LIFE Mastering the bucket list MARK PAPOUSEK
As we get older, it’s nice when our
“bucket list” of things we really want to do actually starts to happen. I have already done a couple of things and struck them off the list. A few years ago on a trip to Arizona,
my wife, Bev, and I got to fly over the Grand Canyon; I told you that story here in Bounder. Another item on the list was a visit to beautiful Ireland: also a Bounder story. What could be next? Last fall a good friend and occasional
golf partner, Larry Aris, asked me if Bev and I would like to go a Masters practice round at the beautiful Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia – the most prestigious golf tournament in the world. Being there for the April tradition, where top golfers compete for the famous green jacket, was truly on my bucket list. I will never get a chance to play at such
a place. But I figured the next best thing would be to walk from the first tee to the 18th green and see everything in between. Unless you know someone in some
corporation who can access tickets for the Masters, you have to go online and register, and try to win a lottery for tickets to the actual event from Thursday to Sunday. You can also win tickets for the practice round. And that is just what Larry did. As Monday, April 7th
approached, my
excitement grew greater until the day that I walked on to the coveted grounds of Augusta. Bev and I, along with Larry and
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Anne Aris, Jim and Penny Aris and Phil and Laurie Rose, walked through the back gate entrance with about 30,000 others, and our day began. Photos are useful, but everyone told me
that you really have to see the famous golf course in person to get the full effect, and they were right. The first thing you notice is how pristine
this place is. There isn’t a blade of grass or flower out of place, thanks to thousands of volunteers and security. On a very overcast, foggy morning,
we arrived and walked onto the sacred grounds. I think I said 10 times in the first 10 minutes: “Do you believe this place?” The elevation at Augusta has to be seen
in real time rather than on television. Some of the hills these players are playing on are enormous and they always have a bad lie while setting up to hit the ball. I imagined the caddies having to carry the clubs up and down these hills. I guess that’s why they’re in such fantastic shape. Some of the players began their practice
round, and we caught up with Canadian Mike Weir as he was teeing off on the 8th hole. We noticed how short and thin the Masters champion is; but man, can he hit the ball! With the threat of rain and lightning,
Bev and I decided to take in as many holes and to cover as much ground as we could. We wanted to see all those places you see on television: Amen Corner, Byron Nelson
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