KINDERLOU FOREST GOLF CLUB VALDOSTA GA.
GOLFWEEK MODERN LIST # 198
GOLFWEEK RESIDENTIAL COURSE #85
VISIT KINDERLOU.COM
BY: RORY SPEARS
DOZEN TITLEISTS WITH A MASTERS LOGO-PRICELESS
ENJOY THE MASTERS THEME MUSIC,
with today’s column. To listen click here
A tradition unlike any other. Yes it is. This
year AGAIN unlike the last 10 years has the
race for a green jacket wide open and up for
grabs.
Tiger won’t be here (no loss), and several
other top names enter with nagging injuries.
They include Phil Mickelson, Justin Rose,
Jason Day and maybe a few others.
Mickelson (back), Rose (shoulder/elbow),
Day (thumb)., are all probable, Woods with
(back) is out.
What I find amazing is writers who suggest
that this years Masters is now “up for grabs”
because Woods is out. Woods hasn’t won a
green jacket since 2005. And surgery or not,
he wasn’t going to win this year either.
It’s also a surprise that some folks think the
ratings will go way down without Woods.
News to those folks, they didn’t go down
when Jack and Arnie quit playing and they
won’t go down this year either. If they some
how do, I’d be very suspicious about that
number, and where it came from. There are
many guys who “move the needle” and they
are playing this week.
With the winter that most America just went
through, there are millions of TV’s that are
waiting to see some of Augusta Nationals
look of paradise. Since their own courses
won’t look that way for two months yet.
CBS will not cry about Woods not playing,
they are not NBC or the Golf Channel. They
will address the situation and move on to
what is important, showing golf at one of the
best courses on the planet. Then showing us
a green jacket ceremony, after an exciting
back nine on Sunday. So turn off the Tiger
Trackers and enjoy.
The Masters a “Tradition” unlike any other
is just that. It’s about Magnolia Drive, that
stately clubhouse. It’s about the Pimento
sandwiches. It’s about bridges over Rae’s
Creek, those Azalea flowers and the first
rite of spring. It’s about the Big 3 hitting
the ceremonial drives, and remembering
the guys who won, and the guys who let
it get away.
It’s about the birthplace of the Champions
Dinner, having a past champion put the
jacket on the shoulders on the current one.
It’s about a Butler Cabin, and memories of
Bobby Jones, the one and only real Grand
Slam winner. It’s about Pinkerton’s and
acting like human being’s while on sacred
grounds. No sky boxes, just lawn chairs
with Masters logo’s encircling the greens.
Caddies in big white jump suits, and a Par
3 tournament that some players just want to
win. Players getting crystal for making an
eagle or an ace. Theme music that just says,
“The Masters.”
For you folks at home, the NCAA is over
but pools are happening everywhere. There
is much better odds of winning a Masters
pool than your local lottery.
This year there are no controversies about
who the members are, or aren’t.
So far this week rain has been frequent and
the grounds are wet. The last time it was like
this, John Deere’s very own Zach Johnson
came home with the green jacket. I would
not be surprised if he won again, or if Adam
Scott repeated.
In the meantime, it’s the Masters. Sit back
and enjoy, golf season is really here. Finally.
BIG 3 Partner Len Ziehm has posted his own
column on Georgia Golf, see what he has to
say on Summer Grove. The Jemsek Golf club
just southwest of Atlanta. Ziehm has more on
Kinderlou Golf Club in Valdosta Georgia.
See these stories at Lenziehmongolf.com.