Thursday, April 5, 2018

5th Annual Live Masters Blog- Day 2


Can you believe it? It has been 5 years since I started this cockamamie live blog writing about all things Masters, schwag, players headed for the glue factory among many other musings. Join me won't you for Day 2 of this rambling coverage? 

4:35pm: And with a poof they cut off my live stream and I am Masterless for the night. So where do we stand at the halfway point? Unless Reed makes a mess of 18, he will be the overnight leader trailed closely but Leish. Spieth, Rory, Stens, JT all lurk on the first page which could lead to a really spectacular weekend. Ibth No it all hinges on the weather tomorrow. Does the course get soft and favor the bomber? Do backs get tight and out of synch? Can anyone on the second page of the board come out guns blazing and post a number?

Only time will tell. Goodnight!

2:50pm: I don’t know what it is about P Reed but I just can’t root for him. Maybe it was the stories in Shane Ryan’s book. Maybe it is just his “resting jerk face”. Whatever it is the fact that he is on top of the leaderboard and I am going to have to watch him a bunch this weekend is not doing my soul good. Thank goodness for featured group coverage and Amen Corner coverage do I can avoid gun for as long as posdible this weekend. 

On happier news Finau is playing well despite the bum ankle. ANGC is super hilly so the fact that he is hobbling around there in 2 under is quite the “feet” already. #rimshot 

1:35pm: As many of you loyal readers know, I’m questing to play Cypress Point. I haven’t given much thought to trying to get on ANGC. If think the odds of that are lower since I live on the West Coast and am not a C Suite guy.  Still stranger things may happen and who knows maybe I’ll score an invite. I could always play some replica holes and if I find myself in Myrtle Beach. What do you think of these bad boys?

https://theworldtourgolf.com/

1:05pm: I feel like a peach ice cream sandwich yet I have none around me. It is one of the most popular treats at ANGC which is becoming more of a trend. ICS’ are also very popular at Sand Valley and are becoming the new burger dog (of Olympic fame). I would never go to a course just for the food but I would definitely get the preeminent food if I was at any of these places.

12:30pm: Sorry for the lull in updates but the Masters is slightly killing me to sleep what with all the boegeys and such. Jordan, Kuchar and Tiger are all headed downhill. Meanwhile the Aussie (yes brain he is Australian) has climbed to the top along with P Reed and McIlroy. As expected, neither DJ nor JT are doing much damage here. Their games just don’t quite fit ANGC. The streams are doing great and I just wish the dolcet announcers would pep up a little, I can’t fall asleep watching this!

9:30am: My take on this morning so far? Everyone but DJ and Freddie are trying to hang on but what does that mean for the afternoon wave? Will they shoot a couple under and thereby lap the field? The Open is known for having really differing scores between morning and afternoon waves. Will Augusta be the same?

8:55am: I see both sides of the coverage argument about the Masters. I am old enough to remember only being able to see the back 9 of ANGC on telecasts and only glimpsing the front 9 in highlights. The Masters App/Website offers the most golf coverage of any tournament during the year. On the other hand, golf fans see what is possible and they say, why can't there be more comprehensive coverage? The cameras are there, everything is humming early, there are no true broadcast windows to care about and this is the biggest tourney of the year. There eventually will be a tipping point where you can watch all the golf you want when you want it but we just aren't there yet. 

8:30am: Jordan seems to be leaking oil pretty heavily on his first two holes of the day. With the course playing tougher today, can he hold on and maybe get a few back on the back 9? Questions, I have em. 

8:15am: Augusta is buying up land left and right to lengthen the course but it seems to me that they just have to keep putting the pins in challenging positions and that should mitigate the distance debate. The pins today are  in positions where players are hitting away from the flags and hoping the greens take the balls toward the cup. There has only been moderate success with this strategy and I think the greens here are the ultimate defense of ANGC. Maybe the members will recognize this and stop carving up neighboring AGCC.

7:45am: So much has been said, written, blogged about ANGC over the years but I don't quite think I have seen this summary of the agronomy of the club before. I am not quite sure what some of these numbers mean but an interesting read nonetheless! 

https://nolayingup.com/2018/04/06/masters-agronomic-summary/

7:25am: I have had a yardage book from ANGC for a few years and have been marking various notes in it from afar, watching the coverage online. I feel like if I ever got a chance to play the course I could take this book and hopefully get around the track but who actually knows? Someone else had that idea and below is a link to their amusing fantasy round at ANGC.

https://www.nationalclubgolfer.com/news/alternative-augusta-course-guide/

7:10am: A lot of people in the Twitter universe are complaining about who is in the featured pairings on the Masters streaming app. I am of two minds about this. The first mind says, yes, either pick "better" groups and/or show more groups (the infrastructure is in place to show more earlier so why not)? My other mind says we are lucky enough just to get this coverage and sometimes you get more interesting groups than others. At some point golf will realize that golf fans want the options that the Masters provides for all tournaments but even then there is more that can and should be done.


6:50am: Poor Fred, he looks like his back is really bothering him. Amazing career but how much more amazing would it have been if he had been healthy. Meanwhile, it seems like so many pros are missing left on this course and getting into the pine straw. Their misses are our gains, I love watching shots from the straw. By the way, here are the pin placements for round 2.



6:30am: A featured group that features Fred Couples? What a way to start Friday! Fred was my golfing hero, I didn't wear a glove because he didn't wear a glove. I had his posters on my wall. Suffice to say, I was and am a huge Fred Couples fan and will be watching with rapt attention this morning! 

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