Diary: Seeing course, golf legends makes rookie's day
Troy Matteson, a three-time All-American at Georgia Tech, charged at the end of his rookie season on the PGA Tour to qualify for his first Masters Tournament based on his money list ranking. Matteson was a first-time PGA Tour winner in October at the Las Vegas event. The 27-year-old Alpharetta resident has agreed to share his daily thoughts with The Augusta Chronicle during his Masters debut.
It was a really nice day. I got out there in the morning, and it was really hectic. I got checked in and got my parents checked in, which was my No. 1 priority.
I've been to Augusta National Golf Club plenty of times, but it was a day of finding my way around and meeting people. It was just exciting to get back out on the golf course and see how it is and how fast the greens are and what kind of shots you have to hit. It was just so exciting to get back out there and play again. I was like a kid on Christmas.
Larry Mize and Ben Crenshaw were the first two people I saw, so that's pretty impressive in itself. You just realize how young you are compared to all these guys who have accomplished so much in their lifetimes and at the Masters. Then when I was checking in, I ran into Vijay Singh. You get hit right off the bat with all the champions and know that now I'm with the big boys. It's an honor to be in that kind of company.
I played with the British Amateur champion, Julien Guerrier, whom I met last week at the Golf Club of Georgia. And we played with Bart Bryant and Stephen Ames. It took us probably three hours to play the front side. They all stopped after nine, and I played with Justin Rose on the back.
So I played with a bunch of people and somehow got the round finished. It was just a really good day and nice to see the course in such great condition.
I finally made my first birdie on No. 14 and then birdied 15 and 16. And then on 18, I hit in the front left bunker and holed out, and the crowd had a big roar. That was exciting, and that's when you know, I can get out here and hit these shots. It's kind of cool to know you can make some birdies on these tough holes where guys have hit them in the past.
For me, it's all about the experience of being at the Masters and taking in everything. The place just exudes history. We play so many different courses throughout the country, and your friends say, "Oh my god, I'd love to play there."
But sometimes golf courses can just be golf courses. Augusta is one of those places that's always going to be special. It's never going to be just a golf course.
My goal is just to enjoy the week. It would be fun to get a good pairing and play with a big name. That would top off the week for me. I'm just excited about everything that's going on.
I've got a lot of people coming this week to support me. My stepfather and mom, John and Lucy Steele, were with me today. My father, Steve Matteson, will be here Wednesday. My wife, brother and numerous friends of the family and Golf Club of Georgia will be coming over to support me, so it's fun to see everybody. It's a big opportunity, so it's nice to have everybody here.
My wife, Shauna, and I also have two cats we travel with all the time in our motor home. The oldest cat is Kyber, we call him a short-haired, no-tail black cat. He lost his tail in a fox trap right after Shauna got him.
Our other cat, Patches, is named after Patches O'Houlihan from the character in the movie Dodgeball. He's our short-haired cat with a tail. We're not used to cats with tails. We got him at the end-of-year Nationwide Tour Championship. This kitten got in the engine of my parents' car and screamed all night. My wife got hold of it, and I knew we were stuck with that baby, too. Now Augusta is a mark in the list of where these two cats have been.
-Scott Michaux
