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Welcome to the PGP Mailbag, wherein I will answer questions from you, our readers. Send your questions to dillon@grandex.co.
Dillion,
Last spring, I found myself in the age-old PGP tradition of streaming The Masters at work. Though a big fan of golf, I admittedly have never been to a pro tournament. I live in SC and only about 2 hours away from The Heritage and 45 minutes away from Augusta National.
I decided to enter The Masters’ ticket lottery for the first time last year, and actually won two tickets to the tournament on Friday. The tournament is a few moths away, but I was wondering if you had any tips for going: what to do, what not to do, etc.
Anyway, a big thanks to you, Dave, Will, and Ross for filling our weeks with great content and awesome podcasts. Keep up the good work.
Best,
Howie
Columbia, SC
I’m a big golf fan myself, but I’ve only been to a handful of tournaments. Maybe just three, actually. All in Texas. So obviously this will be my first time attending the Masters, too.
I haven’t yet begun to put together a game plan for my days out there. Someone recently told me the 14th was a good area to make your home base. Apparently the surrounding area sees a lot of action and is close to restrooms and concessions. A really cool thing about the Masters is the chair situation. Once you arrive and secure a chair, you can mark it with your name and plant it anywhere you want. You can leave it there the entire day and it will always be waiting for you, unoccupied, when you return. Plant your chair at the 18th green and walk around for five hours, then return and sit down and watch the final groups finish. Pretty neat.
Also beer and food is cheap. Pimento cheese sandwiches, man.
P.S. Dillon*
Dillon,
Should I unreasonably hate the guy I just saw strolling through the River Oaks Whole Foods at 1:15 on a Friday afternoon wearing a sweat stained Pure Barre t-shirt and Lulu shorts? I’m hitting up the salad bar to take back to my office to slog away for another four hours, and this dude clearly doesn’t need a 9 – 5, and got hit on by the cute cashier to boot. Torn between hate (jealousy, if we’re being honest) and straight up respect.
Have a good weekend.
There can’t be many guys doing barre, right? Maybe it was just a t-shirt or maybe he actually does barre around lunch time on Fridays. It has to be 10:1 girls to guys ratio in there. That’s a target-rich environment. I’m thinking he knows what he’s doing and this workout session was more than an effort to get those glutes tight. He’s a man on a mission. Whole Foods, another target-rich environment. He has a strategy and he’s seeing it through.
I think it’s fair to hate him, though.
Sup Dillon,
I wanna talk golf for your mailbag.
When you’re playing golf with your coworkers, do y’all talk a lot of crap to each other or is it a more relaxed round?
How drunk do you get when you play? I normally stay mostly sober (I know, call me a pussy), but I have more fun when I play a good round, which alcohol generally prohibits.
Dream foursome (dead or alive)? Dream course?
Last one, favorite golf memory?
Have a good one, and hit em straight,
James
Not much shit talking goes on among us, really. I don’t play with these guys all that much, though. We’re pretty relaxed but there is usually some money on the line, so there’s some banter around that.
I like to drink about a beer every three holes, maybe a little more. Alcohol typically helps me play better, actually. I have a theory that as my BAC elevates throughout the round, the less my brain gets in the way of my swing and approach to the game. I’m a bit of a head case when I play golf, so when my natural swing and inclinations come through, I usually get back to the basics and strike the ball better. Alcohol helps me eliminate the mental clutter.
Dream foursome: Tiger, Larry David, and The Homie (he’s only two so this will have to take place in the future)
Dream course: Augusta National
Favorite golf memory: bachelor party round at Stono Ferry outside of Charleston in 2012 – scramble format with my best friends at an amazing course in perfect weather with all-you-can-drink alcohol
There were three groups of us. I was in the middle group. As we finished putting on the 18th, the group in front of us joined us at the pin. The eight of us were standing there bullshitting for about ten seconds when our buddy Mitch in the last group hit his approach shot right at us. It was probably the shot of his life. He stuck it to about five feet from 140 yards out, but the ball landed right in the middle of us, at our feet, without warning. It was one of the funniest things I’ve witnessed on a golf course, especially since Mitch was easily the worst golfer out of the 12 of us.
So, having been with my girlfriend for about a year, I’ve had the same pair of new balances the whole time, which she hates. She claims they are old man shoes. I say even if that is true, they’re still frat. Can I get an official ruling here?
They are old man shoes, but they’re also young guy shoes. Not in-between, though. If you’re the young professional type, it’s probably time for some new kicks.
Mr. Cheverere,
I had to count the E’s twice, and I think I referred to you as Cheeseferrari for about two years. Sorry but not really.
I did want to thank you for your openness and transparency on TB65. I know a lot of people talk a lot of shit, myself included, and I can’t begin to imagine what you’ve been going through. Divorce is a topic that has been clearly avoided on PGP, but is one of the most prevalent and literal PostGradProblems any of us could face. I’m glad to hear you’re doing better and over the hump on the situation.
