Out of the Woods

 A very early start got us to Augusta National golf club at about 8:30 in the morning. The first priority then being to empty my wallet in the merchandise shop. 

A fishing chair (no arms allowed) was the first priority. Then with the weather forecast tomorrow, a brolly would come in useful. After that it was bits and bobs for people who asked and a half zip to for me. Masters green of course.

Then it was to the course where we set up our chairs on 13 before walking up 18 to see where Sandy Lyle made his miracle bunker shot to win in 1988. Next we hit the practise green and driving range where most of the big names were honing their game. David Clarke was on the bag of Justin Rose. David and I used to play 3rd and 4th team for Twickenham RFC in the day.

We then met Derek Lawrenson , the Daily Mail golf correspondent, and Wallasey member who warned us Tiger would be on the course at about 2pm. We dropped in to the 16th where it is traditional for players to try to skim their ball across the lake onto the green. Bit of a mixed bag but lots of crowd participation. Interestingly John Rahm got a hole in one with his skim last year.

After seeing a few Europeans including Rory McIlroy, we avoided the Tiger Woods show to return back to the hotel.

So what to make of it? Well it is a huge money making operation for Augusta National. Everything is geared to making it easy to part with your money quickly. The course and the general real estate is immaculate but the layout of the course makes it difficult to follow players around it.

Couple that with the fact there were very few players out there to watch  then day 1 was a bit disappointing. The weather forecast tomorrow is not good but we will see how things are in the morning.

In the meantime there is some Southern fried cooking to enjoy. Grits anybody?

Full metal jacket

Well it's red actually, and every member of the Society of Liverpool Golf Captains has one. The tradition stems from the days when golfers played on common land and wore a red jacket to warn non-golfers that small hard spherical objects were flying around in their area. A bit like the armed forces raising red flags when they are having live firing practise in Aldershot or on Salisbury Plain. Some clubs still insist that their members wear a red outer garment when they are playing, in keeping with tradition.

It is said that when Bobby Jones, the eminent amateur golfer, was playing in and around Wallasey in the 1930's the image of the red jackets stayed with him so when he designed Augusta National and was looking for a suitable image for that Club, he thought of those red jackets. Red was associated in the Southern USA with the English during the civil war, so he opted for Green which was more acceptable being linked as it was to the Confederate army.

Anyway, today I went for my fitting at the local tailor in Hamilton Square, Birkenhead. The tailor, Mr Marchini,  was in the middle of making a red jacket for the incoming captain of another local club but was plaeased to pause and measure me up. I opted out of the trousers so was spared the question regarding which way I dress!!

The grandson of the tailor used to go to school with our youngest grandaughter, Ava, and they used to go to his house for home made pizza nights, after school. It really is a very small world.

So in a few weeks I will be back for a fitting and then it will be displayed in public at the Spring dinner in early April. The first person to say 'which circus do you belong to' will almost get a laugh. Ho, ho ho!