1/17/2024 0 Comments Color me crazy humble![]() They diverted to Savannah, Ga., and made it in on another plane. M.A.Įrnie Els has had a few close calls in his life in the air, including a flight with Scott Hoch on the way to Augusta, Ga., for a Masters practice round in which the cockpit windscreen shattered in their Learjet. As we walked onto the tarmac, there by the wing of our friend’s plane stood seven golf bags like cadets and one black Club Glove travel case on its belly. A round of smiles, greetings and fist-bumps ensued as the clubs and duffels were whisked away. Everyone else appeared between 7:20 and 7:25, clubs slung on their shoulders. After the man who would turn out to be our pilot wheeled away my golf-travel case, I brewed a complimentary coffee and attempted to wait casually. takeoff, walked the 50 yards from my car to the terminal and discovered I was the first one there. This was an experienced group, and apparently this was all the requisite information. A reply-all round of emojis and blasé one-word affirmations followed but no questions. The tail number and vague parking instructions were sent via group text on Tuesday evening. We were to leave frigid New York at a civil hour on Wednesday morning, play 18-36-18, and be home for dinner Friday-as far as work and family were concerned, the ultimate sleight of hand! At least this is how it felt to someone accustomed as I was to predawn security slogs and midnight oversize-baggage-claim stakeouts to play half as much golf. M.A.Ī magnanimous plane owner invited seven golf buddies to his private Florida club for two nights. If all the rushing disturbs one’s sense that the game in great places should be savored, know the feat was bookended by unhurried rounds the evening before at PV and the morning after at CPC. For dinner in the clubhouse, everyone had the burger. ![]() The final putts dropped at 8:12 p.m., precisely sunset, though 10 to 15 dusky minutes remained had they needed it. Fighting headwinds but gaining time all the way to California, golf at Cypress Point commenced at 5 p.m. Back in the air, this assemblage of mostly senior golfers had lunch and indulged in massage guns and heating pads. ![]() At 10:29 a.m., they teed off at the home of the Masters for swift yet splendid rounds of three hours and 20 minutes. On the flight from New Jersey to Georgia they had breakfast and changed their shirts and socks. Each transition of the day needed to be seamless, and as anyone who has flown privately will attest, it’s the avoidance of rental-car returns, check-in lines, security and other common travel hassles that is the true luxury. They walked off the 18th green at 7:15 a.m., and the wheels of the van were in motion by 7:20. The sunrise in purplish glory above the ridgeline at the ninth was an unfamiliar sight. Two foursomes (most titans of their occupations, some merely very successful) teed off at Pine Valley at 5:09 a.m., some with glow-in-the-dark balls. Yet on May 16, 2020, arguably the greatest day in golf was consummated: Pine Valley, Augusta National, Cypress Point Club-then as now ranked 1, 2 and 3 on Golf Digest’s America’s 100 Greatest-in a single day. Even the fastest jet cannot eclipse the speed of the Earth’s rotation.
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