FAMILY DAY OUT: Tuesday's excursion to Augusta National Golf Club became a father-son road trip for Dan and Forrest Durham, of Zebulon, Ga., and Scott and Jamie Bryant, of Watkinsville, Ga.

Lindsay Murray, of Augusta, wore a hat covered with Masters badges from 1959 to 2003 to the course Tuesday. (Jackie Ricciardi/Staff)

Forrest, 12, and Jamie, 13, had never attended a Masters practice round and seemed inspired by the experience.

"It makes me want to learn how to play golf better," Jamie said.

Forrest's favorite part of his trip was watching the players having fun with the crowd.

"I like the skipping," he said, referring to players skipping balls across the water and onto the green at No. 16.

SPRING BREAK: Marie Debbs and Stephen McConnell, both 22, used a day of spring vacation from the Medical College of Georgia to visit Tuesday's practice round.

McConnell, originally from Atlanta, had never been to the Masters, and he used Debbs, a former Augusta National employee, as a guide.

"She knows everything there is to know about the underground sprinkler system," McConnell said jokingly.

Debbs described seeing the Masters from a fresh perspective as "endearing."

"It's been fun getting to show him around," she said.

SIDE TRIP: Brent and Kathy Bertus, from Bartlesville, Okla., recently took a trip to visit their son in Alabama, where he is a professor at Auburn University.

From Auburn, they took another trip to Augusta for Tuesday's practice round.

"Even high (definition) television doesn't do it justice," Brent Bertus said. "It's so beautiful."

Less concerned with the play of the golfers, the couple spent much of their time walking the course and taking in the picturesque landscapes.

"We're just absorbing everything that we're seeing," Kathy Bertus said. "We'll certainly never be able to watch it the same way again."