No Tiger – This Year

The first full day at the Masters was short, which saw the Augusta National open for only two hours all due to massive storms in the surrounding area.

This was enough time for a few of the players to see some of the changes that have been made to this impressive course.

The famous Eisenhower Tree that was cut down in early February was not the only tree to take it’s toll at the club, but numerous others as well.

The tree was such a treasure — named after former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a club member who hit into the tree far too often — that it was taken off site for storage.

The club will determine later what do with the trunk and what limbs remain.

The removal of these impressive landmarks now gives the course a somewhat different look.

Now rather than of a forest of Georgia pines, players can now see from the 10th fairway all the way across to the 15th fairway.

Players noticed the number of huge trees that were missing, especially from the right side of the narrow seventh fairway.

The club lost thousands of limbs that were damaged from the ice storm and until a few weeks ago workers were still in the trees with chain saws.

One of the things that constantly impress the golfers is the amount of colour that is on the course.

While some of the greens already had a touch of yellow to them, the one thing that was missing was seeing Tiger Woods hanging around.

This is the first time in 20 years that he has failed to attend this event, which is only due to his recent back surgery.

The 17^th hole see’s the 440-yard par 4 standout with a bend (dogleg) left because of the 65-foot high loblolly pine tree that jutted out from the left side around 220 yards out from the tee.

One of those attending is Canadian Mike Weir who hits the ball, but not as stong as others in the field.

The difference to the course is not seeing Tiger walk the fairways and with this along with some scenic beauty it’s different.

Tiger won his fourth green jacket dating back to 2005 and let’s remember that he normally kept things interesting, fun for the fans and always kept fans guessing.