Ben Crenshaw talks GCA (briefly) at ANGC

[Andy Doyle]

After a hectic spring break week, I finally have time to post this.  Went to the Monday practice round at the Masters - weather was perfect & walked all over and took lots of pictures.

We were hanging out behind the tee at #11 when Ben Crenshaw appeared.  He had a bit of a wait on the tee:



While he was waiting, someone in the gallery asked him about changes at #11 (must have been one of the GCA geeks that slipped by security):



He immediately walks down and starts pointing to the old tee location:



And then says, "No it used to be way down there ...."



He makes a couple of more comments I couldn't hear, then tees it up and smokes one right down the middle:



Very affable with the gallery and a pretty good golfer for a GCA.  

Andy

[Evan_Green]

Thanks for sharing that Andy- thats really cool

Great action shot of Ben too on 11 tee- thats a great photograph

[TEPaul]

"...then tees it up and smokes one right down the middle."

Ben and I have a lot in common. Smoking one right down the middle may not be one of those things but smoking sure is!  

[Andy Doyle]

I enjoy watching tournaments on TV because you get to see so much more of the action, but this was one of those little vignettes you only get to experience by being there.

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[Joel_Stewart]

On the drive how far is it to the top of the hill.  

I assume that the members tee is in front of the championship tee and that looks 40 yards down the hill.

[Patrick_Mucci]

Andy Doyle,

The pictures are nice, but, your description of what is taking place is wildly off base.

Let me tell you what actually took place.

Picture # 1
Joe Ogilvie and Ben Crenshaw are looking in amazement at a deranged fan, who, with his claimed seeing eye dog, had run into the fairway afer depositing something in Joe Ogilvie's bag.

Picture # 2
Joe Ogilvie inspects his bag after fans on the tee tell him that the deranged man has left two notes and a package in it.
One note claims that the package is a bomb that will destroy Ogilvie's clubs if he doesn't permit the deranged man to caddy for him, and for Ogilvie to stop blocking the fan's view of his hero, Ben Crenshaw.  The other note, misplaced in Ogilvie's bag, is a fan letter, tantamount to a love note, to Ben Crenshaw, telling him how great he is, what a great architect he is, and telling him that he's named his seeing eye dog, Coorshaw, after him and his partner.

Picture # 3
Crenshaw is alerting the security guards as to the location of the deranged fan.  Who is crouching behind his alleged guidedog, just below the level of the tee.

Picture # 4
Crenshaw is pointing toward the fan who has now abandoned his alleged seeing eye dog and is hiding behind a dogwood tree.  The dog, now in custody, has a red and yellow marine bandana around his neck along with his dogtags, which read:
"My name is Coorshaw.  If you find me, that means that my owner is lost.  Please return him to Happydale Farms in Newton, Pa.  P.S.  Please feed me and don't let him near a computer with access to the internet."

Picture # 5
After an hour struggle with the deranged fan, who had climbed up into the dogleg and handcuffed himself to a limb, Crenshaw tees off, with the sounds of a barking dog, and the deranged fan yelling, "you're the man" echoing in the backround.

[Andy Doyle]

Joel:

Yes, that's the members tee and it is way up the fairway - at least 40 yards.

I don't have my yardage book with me at the moment, but it's got to be at least 300 yards to the top of the hill.

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P.S.  We got a foreshadowing of Ernie's poor play - in the practice round he hit 2 drives well left into the woods similar to the shot he hit over there last year.

[JohnV]

P.S.  We got a foreshadowing of Ernie's poor play - in the practice round he hit 2 drives well left into the woods similar to the shot he hit over there last year.

Probably just going to check if they removed the stuff that was piled for removal last year.

[Andy Doyle]

P.S.  We got a foreshadowing of Ernie's poor play - in the practice round he hit 2 drives well left into the woods similar to the shot he hit over there last year.

Probably just going to check if they removed the stuff that was piled for removal last year.

If they did remove it, I'll bet he asked them to put it back.  

[Bill Gayne]

At the 2004 Masters on Saturday I was standing next to the eleventh tee and Sandy Lyle was playing with Carlos Franco. It was interesting because Carlos asked Sandy how he played the hole when he won the Masters. Sandy explained where the tee was that Sunday and the type of shot that was required.

The details of stories such as Sandy Lyle describing the play to Franco or Ben Crenshaw on the tee isn't what's interesting. What's really interesting is the access that a spectator has in golf to be able to stand next to the competitor and get an occassional first hand insight as to their thoughts.

[Patrick_Mucci]

TEPaul,

This one's for you, BUD.

Andy Doyle,

The pictures are nice, but, your description of what is taking place is wildly off base.

Let me tell you what actually took place.

Picture # 1
Joe Ogilvie and Ben Crenshaw are looking in amazement at a deranged fan, who, with his claimed seeing eye dog, had run into the fairway afer depositing something in Joe Ogilvie's bag.

Picture # 2
Joe Ogilvie inspects his bag after fans on the tee tell him that the deranged man has left two notes and a package in it.
One note claims that the package is a bomb that will destroy Ogilvie's clubs if he doesn't permit the deranged man to caddy for him, and for Ogilvie to stop blocking the fan's view of his hero, Ben Crenshaw.  The other note, misplaced in Ogilvie's bag, is a fan letter, tantamount to a love note, to Ben Crenshaw, telling him how great he is, what a great architect he is, and telling him that he's named his seeing eye dog, Coorshaw, after him and his partner.

Picture # 3
Crenshaw is alerting the security guards as to the location of the deranged fan.  Who is crouching behind his alleged guidedog, just below the level of the tee.

Picture # 4
Crenshaw is pointing toward the fan who has now abandoned his alleged seeing eye dog and is hiding behind a dogwood tree.  The dog, now in custody, has a red and yellow marine bandana around his neck along with his dogtags, which read:
"My name is Coorshaw.  If you find me, that means that my owner is lost.  Please return him to Happydale Farms in Newton, Pa.  P.S.  Please feed me and don't let him near a computer with access to the internet."

Picture # 5
After an hour struggle with the deranged fan, who had climbed up into the dogleg and handcuffed himself to a limb, Crenshaw tees off, with the sounds of a barking dog, and the deranged fan yelling, "you're the man" echoing in the backround.

[Andy Doyle]

Patrick:

I'm starting to get the idea why you have 10k+ posts .....

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