Post #6: A Tradition Unlike Any Other

Everyone has their Masters favorites: CBS Calls, Champions, Holes, Memories.

I was born just a few months shy of Jack Nicklaus winning his last, but I remember sitting in my grandparents' den and watching Tiger Woods win his first. That was 1997, I was eleven, and it is hardly my first or my last memory from the greatest week in sports: Masters week.

I feel as though those of us who grow up in South Carolina have a special relationship with that special place just across the Savannah River and right off of Washington Road. While our state has never produced a Masters champion, Sandlappers have certainly shaped the course of Augusta National... no pun intended.

Outside of Georgia, it's South Carolina who has had the most members join the prestigious club. Famously, "Hootie" Johnson, and now, Darla Moore have been forerunners within the Club's membership ranks. Johnson, a Columbia banker, was Chairman during the course renovation years and during Tiger Woods' earlier years, where the Masters went from the best competition in its sport to the best competition in all of sports. Of course, Darla Moore will forever be remembered as the first female member, and her astuteness will shape the course for years to come.

It's just a wedge shot down I-20 from Columbia, so many South Carolinians have had the fortune of seeing the azaleas and dogwoods in bloom. But it's not the flowers you go to see-- it's the golf.

The list of champions reads like a Who's Who-- Sarazen, Nelson, Hogan, Palmer, Nicklaus, Player, Watson, Ballesteros, Faldo, Couples, Woods, Mickelson... and many others. Personally, my favorite does not make that list of notables, he's the Spanish-speaking, cigarette-smoking Argentine, Angel Cabrera (known as "el Pato" due to his waddle). The guy has two American wins-- a US Open and a green jacket.

Seeing the course on television is great, but in person nothing rivals it. While folks are quick to claim Hole 12 as their favorite, or maybe the 16th, the easy answer for me is the Par 5 13th. If you're going to make a run on your way into the Clubhouse, this is where it has to start. Take a dunk into Rae's Creek, and you're looking at a long afternoon. Besides, who can forget Phil Mickelson's famous shot out of the pinestraw, leaving him with a short eagle putt (that he would of course miss)?

That shot, like so many others, led to a memorable call by the CBS crew. Most notably, Verne Lundquist and Jim Nantz have had their fair share of famous one-liners, but maybe none as memorable as Verne's call at the 18th in 1986: "YES SIR!!!!!!"

 So whether it's because it signals the arrival of spring, its a holdout in the fast-paced world of today, its the piano intro music to the CBS coverage, or just the golf itself; you can stop waiting-- Masters Week is finally here "OH MY!!!!!!!!!"