AUGUSTA, Ga. — Andrew Novak can watch Masters video in his sleep. YouTube spotlight reels, outdated closing spherical broadcasts, shot edits, all seen via his eyes again and again.
fanatic obsession. Bold training. Novak likens it to watching soccer tape, and says he is turned his pastime right into a budding podcaster, however this one takes it to a better stage. He challenges the Masters-obsessed public. Nobody watches the match greater than him.
“I’ll defend my time in opposition to just about anybody,” Novak stated. “An enormous period of time I’ve seen.”
Novak can simply knock off sure putts on sure greens. From Tiger Woods to Fred {Couples} to Jordan Spieth, Novak remembers the memorable and unmemorable photographs of the gamers he watches.
Each April, Novak cracks his joints and takes sanctuary throughout his favourite week of the yr. Novak desires all of it: a number of feeds on a number of TVs, a wealthy alternate forged and the flexibility to look at each shot of the gamers on the Masters web site after the spherical.
“I might watch guys’ rounds and see what they have been doing. I observed sure pins in locations they could not be, sure photographs being hit,” Novak stated earlier than taking a break. “Clearly, it is not… it is not an actual expertise. Yeah, I’ve by no means been there and executed that.”
As we communicate, Novak had simply missed out on a spot on the Gamers Championship in March and referred to as the state of his recreation “horrible,” however the consequence hasn’t stopped him from wanting forward. He nonetheless cannot fairly wrap his head round the truth that this April, as an alternative of sitting on his sofa, he’ll be standing on the primary tee of a course he is aware of just like the again of his hand.
“I really feel like I do know the course higher than the common newbie,” Novak stated. “Having stated that, I am fairly certain I used to be utterly numb on my first tee shot on Thursday.”
It has been 47 years since Fuzzy Zoller first competed in and received the Masters. Gamers usually say it takes years of expertise and shut calls to win right here (see: Rory McIlroy), however that perception bodes poorly for first-timers at this yr’s Masters, maybe top-of-the-line in years.
“Truthfully, even when I am fortunate sufficient to win right here, it is in all probability going to be slower. It isn’t the primary time,” stated two-time Masters champion Bubba Watson. “Simply have enjoyable. It is your first time, simply take pleasure in it, take all of it in, study just a few issues and be prepared for the following time you are right here.”
Of the 16 non-amateur debutants, he has 12 wins on the PGA Tour and 12 on the DP World Tour. This is not only a bunch of proficient newcomers. Additionally they have a stage of profitable expertise that this assortment of gamers does not sometimes have. And whereas the thought of any of them carrying the inexperienced jacket by Sunday nonetheless appears far-fetched, the plot lies in the identical query that plagues each athlete who goals of at some point belonging to the game’s most prestigious discipline.
“How do you put together in your first Augusta Nationwide?”
“We wish to settle for that. We do not need the massive deal to be no huge deal,” stated debutant Ryan Gerrard. “On the identical time, I’ve performed tens of millions of tournaments and I like to consider this as simply one other golf match.”
This journey is Thursday’s elusive spot on the First Tee has taken novice gamers from Melbourne to Memphis, East Africa to East Lake and all around the world. Nonetheless, whereas some knew of their eligibility by the tip of the yr, they didn’t study the truth till they obtained an official invitation from the Masters.
“Once I obtained the invitation within the mail and browse it, I used to be in my childhood residence with my brother and my two dad and mom,” Michael Brennan stated. “All of us gave one another a giant hug and began leaping up and down. It was a surreal expertise.”
As April approaches, surreality offers approach to actuality and the stress you will really feel on the primary tee begins to creep in. When Brennan visited Augusta earlier than the match, he and his caddy hit numerous photographs, chips and putts, striving for some familiarity.
“If I might play 20 rounds there, it may be a bit of bit totally different,” Brennan stated.
