Excuse me while I rant about the loss of imagination.
The decision to televise the par-3 tournament of the Masters is wrong, and the Augusta members are wrong to allow its intrusion into this little known event.
Augusta's par-3 layout, (commissioned by Cliff Roberts to let members and special guests complete a round of golf in under an hour) has been a source for imagination and storytelling for those lucky enough to hold a practice ticket on the Wednesday of The Masters for years and years. I have been lucky enough to have seen it 3 times, and I enjoy tremendously the fact that I was personally viewing a little bit of a "secret" on those hallowed grounds of Augusta.
Imagination, and storytelling will be gone for future ticket-holders of the Par-3 event...gone is that little secret...the excitement that you are seeing something that only a few privileged folks are witnessing...
...it's gone as of today.
Let me give you an example of how will feel from now on:
BEFORE TV: Me: "Hey Joe...you should've seen the excitement at the Par-3 tournament at the Masters."
Joe: "There's a Par-3 tournament? I thought it was just a practice round of the golf course...you mean they play on just the par 3's?"
Me: "No, Joe, they actually built a par-3 golf course out there, and on Wednesday's, all the guys play a little tournament on it....they take their kids, friends...whomever...and they caddy for them....it's a riot!"
Joe: "That does sound like a good time...man I'd love to get tickets to that someday."
Me: "There were 18 holes-in-one's! Tiger hit one...it landed off the green, but had so much backspin it 4-wheeled itself back onto the green...into the hole!"
Joe: "Wow! I bet that was exciting to be there...wish I coulda gone."
AFTER TV: Me: "Hey Joe...you should've seen the excitement at the par-3 tournament at the Masters."
Joe: "Yeah, I saw a little bit of it over at Shaw's Bar & Grill. We watched a couple holes...then lost interest....you shoulda seen the Budweiser commercials though! Man, they were good!"
Me: "Oh...you don't say."
...A Tradition unlike any other...is gone.
Thanks for reading. Keep it in the short-grass,
JFB
2 comments:
The real mystique of Augusta is that few of us will ever be able to play the course...main, par 3 or otherwise. 99% of us can't even get in the gates. That is the mystique of AGGC.
I don't understand the rest of the complaints, stemming from CBS showing just the last few holes in the past to now covering the tournament wall to wall. Why shouldn't the rest of us be able to see the par 3 tourney, most of us don't have the means to attend Augusta, even for a practice round, and televising play on this short course might just attract a few more golfers to the game.
Ahh come on, any golf coverage is always a good thing, otherwise they'll fill up the slot with another desperate housewives in reality heaven soap type thing.
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