Golf

If you are a true fan of the sport of golf then this week,  April 4 - April 10th, is a holiday.  Not a holiday as in "I'm taking the day off" but a holiday like a period of festivity, a reason to be excited and joyous.

Yes, this week is the week of The Masters.  The most special, dare I say, sacred week in all of athletics.  I know the World Series, the Super Bowl, the Final Four and the World Cup are special too to their own fervent fans, but The Masters has an aura.  And you can't say that about too many sporting events. 

Now, I grew up with zero knowledge of golf. It seemed to me that golf was a sport for rich people.  Defying my stereotype, my husband (who was decidedly not rich growing up) taught himself how to play golf when he was 12 by swinging a cheap club in his backyard and enjoying the game whenever he could.  He played a lot when he was a single young adult.  Sadly, I don't think it would take two hands for me to count the number of days he played a round of golf in 2010, but still, he loves it.  I mean, LOVES it. So too, he loves this week and looks forward to it all year long. 

Several years ago we had the great good fortune to be offered 4 "badges" (I was admonished by my husband not to refer to them as tickets or passes) to the final round of The Masters. 

If you are familiar with the event, you know that badges are not expensive but almost impossible to come by (many are owned by families and passed down from generation to generation) and so it was such a pleasure and a complete last minute surprise that our family of 4 was offered badges and was able to make the trip.  My husband had been to The Masters but for our family (not all golf-lovers, but since made converts) to make the journey together was really special.  

We sat in the gallery, surrounded by visitors from Scotland (real golf lovers) and California and Arizona and many other far away places.  Having traveled just 90 minutes to Augusta, Georgia, the thrill of seeing the world's best golfers on one the most beautiful golf courses in the world  (the grass is so gorgeous it appears artificial even from inches away) was unmistakable.

So this week my husband will mark the occasion of The Masters by staying up after the 11 pm news to watch the highlights of the practice rounds. He'll check The Golf Channel for constant updates. He'll probably hope a friend or client will call at the last minute with a spare badge but he'll definitely be happy with his 6 day holiday.