Everybody has a unique strategy. Many will search recommendation from fellow countrymen or touring associates who’ve been within the discipline earlier than. Some individuals procrastinate or cannot actually take into consideration something apart from the match they’re enjoying that week. Some individuals quit as a result of irrespective of how a lot they put together, they cannot put together for the precise week.
“Even when I play yet one more spherical, I feel will probably be troublesome to study all of the little particulars,” stated Finnish debutant Sami Valimäki.
There are two methods for freshmen to scout Augusta earlier than the Masters. All gamers have two days previous to the match week to rearrange tee instances via the membership and have entry to the bottom which they could select to make use of at their discretion. As Chris Gotterup, a four-time champion and one in every of this yr’s hottest debutants, not too long ago defined, gamers also can attend Augusta Nationwide and convey as much as two friends with them in the event that they play with a member. However he did not make the most of the chance till he knew he can be attending the occasion.
“I stated I am unable to go there till I play, or once I retire, I can go,” Gotterup stated. “I do not know, however I feel it is a very particular occasion and I needed to have the expertise of enjoying fairly than watching. I’d be a bit of cussed and it would not be a enjoyable expertise for me. Despite the fact that it will undoubtedly be on the bucket checklist for lots of people, I wish to play and I wish to be part of it.”
Again in March, Valimaki added that he would seemingly select to return to his residence nation as an alternative of forcing himself to plan a scouting journey to Augusta. Not like Novak, he hasn’t watched any previous Masters video and stated he is going into the match considerably blind.
“In Finland it is at all times too late to see the tip on Sunday anyway,” Valimäki stated. “This manner I haven’t got too many expectations. I have never hit a very good shot but, however I have never hit a foul shot both.”
Nonetheless, it is uncommon {that a} participant, particularly a debuting participant, does not make the most of the flexibility to go to golf’s cathedrals earlier than the game as an entire will get into full swing. How every approaches observe rounds can also be totally different.
A number of freshmen went out to play golf within the fall, when the circumstances on the golf course have been a lot the identical as in April. At the same time as not too long ago as March, gamers who made the journey to Augusta have been properly conscious that the course they may play was not the course they might be enjoying this week.
“I strive to not base every little thing on these two days as a result of the greens have been lots slower,” stated Christopher Reitan. The 28-year-old Norwegian, who certified by ending within the prime 50 finally yr’s OWGR, stated he felt he wanted to expertise the course in a quiet setting first. “It was stunning.”
So what’s your technique if you enter the premises? Why not strive enjoying the course as in case you have been having fun with a spherical with associates? Do you spend time on the greens honing each shot like a observe spherical throughout match week? Or will he merely concentrate on conquering the mystique of Augusta Nationwide earlier than the competitors begins?
“This can be a place the place I do not thoughts enjoying 5 or 6 hour observe rounds,” stated three-time DP World Tour winner and first-timer Marco Penzi. “I’m undoubtedly going to take loads of photographs.”
It is arduous to not, particularly when a number of the lies, angles and difficulties that Augusta presents to gamers can’t be replicated elsewhere. Some freshmen, like assured 25-year-old Johnny Keefer, set no limits on their preparation. Augusta’s well-known sidehills, downhills, and uphill lies will also be practiced in case you strive arduous sufficient.
“A number of the locations I observe are fairly flat, however yeah, I attempted to make some makeshift issues that I might stand on once I hit the shot to simulate that,” Keefer stated. “It is utterly totally different. It’s extremely distinctive and that is what makes this golf course particular.”
When Kiefer went on a visit in early March, he performed two rounds (he additionally performed a par-3 course) with the thought of having fun with the golf course fairly than attempting to grasp it. It additionally helped that on the fifteenth gap, the primary I performed, I hit my second shot to 10 toes for eagle.
As Kiefer identified, if you spend time round No. 18 at Augusta for the primary time, it is simple to see why it has been so lengthy since a participant received his Masters debut. Even when gamers exhaust all their pre-tournament rounds or spend on daily basis this week practising, the nuances of this place cannot be crammed into just a few days’ keep or even perhaps just a few visits a yr.
