My Brush With The Masters

The iconic Masters Championship Golf Tournament begins today and I saw this photo of three great past champions preparing to begin the first round:

That's (L-R) Gary Player, Arnold Palmer, and Jack Nicklaus. Together they have 12 wins in the Masters Championship.

I've never been to Augusta or had a chance to meet a Masters' winner, except one time in March, 1998. The Senior Tour was playing in Newport Beach, CA, and my Dad invited me to join him to walk the course and watch a friend of his play on the first day of the tournament.

We made our way around the golf course, which had relatively few fans, and as we watched a familiar face came into view. We decided to follow this golfer for awhile and at one point he came over to the rope line and walked and talked with us as we headed down the fairway. It was Hall of Famer and three-time Masters champion Gary Player. A tournament photographer snapped a couple of shots of us with the South African golf legend:

Nice guy.  His son was caddying for him that day and we had a pleasant conversation on a beautiful Spring day in Southern California.  Nice to see he's still playing.