Wednesday at the Masters: Where the range balls are not quite like yours

It was one more indication that the world that PGA Tour pros inhabit is different than the average weekend golfer’s. The bins, located outside a small shed at the end of the range, were full of balls in green mesh bags available for caddies to grab for their players to use on the range.

No collection of red-striped “assorted brand” balls fished out of a pond here. The bags were placed into 10 bins by brand and model, the two largest for Titleist Pro VI and ProVIx.

A dozen ProVIx will set the common golfer back $55. At the range, the bags held roughly 50 balls each, free to any player to bash away.

A nice little perk.

Tuesday

The sun’s out, and there’s a slight chill in the air. In short, it looks like a much, much better day is ahead at Augusta National Golf Club after Monday’s rainy, abbreviated downer, which effectively ended at 11:30 a.m. when the club closed the course and (slowly) shooed fans off the grounds.

I just finished a plate of scrambled eggs at the press building dining room, which is a prime example of the way the club does things. The two-story building that is the work area for all media at the tournament seems to spare no expense. It feels a little bit like a hotel, with a beautiful atrium and grand staircase. Security guards open the door for media members as they enter.

Besides a spacious work area with floor-to-ceiling windows that look out onto the driving range, there’s a restaurant (free of charge) and a veranda.

It’s hard to put this into full context, but basically nothing else exists like this in sports. Part of it is because there’s no major sporting event that’s always in the same place, where it would make sense to construct an edifice like this. But a lot of it is because doing things with no expense spared or detail overlooked is how the club likes to operate.

It’s not a bad place to work for a week.

Monday

Good morning from Augusta National Golf Club, where the story this morning is the drizzle pelting the pristine grounds.

After uncertainty over whether the course would be open at all, the gates opened at 8 a.m. and fans flooded in, most of them to the gift shop.

This is serious business.

I talked with a guy who said he was circling the parking lot earlier in the morning, waiting for word that the course was opening in order to be first in line at the gates.

As literally hundreds of fans (patrons, if you prefer the club’s fancy terminology) waited in line for the gift shop for their Masters merchandise, my guy was already headed back to his car holding several large bags of gifts. Not a first-timer, clearly.

I spoke with two other fans who were in line for the gift shop. It was their first time at the Masters after 20 years of trying to get in through the lottery. And, having made it, their first mission was to buy mementoes before heading onto the course.

It is a funny thing about this tournament. It’s almost as if you have to go back home with something emblazoned with the Masters logo or were you really there?

Nothing like a Masters gnome to prove your attendance.

Sunday

With a hankering for both a pimiento-cheese sandwich and a truly unique sporting event, I’m bound for Augusta National Golf Club.

It is nothing less than a gigantic privilege to be contributing columns this week to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s coverage of the Masters. I’m looking forward to being on site starting Monday as my colleagues and I deliver stories and images from this one-of-a-kind event that transcends golf and even sport.

If you’ve never been to the Masters, it truly is something else. The tournament field is world class, the grounds are magnificent, the history is palpable, and the sandwiches are dirt cheap.

We invite you to check in at the AJC’s Masters page throughout the week to read about the latest from the tournament from my talented colleagues Stan Awtrey, Jack Leo and Fletcher Page and to browse the images captured by our two excellent photographers, Hyosub Shin and Jason Getz.

Personally, I’m excited to try to bring you a perspective of the Masters that you won’t get anywhere else. It’s not an easy task at an event covered by hundreds of journalists from all over the world, but I am grateful to be able to take this challenge on. Part of my charge this week will be to post a daily diary each morning to offer you a behind-the-scenes look at the tournament.

Now, which way to the concession stand?