Masters Day 1 - Mike's perspective

Coming into Augusta was like a dream. Part of me felt like I had been here before based on all of the books I've read and pictures I've seen. As we started to drive down Washington Road at 1am in the morning last night I was so excited to see the front gate knowing that we'd probably only see the Augusta National Golf Club Members Only sign. As we slowly drove by I couldn't help but smile. I couldn't wait for Monday. We arrived at our apartment that we were staying at for the week and was very surprised at how nice it is. We finally lay down to sleep around 2:30am and I don't think I fell asleep until 3 or 3:30am. I couldn't stop thinking about where I wanted to go and what I wanted to do.
We got up at 5:50 this morning and I gave Mandy 40 minutes....no girl time getting ready! She was great and we actually left before. Arriving at the parking area I felt like we were parking for Golfer's Disneyland. Everything was all set up and there was a line forming outside the front gates. We waited patiently outside and had a few conversations with some other random golf addicts. About the time we were let in the clouds opened up and let out a quick 20 minute shower. Luckily during this time we were going through the merchandise tent. This merchandise tent was awesome!!!! So many cool things! If I was independently wealthy I probably would have bought one of everything. All of these things I had only seen on ebay were right there at my fingertips. We walked out with a small dent in our wallets...although that was expected.
The food was soo cheap! And actually pretty good....when I asked them what kind of beer they had they said....Masters special brew....which means....Augusta National doesn't want to commercialize the Masters tournament.
Ok so onto the course.....oh my gosh! Mandy and I walked onto the course which brings you out in the middle of the first hole and the first thing I noticed was how perfect the grass was....I have no idea how they do it but it was like carpet. We walked up towards the clubhouse and I was in shock....it is so surreal. I told Mandy it was like being at Disneyland times a thousand. We stood there and took it in.....oh and by this point the weather had gotten a lot better and there was no more rain the rest of the day.
We started walking the course and the first thing I notice is that TV doesn't do the hills justice. Hole number 10 is straight downhill....it's amazing. We walked over to Amen Corner (11, 12 and 13) and I just can't believe my eyes....it's amazing!! Absolutely beautiful!
I'm not sure what else to write....I'll probably right more throughout the week but for now I am just trying to soak in everything. I was in awe and can't wait til tomorrow....set the alarm for 5:50am.

Mandy's Time Stalk, I mean, Talk

12:30am We cross the Georgia state line, Mike gasps and squeals.
1:00am We cross the city lines into Augusta, Mike laughs because I missed our exit.
1:10am We slowly approach the hollowed ground of Augusta National (via strip mall suburbiaville, not what I expected!)
1:11am We slowly drive by the famous magnolia lane, Mike cries, not really, but he was excited!
2:30am Laying in bed unable to sleep, both excitement and time change
3:00am Still awake
5:50am Time to start the adventure, I better hurry my allotted 40 mins is slowly dwindling!
7:00am Arrive at the gates, ahhhahhhahhhahhh (that is church worship sounding music)
7:45am Finally allowed to get in, glad we got there so early, although we were first in line.
8:30am Check out at the merchandise tent, which put a big dent in the bank account. (Not that we haven’t already done that)
9:45am Ahhhahhhahhhahhh, the music plays as we approach the course, I pinch Mike, we squeal (quietly of course!), I shake Mike, we smile, and finally I remind Mike how awesome I am for planning the trip!
10:00am The first of many trips to the very prestine bathrooms, no port a potties here!!
10:45am We stare gazingly onto Amen Corner, what a glorious splendor to take in, Mike takes his 300th picture
11:30am We head to practice area after walking the whole course, on the way a little boy says “this grass is so soft, and it is real!” I pinch Mike again.
1:00pm Mike and I stake out our spots to get autographs.
1:30pm I am the coolest, I got Bernard Langer’s autograph on our undated Masters flag with all the past champions, Booya!!
1:45pm Mike takes his 500th picture
2:00pm We spot Nick Faldo about to have lunch outside the clubhouse, we watch and wait with anticipation! Although they are not allowed to give autographs on this side of the clubhouse (rules, rules, rules) we remain hopefully and wait.
2:15pm Nick runs inside the clubhouse, then comes back out. Mike tries to make eye contact so he can get an autograph, no luck.
2:20pm Nick enjoys some yummie soup as a starter, still no autograph, not even a chance.
2:30pm Nick enjoys a delicious hamburger! Still nothing, chance getting smaller!
2:35pm Tiger shows up on the green behind us, all attention turns to him, Mike leaves me on guard and goes to take his 600th picture
2:45pm Nick devours a piece of pumpkin pie, starting to feel like a stalker, chance miniscule!
2:55pm Nick leaves, boo, all that stalking and nothing to show for it. But hey I just watched a Masters champion eat an entire meal. Geeze Mike is rubbing off on me!
4:00pm Head to the 16th to watch some players skip balls across the water, very fun!!!
5:00pm 3 hours of sleep + Mike’s fast walking + excitement + the anxiety of trying to get autographs + 20 mile an hour winds + sunburn = although a very fun day, one that needs to come to an end sooner than later.
6:00pm Grab our expensive loot and end the first day of the most magically week of Mike’s life.
7:00pm Back at our apartment we’re staying….final picture count for the day: 855.

