Wayne Gretzky, Mark Wahlberg, Jim Nantz, Patrick Reed, Jerry Kelly, and Geoff Ogilvy discuss their first trip to Augusta National Golf Club -- home of The Masters --- and what makes it the most revered course in golf.
Transcript
I remember thinking wow, died and gone to heaven.
There's so many people I knew who loved golf
and idolized golf.
What they would pay to be in that position
and what they would give to have that opportunity
to stand there and just look out there.
The Masters is like Wimbledon, it's like Yankees Stadium,
it's like Toronto Make Believe Gardens
of the Montreal Forum.
There's something so unique about it.
When you're coming up the road to the clubhouse.
[Wayne] Magnolia Lane.
Oh my God, it's just incredible.
And the grass is greener, the fairways are bigger.
You come off Washington which doesn't really
feel like you're about to drive into the prettiest
place in the world.
And then Magnolia Lane is the prettiest driveway
in the world.
It is amazing, framing this tiny little bit
of this white clubhouse that we kind of know
so well at the end.
You get these little glimpses, these little kind of walkways
through the gaps between the buildings and stuff.
And you kind of see some grass and you see some trees.
I just remember locker room straight to the windows
and just seeing over it.
I just stared at it for like minutes I think.
It was a pretty cool experience.
Scared to take a divot on the first few holes.
Pretty normal stories, I think, for most guys.
Augusta National is really my favorite golf course
on the planet.
The formality of the place.
At first you feel like it's a little standoff-ish.
It's kind of like that strict disciplinarian teacher
that you had that at first you were so afraid of him,
but then they turned out to be your favorite teacher
over all the years.
That's kind of the way I look at Augusta National Golf Club.
You're never gonna have the same round.
It's the most diabolically incredible ingenious,
I mean it's beauty.
First time was whenever I was playing
at University of Georgia.
I'll never forget stepping up on the tee
and I was the first one to hit, shaking in my boots.
I just kind of toe kind of push drew into the fairway.
I was like all right, we got the first fair,
we're on the row.
Guy I'm playing with, he steps up and he hits this drive,
he hits it so low and off the heel it doesn't get
five feet off the ground and almost hits the thing
that sticks up with the pencils and everything in it.
It comes literally within a foot of hitting that
and ends up almost in the scoreboard to the right.
It was one of the worst shots I have ever seen in my life.
It kind of loosened up the day and lightened
everything up and we had a great time.
But I'll never forget stepping up there the first time
I ever played in my first round actually
as a professional knowing that I'm playing.
That Monday was just something else
to step up on those grounds.
There's so much history, but it's one of those events
that when you actually get to play it,
it's a dream come true.
I got the call that Mr. Chirkinian needed me
in Augusta in hours.
The camera crew had missed a connection,
they were gonna be delayed.
Frank said, well there's only one thing you can do now.
You're gonna go out and play 'til they get here.
I said, well Frank I'm in a jacket and a tie.
Next thing you know I'm on the first tee.
No warm up, no time to lose sleep the night before
about hitting that first shot.
And I was having the time of my life.
Next thing you know, we were standing in front
of the th hole and I'm reciting the line,
It's a tradition unlike any other, the Masters on CBS.
It's a great honor to have people think
that you're associated with not only Augusta,
but with that line.
(upbeat instrumental music)
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Wayne Gretzky, Mark Wahlberg and More on Their First Time At Augusta | The Masters | Golf Digest
