Augusta, 03 April: The Azaleas are shining in shades of pink and purple. The trees stand tall and majestic, as they always do at the Augusta National Golf Club. Tiger Woods is on the range, dressed in pink too. And there are more patrons here already than the eye can fathom. Shubhankar Sharma, passing through these woods for the first time, chose a more sombre shade. Perhaps an Alice Blue with the swoosh. Yeah, in case you didn’t notice already, the young man has new clothes from Nike.
Shubhankar wasted barely any time this morning. After soaking in his first drive through magnolia lane, Shubhankar got out to play his first round of golf at the iconic course. The 68th ranked Indian swung it like a veteran, finding the centre of the fairway off the very first tee.
“It was fantastic. The course looks really good and I like the way it plays,” Shubhankar told Golfing Indian. “You need to play it both ways here – need to fade it on the first, draw on some others.
“I got a closer look at the angles and am getting a feel for the course,” added Shubhankar, who needed to get back in the clubhouse for a television commitment with the Golf Channel.
“I will go back and play the back nine,” said Sharma, filled with the enthusiasm of a rookie at the Masters. “Another 18 tomorrow and the par-3 on Wednesday will help me prepare for my first Masters.”
Shubhankar has experience on his bag too, in the form of Mitchell Knox. The caddie had his yardage books shipped from his home and the oldest was apparently dates four years older than the golfer he is working for this week.
After a crisp conversation with Golf Channel and a quick lunch, Shubhankar headed back to the course. Starting off the tenth tee, the 21-year-old set out to complete his first round of 18 holes at the Augusta course.
He is hopeful that the trek around these woods will afford him valuable information that he can use later in the week.
- In this article
- Pros
- augusta national golf club
- Masters
- shubhankar sharma