Wrap up:
Ahhhhahhhhahhhh, pinch, walk, shake, pee, picture, pinch, laugh, shake, pinch, pee, walk faster, take more pictures, pee, stalk Nick, walk, sit, pinch, ahhhhhahhhhhahhhh!!!

There are worse things...

Disclaimer: As many know I have a tendency to exaggerate, but please note; all statement that follow are TRUE in their entirety. As weird and hard to believe as they may seem, yes folks my husband IS this crazy.

We are at T minus 3 hours before we depart for the wild and crazy adventure, and I thought it would be a good idea to let you all in on my big secret. Mike is certifiably insane about the Masters (ok, not such a big secret). I will attempt in a brief but well documented way to describe the last week to all of you, mostly for laughs but maybe a little bit for your sympathy. At Mike’s parents’ house Friday Karen looked at me several times and just said “Mandy, I am sorry,” that is a pretty good description of what I am going through.
“HEY, HEY, HEY, HEY, um, um, what hole do you want to go to first, huh, huh, which one, Amen Corner, I bet it is Amen Corner.” This all said with an attempt to sound genuine, because we all know it doesn’t matter what hole I want to see first, and I am ok with that. I have had to remind myself many times this week that I created this “Masters Monster” on more levels than one.
The text message read something like this, “This is better than any Christmas, EVER”! This was followed later that day with “falling asleep is harder than it ever was at Christmas.” The next morning brought a very interesting story about Mike’s method for not thinking about the Masters so he could fall asleep. “The first thing that came to my mind was Martha Stewart, so I tried to imagine her show, but before I knew it she was explaining how to properly decorate with Masters flags in your home.” “So when that didn’t work I decided to think about the Price is Right, but wouldn’t you know the item up for bid was a Masters flag.” (In case you think I am starting to exaggerate, I assure you I am not).
“I am excited to see the front nine, I don’t know much about the layout. Well, except for 1, 2, 8, and 9. Oh and #3 is a par 3 and #4 is a par 4…, so it will be fun to learn more.” This type of information has been flying around our house like poo in a monkey pin. “Did you know Jack was color blind?” “Did you know that Clifford Roberts didn’t let some guy be a member because he had too many kids?” “Did you know if you have a coke can when you go in they will ask you to pour it into a Masters cup?” Magnolia lane this and amen corner that, and autograph this. These helpful tidbits of information have only been interrupted by LOUD outbursts of squealing, laughing, jumping, wooing, wowing, and many other insanities.
What you might find amazing is that in a year my husband finished maybe one book along with a slew of other half read books. But in a period of one short month he has read 3 and half books about the Masters. You might also like to know that a tight wad every other week of the year, there is no mention of budget when it comes to the Masters tournament and memorabilia. My husband who can be a bit shy when it comes to meeting new people had no problems calling a complete stranger to talk Masters (he is also a Masters freak and was helping Mike learn the ropes.) Let’s just say when you are passionate about something it can change your perspective.
So all this probably comes as no surprise to you, but what you may not know is that I am excited too. This is mostly because I just love seeing my husband like this, but also because I am ready for some fun in my life. I can’t describe to you what this experience has been like so far and I can’t wait to experience what is in store for us this week. So if there is one thing I can say it would be that there are far worse things my husband could be obsessed with.
(This has been edited by the Masters Monster…..oh and Mandy Amen Corner should be capitalized and Masters does not have an apostrophe!)

The Spreadsheet...

As Mandy and I prepare to leave on Sunday for the trip of my life to the Masters I started to think about my obsession and when it started and the results of it. One of the things that came to mind was "the spreadsheet". Most probably know that I'm an individual who is pretty anal and likes to be organized so it should be no surprise that I use an Excel spreadsheet to track purchases and prices of the Masters items I see come across ebay. I remember when the spreadsheet started out with only one tab for the Masters annuals that I saw sold on ebay. I would keep track of selling price, bids, date sold, shipping cost, starting bid, buyer. All of this so I could wait for the book to be at a reasonable price for me to buy. I wanted to be a smart buyer. I came to realize that there could be some money made on ebay because of people listing things incorrectly. So as I started to work on my collection of Masters annuals (published from 1978 through 2008 and each year after) I ended up buying duplicates to sell and make a profit. From this point on the spreadsheet took on a life of it's own. I started keeping track of the badges each year and then started a new tab that was titled "Other stuff." I put everything else interesting in this tab. I now buy and sell things on ebay and keep some of the more rare items for our golf room.



