{"id":305,"date":"2011-03-25T17:58:49","date_gmt":"2011-03-25T17:58:49","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/teemoore.com\/?p=305"},"modified":"2011-05-24T23:14:35","modified_gmt":"2011-05-24T23:14:35","slug":"the-masters-in-the-zone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/305\/the-masters-in-the-zone","title":{"rendered":"The Masters: In the Zone"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago when I arrived at the Masters, the first place I visited was the new patron sitting area on the hillside overlooking the par-three 16<sup>th<\/sup> hole. For some reason, I\u2019m always curious to discover and assess the many tournament and course improvements made over the past year. \u00a0Many of them are never announced or commented upon by the club. After some storm-damaged trees were removed (at least that was the <em>official<\/em> Augusta National explanation), this large grassy area afforded wonderfully elevated views of not only the 16<sup>th<\/sup> green but also views of the 15<sup>th<\/sup> fairway and green, the 17<sup>th<\/sup> tee and also the par-three 5<sup>th<\/sup> green. The spot now lends an amphitheatre atmosphere and drama to the 16<sup>th<\/sup> hole. It\u2019s simply an ideal place to sit and watch the colorful Masters pageantry.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2011\/03\/mastershole16-21.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-307\" src=\"http:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2011\/03\/mastershole16-21-300x173.jpg\" alt=\"Masters patrons find an ideal viewing spot on the hillside overlooking the 16th green\" width=\"300\" height=\"173\" \/><\/a>Accompanied by a fellow golf writer, I expressed aloud my surprise that in the course of less than a year\u2019s time\u2014and more likely in less than nine months\u2014this area had been so transformed you\u2019d swear it had been there all along. \u201cHow does Augusta National do it?\u201d I asked. Just then a woman sitting to my right perked up and chirped in, \u201cWell, it\u2019s the climate zone. Everything grows so fast here in the South.\u201d Introducing herself, she said she was an avid gardener and horticulturist from Minnesota. \u201cIn my state, it would take several years for an area like this to appear so natural and intact after so much landscaping. But in this climate zone with so much sunlight, heat and humidity, grasses and shrubs just thrive and grow so fast.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Recently I chatted with Dr. Greg Lyman who lives in Lansing, Mich., and who serves as the Director of Environmental Programs for the Golf Course Superintendents Association of America. \u201cThe woman was absolutely correct. Augusta, Georgia obviously sits within a climate zone with a much longer growing season than in the Midwest,\u201d said Lyman. He even referred me to a website for the U.S. National Arboretum which listed the \u201cplant hardiness zones\u201d for the country. On that list, I found the area for Augusta to be in Zone 7 whereas Minnesota and Michigan fall into Zones 4 &amp; 5 respectively. The difference in number of \u201cgrowing days\u201d for plants is considerable between these zones.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut there\u2019s also the added advantage of the club being closed from roughly June to October,\u201d said Lyman. \u201cWith Augusta National\u2019s sizable staff and resources, changes and improvements to the golf course are all well-planned and orchestrated. For the hillside area at the 16<sup>th<\/sup> hole, I wouldn\u2019t be surprised if the superintendent and staff accelerated growth by laying down sod for the entire area.\u201d Lyman said sodding the area would enhance how the grasses would \u201cknit together\u201d and give a more finished appearance. \u201cThere are such high expectations for everything done on the golf course and property at the Masters,\u201d said Lyman. \u201cIt\u2019s really extraordinary how it\u2019s all carried out.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Rest assured there will be new improvements and landscaping found at this year\u2019s Masters. As always, \u201cground under repair\u201d signs won\u2019t be necessary.<\/p>\n<p>Read all of our great stories on by TheAPosition.com writers as we cover The Masters: \u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.theaposition.com\/partner\/the-masters\">http:\/\/www.theaposition.com\/partner\/the-masters<\/a><\/p>\n<p>Image courtesy of the Masters<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A few years ago when I arrived at the Masters, the first place I visited was the new patron sitting&#8230;  <a class=\"excerpt-read-more\" href=\"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/golf\/305\/the-masters-in-the-zone\" title=\"ReadThe Masters: In the Zone\">Read more &raquo;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":306,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5048,5354,5355,5975,9,6120,6127,6569,6570,4907,17],"tags":[159,1036820,714,2832,1036821,3251],"class_list":["post-305","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alternative-golf-assoc","category-austin-golf-trail","category-miura-golf","category-long-island-golf-assoc","category-golf","category-the-masters","category-so-cal-golf-assoc","category-azga","category-conn-golf-assoc","category-oregon-golf-assoc","category-courses-and-travel","tag-augusta-national","tag-golf","tag-golf-course-superintendents-association-of-america","tag-terry-moore","tag-masters","tag-greg-lyman"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/40\/2011\/03\/mastershole16-2.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=305"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":425,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/305\/revisions\/425"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=305"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=305"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/teemoore\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=305"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}