Georgia (and South Carolina) On My Mind

No doubt you loyal readers out there underwent some sort of withdrawal due to the absence of The Grandstander in recent days. As you know, Marilyn and I, along with Mare's brother Jim and his wife Judy, left last Monday for a visit to the hallowed grounds of The Augusta National Golf Club and The Masters golf tournament. Following our visit to Tuesday's practice round, where, as you can see, we did get to see the eventual champion in action, we visited the beach town of Edisto Island, SC for some mini-vacation time.

The trip entailed a lot of driving - over 1,600 miles through six states, and the drive home on Saturday was a killer, but the whole trip was well worth it.

This was my third visit to Augusta National, and I will say what I always say:

A) No television picture really captures how beautiful the course and the grounds of the golf course are.

B) You have no idea from watching TV how hilly the course is.

C) The Masters is the most well run and efficient sporting event I have ever attended.

D) They do not gouge you down there. For example, at lunchtime I visited a concession area and bought 2 sandwiches, a bag of chips, a chocolate chip cookie, 1 Coke, and 1 beer and the entire tab came out to $11 and change. Think of that the next time you go for an $8 beer at PNC Park.

E) The money you DON'T spend on food is more than made up for in the money that you spend in the merchandise buildings. I'd love to have the receipts for just one day from the merchandise sales at The Masters. And, yes, we did our share to boost the coffers of The National last Tuesday!

Edisto Island was a nice beach area. Not as nice as Hilton Head, but much more quiet and quaint. We stayed at a Wyndham Resort in a rental "cottage." Very nice place to stay. Ate some great seafood and played golf at a very nice course on the grounds of the resort (although, MAN was it windy that day!!!).

All in all, a great trip. Really nice to be away like that and realize that you don't have to come back and go to work!

And how about that golf toon-a-ment that they put on this year? Watching the action on Sunday afternoon certainly was enjoyable, and Phil Mickelson certainly was a great and deserving champion. How about that shot from the pine straw, through the trees, and onto the green at #13 from over 200 yards out? That, my friends, was a GOLF SHOT!!!