture with and an autograph from Ricky Fowler. He got up close to Jordan Spieth, Bubba Watson, JB Holmes, Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose, and some 28 year old from England named Danny Willett.
As we made our way into the grandstand at the 16th tee, we got ready for one of the great traditions at the Masters’ Tuesday practice round. After each player hits their normal tee shot, the crowd all begins to holler “skip, skip, skip” and the players willingly oblige them to raucous applause. The players step up just to the front of the pond and drop a ball and skip it the length of the water trying to get it on to the 16th green.
It is an amazing display of the talent that these golfers possess. The scene resembles a football game as the crowd roars with the delight with every shot that skips up onto the green. They let out a collective ‘ahhhh,” if a ball doesn’t make it or impacts into the mud at the front of the pond.
How good is Rory McElroy? After acing the hole on Monday, he casually dropped his ball and skipped it across the pond up onto the green and ended up a mere 4 feet from the hole. It was better than anyone else’s ‘real” shot.
Bubba Watson is sometimes misunderstood and criticized by the media and his fellow golfers. Well, Bubba put on quite a show for the fans at 16. After the pros did their best in skipping their shots across the pond, Bubba waved his fellow players back to give their caddies the opportunity to skip the ball across the pond. The crowd was in a frenzy — yes, at the Masters.
All three caddies lined up and simultaneously swung. Not one of them even hit the water. Their shots all sliced over toward the crowd who had to scatter to avoid getting hit. It was a further reminder of just how skilled the professional golfers really are.
As Ricky Fowler’s group came up to hit, Bubba Watson stayed on the green and held the flagstick much to the delight of the crowd. He did a good job of pointing out how none of the shots came close to hitting him. The crowd roared in laughter and with their approval.
One of the things that stood out at The Masters was how educated the gallery was about the game of golf and the history of Augusta National. Beginning with Angel Cabrera and with every succeeding past champion, the crowd cheered with reverence. It was their way of emphasizing just how difficult it is to win the coveted green jacket that is awarded to the winner of the Masters on Sunday in the historic Butler Cabin.
As we made our way up to see Larry at the 18th hole we cut across the 15th fairway during a break between groups. A stranger asked if we wanted our picture taken and of course we said “YES.” So there I stood with my youngest son in the middle of the course with the crowds at the 15th and 16th greens behind us and we took a picture we will both cherish the rest of our lives.
We arrived at the great finishing hole just as former U.S. Open Champion Jerry Pate hit his approach shot. His errant shot glanced off the head of a spectator in the gallery. When Jerry approached he made sure the gentleman was ok, gave him an autographed golf glove, and then prepared for his shot. All he did was hole-out from 60 feet away to the roars of the crowd surrounding the green.
Jerry then turned, took off his golf hat and gave a playful head tap to the gentleman he had just dinged with his golf ball for giving him good luck! These guys are as classy as they are fun.
As we left Augusta National, as founder Bobby Jones wanted it to be called, we realized it had truly become Augusta International. You saw it in the competitors as well as the spectators. People spoke Italian, German, Spanish, Japanese, Korean, and French and of course there were English and Australian accents heard all over the course.
It was 72 degrees and not a cloud in the sky, and as I looked back one last time it seemed like a dream. Based on the smile on my son’s face, it was a dream come true and it was simply ‘Master-ful.’