You may be laughing at this point and thinking that I'm a complete dork, but this dork has made several thousand dollars of profit from buying and selling on ebay.......oh wait I forgot about the cost of the other items that I keep. Either way it's something I love to do. The spreadsheet has grown into a huge workbook (11MB) with formulas and even it's own Income Statement with revenue, cost of goods sold and net income. I'll be filing my 10K soon with the SEC. Ok maybe not....but really, it does have and income statement! Why do I write about this obsession of mine and subject myself to the ridicule to come from family and friends....I'm not sure.

Cutest dog ever!

Seriously....our dog is the cutest! I dare any of you to show me pictures of a cuter dog. I snapped these shots today as Flip Flop was lying around. I love this dog!

Dream of a lifetime! My trip to the Masters!

I'm not sure when my obsession with the Masters started. It may have been during the 1997 Masters when Tiger Woods won his first Masters or Phil Mickelson's quest for his first major championship win which was finally realized in 2004. Many people ask me why the Masters...why not the US Open, PGA Championship or the Open? I think it is the fact that the same course is used every year and there is so much history on the hallowed grounds of Augusta National. The tournament has been played there since 1934 with so many amazing winners. Each year I watch the entire tournament and dream about what it would be like to walk the course and see all of the different holes and witness the presenting of the green jacket.

I've had an obsession with the Masters for a long time but my obsession with collecting Masters memorabilia started in 2001 with my first Masters flag. Now 8 years later I have many more flags and a whole shelf full of Masters books. And some of you may know of my "spreadsheet" in which I track all of my purchases and other things I wish I could buy. I used this spreadsheet to buy extra books and sell them for a profit on ebay. My ultimate goal for my memorabilia is to get as many of the Masters winners to sign my undated Masters flag.

Collecting Masters memorabilia and taking Thursday and Friday off of work so I can stay at home and watch the entire tournament are one thing but to attend the tournament is my dream and up until last weekend I was never sure it would ever happen. Last Sunday my wonderful wife took me on a "scavenger hunt" that she said was from Valentine's Day. I took her to Vancouver BC so she didn't have a chance to do this "scavenger hunt". Throughout the scavenger hunt on Sunday I had no idea where we were going and was having fun trying to figure out all of the clues. When I walked into my parents house thinking that I was getting the final clue I saw my mom and brother on the computer and didn't suspect what was about the happen. I turned the corner and saw all of my friends and family who had shown up for an early 30th birthday party (my birthday isn't until May 17). I was completely shocked and when I saw that it was a "Masters" birthday party I was even happier.....I still didn't know what Mandy was about to tell me. When she told me that we were going to the Masters I lost it.

My dream....the number one thing on my "Bucket List"....the place that covers our walls in our tv room. Ever since Mandy told me I haven't been able to sleep. I've been researching where to go and what to see each day. Mandy has limited my talking about the Masters to 10 minutes a day. I can't wait to go and am so thankful I have the most amazing wife. Mandy, thank you for giving me this amazing gift! You are the best wife ever!!!

Photography - My new obsession!

First off we haven't posted any new blogs lately and I would like to start up again. So here goes the first in a while. This last December my lovely wife bought me a new camera. I'm not sure entirely what got me so into photography, maybe it's the few pictures I took with my point and shoot where I thought to myself, "I should be a professional." I think meeting my friend John Keatley was also a reason I got into it because he does it for a living and his photos are amazing. Knowing it was a big purchase I had to research which one was going to be perfect. I didn't know a lick about photography terms like ISO, f stops, aperture, auto exposure bracketing. I spent hours researching which digital SLR I should get. Mandy can attest to my obsession with researching it. I borrowed books from the library on different cameras to try and figure out which was best. After a long time I finally decided on the Canon EOS XSi. It was going to be a Christmas present and so Mandy ordered it online. Unfortunately it came one day about two weeks before Christmas while Mandy was away. I answered the door and the UPS guy handed me a big box that said B&H video. Mandy knew I wouldn't be able to wait 2 weeks so she told me to open it early. Ever since that day I've taken about 4,500 photos. It's become my new hobby and I love to take my camera every where I go. I absolutely love it. Being a left brained person with little creativity this is my way to try and be creative. So without further ado, I'm posting a few of my favorite pictures. Also check out my flickr site: http://www.flickr.com/photos/32585671@N05/