“Clearly coming right here as a rookie, there are loads of little issues on the course,” stated Denmark’s Rasmus Neergaard-Petersen, who certified by profitable final fall’s Australian Open. “We now have three or 4 days to study what different gamers have performed right here 10 or 20 instances.”
“There’s loads of preparation concerned, identical to any regular match, however when you step on the sector, on the primary tee right here, it feels extra like a extremely enjoyable time than a typical observe spherical and also you’re simply attempting to soak within the expertise,” stated Ben Griffin. “We’re undoubtedly getting a very good really feel for all of the areas across the greens and issues like that, however we’re simply attempting to take pleasure in it as a lot as attainable.”
Identical to attempting to arrange for each element, ignorance will be each a hindrance and a freedom. However some gamers can not help however wish to cowl all their bases and discover all of the data and benefits they’ll till they eradicate what Gerald calls the “awe issue” earlier than reaching Amen Nook.
“I do not wish to drop 11 factors for the primary time on Monday and be starstruck. I wish to get all that out of the best way,” stated Gerrard, who traveled 10,000 miles to qualify and break into the highest 50 to play the Mauritius Open.
Gerard has been doing every little thing in his energy to arrange since final yr. He thought of the particular photographs he may must take and deliberate forward. He stated he solely collects info from like-minded gamers, visits golf programs for observe rounds and tries to play alongside members to achieve native data. He is additionally including new golf equipment to his bag.
“I am making mini-drivers for the tee photographs at No. 2, 10 and 13, however the second shot into No. 8 may be a bit of extra draw-biased for me as a right-hander,” Gerrard stated. “It is troublesome coming in as a newbie. You do not know what is going on to occur, so I wish to attempt to keep a bit of forward of the curve in any means I can.”
It isn’t simply what the course calls for from a {golfing} perspective that’s troubling. Anybody who jousts with Alistair Mackenzie’s most interesting jewels and loses the non secular battle can attest to its failure. First-timers additionally know lots about it. They simply have not skilled it and will not be capable of do it to any diploma till they tee off Thursday and each shot counts.
“There isn’t any shot that we all know will make you are feeling worse than the primary shot,” Novak stated. “I do know I am not going to have the ability to really feel something, so hopefully I will hit one thing on the planet and perhaps by the second gap I will begin feeling one thing once more.”
If you consider it that means, Jacob Bridgman may need a slight benefit. The Genesis Invitational winner, who has three top-10 finishes this season, has had the great fortune to play at Augusta Nationwide properly into this week, not as soon as however twice throughout his time at Clemson, as soon as as a freshman and as soon as as a senior.
“Seeing it in particular person was my first style of how totally different it was from watching it on TV,” Bridgman stated.
Bridgeman additionally skilled vastly totally different course circumstances and outcomes throughout his school years. His first spherical was a windy, chilly afternoon with gusts as much as 55 mph. It was a par of 17 with no birdies and one bogey. The fourth-year pupil had an idyllic day, ending at 5 underneath with eight birdies.
Bridgeman is hoping his school expertise right here will give him some benefit, however he is not placing an excessive amount of effort into preparation, however he is skeptical that the earlier rounds right here will do something to ease the nerves that shall be upon him and his fellow first-timers on Thursday.
“Perhaps a observe spherical with the patrons that week will assist,” Bridgman stated. “However if you come on Thursday and there is lots of people across the first tee, we’re all going to really feel it.”
Because of this the query of preparation is so fickle. Too little and you may really feel unprepared, an excessive amount of and you may really feel overwhelmed.
“I wish to attempt to have enjoyable and never get too severe and put an excessive amount of strain on myself,” Penge stated. “It is a week I will always remember.”
Be taught each shot as a lot as you need, attempt to hit each putt and each chip. But on Thursday, he nonetheless has to leap with no parachute.
