THE MASTERS

I am not a good golfer. Occasionally I have to play with customers. These occurrences usually result in me being the comic relief. I can get around the course in around 100 strokes and I never hold anyone up...but I'm just not that good. The time it takes to get good...I probably will never be....but I do enjoy the time on the course. With that said, like everyone else, I love to watch the best in the world, realizing the talent and hard work it takes to play at such a high level.

In 2006, my boss came to me and and said that one of the factories that we rep wanted one of us to take a customer to Augusta Georgia...to The Masters Golf Tournament. He couldn't go...so would I go and take said customer. After a long contemplation of about 2/3 of a second, I respond with, "YEAH!!!!"

There was a problem though. My wife would be 8 1/2 months pregnant with our 3rd kid...and things did not sit right at the homestead with my decision. I reminded her that she was late with our first 2 kids and that it WAS THE MASTERS!!!! Needless to say, things weren't real kosher. She wanted me to go under any other circumstances...but to potentially miss the birth of our third child was unacceptable. She was into the weekly visits of her OBGEN practice. The male doctor, upon hearing the dilemma said, "I would go, she was late with the first two, and everything should be good." A week later, with a visit with the female doctor in the practice, the response was not quite so condoling...more like, 'Dave what the heck are you FREAKING doing?" My response, "I'm going to The Masters."

I went. Here was the set up. We would fly in early Thursday morning. Arrive in Augusta by noon. Eat lunch. Then the factory took us to play a round of golf at a local course, "not Augusta National ;-)) and then we would come back and have a wonderful catered dinner. We did not stay in a hotel but rather they rented several 8, to 10 thousand sq ft, multimillion dollar homes that we stayed in...I actually stayed 5 doors down from where Tiger Woods was residing for the weekend. This was a dream weekend. We would wake up Friday morning and head out to Augusta National to watch the tournament. As good as it looks on TV...it doesn't come close to what it is in real life. I caught a glimpse of what Adam must have felt like in the Garden of Eden. UNREAL! After walking the entire course, much of if following Phil Mickleson (that years winner) we camped out at the infamous hole 15...long par 5. Since it was Friday, and many were trying to make the cut to swing the sticks for the weekend, it was going to be a precarious hole for some. Do you lay up in front of the water hazard for a safe up and down to the hole....or do you drive the green and hopes of not going down the woeful back side or end up just short in the drink...I was 50 feet from the green able to watch the approach shots. Tiger, Mickleson, Garcia, Furek...they all came through.....what a thrill.

We returned that evening to our wonderful home to have another catered meal...and then to fly back to Dallas on Saturday. Oh yeah, I nearly forgot, my wonderful daughter Hope was born about 2 weeks later...yep she was late...and this weekend we are blessed to do three things....watch The Masters, celebrate Hope's 3rd birthday (a couple of weeks early), and to remember the sacrifice of the Master on the cross in Easter Celebration...that's how I roll. What Grace, Mercy, and Blessings