Now to my actual question. Who would you want to be in a hostage situation? Think about all of the people involved and the intricate roles dozens of people have. The hostage, the criminal, negotiator, sniper, megaphone cop, sniper, door explosives expert, news reporter, innocent bystander, or anyone else. What setting would you want to play that role in? Could be a bank, a car chase, subway tunnel, Chuck E Cheese, or anywhere you think you would excel in the role you pick. Thanks for the consideration, you dong.
Love you miss you,
Al
Thank you (and everyone else) for the kind words.
This is an interesting question, and as someone who’s pretty great at avoiding sticky situations, I want no part of a hostage situation. But since I have to choose, I’d like to be the negotiator in a classic bank robbery scenario. The perp needs the vault combination and he’s offing innocent bank goers one by one until someone gives it to him.
As the negotiator, lives are in your hands. It’s a high pressure situation and people are counting on you to be a hero. All the glory or total failure and blood and brain fragments on your proverbial hands..
The more questions I receive, the better this series is going to be, so send me your Mailbag questions to dillon@grandex.co and please put “Mailbag” in the subject line.
Respond
Dillon Cheverere
Dillon Cheverere is the Vice President of Media for Grandex, Inc. Email: dillon@grandex.co
@dcheverere
@dcheverere
RogerJDorn
I went to the Masters for the first time last year. If you’re only going for one day I would say skip the chair. The Masters has very strict chair specifications that by the time you’re able to buy one from the gift shop and go put it down, people have already staked out the good spots. The bleachers provide good enough seating as they are. Spend the morning walking around the course, getting an idea for what tv doesn’t show you. Appreciate how anti-corporate the event is, there’s no billboards, no “Bud Lite Party Zones,” just pure golf. Then in the afternoon stake out a place to stand and watch. Two green is good because it’s a central location. Amen corner is obviously great. The grandstands above Sarazen Bridge on 15, if you have binoculars, allow you to see 15 fairway, 15 green, and 16 green. Lastly, wait until the end of the day to buy all your merchandise. They have plenty of everything so they won’t run out and you won’t have to carry it all day. Above all else, appreciate how perfect everything is.
This seems like great info.
I went once, so I’m pretty much an expert. Put me on the pod and i’ll drop knowledge
Behind 14 is an excellent spot to post up. You can quickly move between there, 10 green, 15 tee, 11 fairway, and a concession stand where the beer is flowing. Another spot I enjoy is 6 green/7 tee area. You can get very close to the players and its not super crowded.
Also, hold on to those cups because they are excellent souvenirs.
They actually have a check system for merch. Go early, set your chair, and head to the merch tent, they’ll store it for you until you’re ready to head out. They sell out of a lot of good stuff by the time play actually begins for the day. 16 green is my favorite, but you’ll get 100 different opinions on that. Expect to be catered to more than any other tournament you’ll go to, but as someone said, it’s pure golf. The reason annual dues to ANGC is relatively low is the Masters, and by taking so much in from that one week, they keep their dues in check. So the staff really want to make it a great experience for every patron. Also, take whatever budget you have in mind for merch and double it. I went in thinking $150 was more than enough. Then, you start thinking about your buds who didn’t come with you. Final tally, $380ish.
Kinda related kinda not. @WDF, @Dillon, @anyoneinAustin. Because I am still kinda in the military (if it’s anything like last year) I can get 10 tickets per day to the Dell Match Play including practice rounds. This is per day and they’re free. Let me know if anyone would be interested and we can try and sort something out.
Uhhh yea, interested.
Also interested. Trying to gain some father in law points.
I think Dillion is a better way to spell your name. Young money dillionaire
Isn’t that a pornstar name?
Dillionaire was a nickname in college
That’s my bad, Dillon. I sent that in at the end of a long day and I guess my computer thinks “Dillion” is a real word because it wasn’t red-underlined. I appreciate the answer nonetheless and hope to see y’all there!
Howie, if you need a moderately attractive but golf-knowledgable and kinda fun lady friend to take to the Masters, I’m your girl. Also, why is Columbia, SC the hottest city on the planet?
I agree with the New Balance assessment. Unless you run a considerable amount, and they’re the best shoes for your foot and gait, then you should not wear NBs
This all depends on the style of New Balance you’re wearing. If you’re wearing like all white dork dad shoes, yeah, probably upgrade. But NB makes so many clean sneakers that making them a hard pass is foolish.
The hill between #16 and #6 is possibly my favorite place to hang out at Augusta. You get to watch the entire hole 16, the tee shots into #6, the second and third shot into the par 5 15th and possibly the tee shot on 17. There is alot of golf to see from this location and if you go during a practice round you get to see the pros skipping balls across the pond on #16. The entire place is really a place of beauty and no matter how many times you go it will always take your breath away.
Maybe don’t go out wearing sneakers unless you’re working out/running/playing a sport period?