Georgia On Our Minds

And suddenly, just like that, it’s crept up on us.  Next week is Masters week and part of my brain is saying, “At last,” while another part is countering with, “What, already?”

I can almost smell the flowering dogwood and the azaleas from here.  I can see in my mind’s eye the wonderful synchronicity of the grounds’ crew with their carefully orchestrated cutting and mowing patterns;  I can hear the cheerful and heartfelt greetings from the volunteers as they proudly welcome visitors from all over the world to “their” little piece of heaven.  The bird song is tuneful, (but the powers-that-be refuse to confirm whether the too-regular chirruping we hear on our televisions is the real deal or artificially produced) and the rolling green fairways are more perfect than any playing surfaces have a right to be.

It’s all so familiar but refreshingly so and, despite the fact that I’m not there in person this year, I find my spirits soaring at the delicious prospect of some wonderful viewing ahead of us all.  I am hoping, however, to work up to an uncomfortable Sunday – full of angst, shouting at the TV, hand-wringing and pacing about – because that will mean one of my favourites is in with a chance of expanding his wardrobe with a certain green jacket.

There are a number of players who would induce this kind of behaviour in me and in no particular order my main favourites are:  Tommy Fleetwood, Tyrrell Hatton, Bob MacIntyre, Justin Rose, Ludvig Aberg, the Hojgaard twins Nicolai and Rasmus, Shane Lowry ……and, of course, Rory McIlroy.

Ah, Rory.

It’s absolute nonsense, of course, but it’s hard not to think there is more on the line for Rory than any of the others.  Ahead of him is the prospect of becoming only the sixth player in history to complete the Career Grand Slam of winning all four majors at least once.  And wouldn’t it be great if we could all finally draw a veil over the memory of his spectacular implosion in 2011 when he handed the title to his rivals after taking a four-shot lead into the final round?  Each passing year seems to make the erasure of that particular memory more difficult.  The etch-a-sketch function of my memory, so reliable in other areas of my life, stubbornly refuses to work in respect of Rory and The Masters.

Word has filtered through that the Irishman has already made his annual scouting mission to Augusta National Golf Club ahead of the tournament.  Hurricane Helene, responsible for so much devastation and hardship to the local community, did not spare the golf course and there are fewer trees now than before.  Visually the 16th hole is slightly different, though I doubt if we’ll pick that up from our TV screens and, seemingly, four greens have been altered to some degree – the 1st, 8th, 15th and 16th.  No matter how familiar lines and slopes may be to loads of the players, it seems like there’s always something new to learn.

The day after this blog is posted we do have a chance of our own sneak preview of the golf course with the broadcast of the final round of this year’s Augusta National Women’s Amateur.  Started in 2019, this is the sixth playing of the tournament – Covid claimed the 2020 edition – and already derring-do deeds seem to be required to lift the title.  The first winner was Jennifer Kupcho who played her final six holes in five under par to hold off the effervescent Maria Fassi of  Mexico.  The skills, sportsmanship and joy with which these two battled for that inaugural title was more than the ANGC could have wished – it made future iterations a must-watch for golf fans.

Last year there were more fireworks when England’s Lottie Woad found herself two shots behind the talented American Bailey Shoemaker, who shot a record-breaking 66, with four holes to play.  Cool as a cucumber, Lottie birdied three of her last four holes – in fact, she single-putted four of her last five greens – to pip Bailey by a shot and become the first European winner of the title.

Now more exciting opportunities are opening up for the 21-year old Florida State University student.  This year a universities ranking has been formed to provide a pathway directly on to the LPGA tour.  Acquisition of twenty points over a specific time period will provide a similar route to female athletes to the one Ludvig Aberg took to the PGA Tour a couple of years ago.  It means being able to gain status on the LPGA tour, with the added bonus of avoiding Q-school.

Lottie’s past record has helped her build up that points score admirably.  Consider these achievements:  winning the ANWA title;  reaching No 1 in the world amateur ranking and winning the McCormack medal;  finishing tied 10th and tied 23rd in a couple of the 2024 majors;  playing in the Curtis Cup and the Palmer Cup.  Amongst other results that little lot has bagged her sixteen of the required twenty points and she has loads of opportunities to annexe the four extra ones that are needed.  That would then put her in the lovely position of a fast track to the LPGA but able to defer membership until she has graduated from uni in 2026.

Becoming the first player to defend her ANWA title would be a great start and I shall watch with interest, as I will the men the following week.

As we all know, Augusta National can make…….or break dreams.