{"id":814,"date":"2011-04-04T09:50:41","date_gmt":"2011-04-04T16:50:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/traveltattler.com\/?p=814"},"modified":"2011-04-27T13:06:10","modified_gmt":"2011-04-27T20:06:10","slug":"want-to-play-augusta-national-or-attend-the-masters-tournament","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/library\/814\/want-to-play-augusta-national-or-attend-the-masters-tournament","title":{"rendered":"WANT TO PLAY AUGUSTA NATIONAL OR ATTEND THE MASTERS TOURNAMENT?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"

Mid-Pines and Pine Needles are a Dream Come True! <\/p><\/div>\n

I am often asked to name my favorite day covering The Masters Tournament; and if I\u2019d ever managed to play Augusta National Golf Club?
\nWhile the grounds down Magnolia lane inside the famed Augusta National Golf Club are pristine, the club\u2019s surroundings on Washington Road are not as idyllic; unless you consider the landscaping at Hooters and Krispy Kreme equal to the idyllic azaleas, dogwoods and pines of the so-called \u201ccathedral in the pines.\u201d
\nMost of the hotels in Augusta are of the standard, chain variety \u2013 all desperately overpriced for one week each year. The only thing harder to score than a ticket to the tournament is a hotel room – even broken down, fleabag barracks cost $240 for the night.\ufffd
\nLuckily, I was invited to stay in a rented home near \u201cThe National\u201d with two colorful golf professionals: Michael Kernicki, who was then with Wuskowhan Players Club; Dick Stewart, from Kalamazoo Country Club; and their friend Tom Weibel, from Grand Rapids.
\nCome morning we all stumbled down the stairs in search of coffee, tea – or maybe an eye-opening Bloody Mary – and switched on the television. The local Augusta cable system was running a crawl on the bottom of screen: \u201cMasters Tournament first round play has been postponed due to wet course conditions as a result of heavy rains. First round play will begin on Friday morning. Augusta National Golf Club is closed for the day.\u201d
\nAt first we were disappointed. No golf action. But then we realized the rainout meant a full day on the town with the thousands of fans and people in the golf industry who now had nothing else to do! It was an all-day party at Augusta\u2019s watering holes such as the Partridge Inn and the French Market Grille. It was like a tailgate party without a football game to get to!
\nThat\u2026was my favorite day at \u201cThe Masters!\u201d
\nPlaying the highly private Augusta National is a near impossibility, and your logistical odds go down even further since the club is closed from May through October and 80-pecent of its very few members don\u2019t even live in Augusta. For a truly authentic Augusta feel, visit Pine Needles Lodge and Golf Club and Mid Pines Inn and Golf Club near Pinehurst, NC. The two quaint resorts, with classic Augusta-era 1920\u2019s Donald Ross-designed courses steps outside your quaint, stately lodging and adjacent to each other, are dripping with history, charm and pedigree (Pine Needles has hosted three U.S. Women\u2019s Opens.) The familiar flora, fauna and terrain give you the sense you are living and playing in a master painter\u2019s dream creation.
\nLog on to www.PineNeedles-MidPines.com<\/a> or call (910) 692-7111<\/p>\n

Read all of our great stories on by TheAPosition.com writers as we cover The Masters<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I am often asked to name my favorite day covering The Masters Tournament; and if I\u2019d ever managed to play… Read more »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":815,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3665,6120],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-814","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-library","category-the-masters"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/34\/2011\/04\/Pine.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=814"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":839,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/814\/revisions\/839"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/815"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=814"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=814"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/theaposition.com\/traveltattler\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=814"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}