One Park High senior was lucky enough to attend the first professional golf major of the year, “The Masters,” with his family in Augusta, Georgia from April 11-14. Houston Dunn, who will attend Central Wyoming College on a golf scholarship, was at Augusta National watching the best golfers in the world all swing it out and compete for the coveted green jacket.
It was a very tough week at Augusta. High winds and fast greens turned out to be a recipe for disaster for the best golfers in the world. A former champion and number one-ranked golfer in the world, Scottie Scheffler, rose above the rest of the field to win his second green jacket. Scheffler finished with a 72 hole total of -11 which was four strokes ahead of the second place finisher, Ludvig Aberg of Sweden.
Dunn was able to spectate and watch the pros compete at the most prestigious event in the world of golf. He watched the practice round on Wednesday the day before the tournament officially started. Dunn said that he spent the majority of his time watching players hit balls on the driving range and watching the swings of players. He noticed how each player had a routine and how they would prepare for their rounds.
During his time at Augusta, Dunn had the opportunity to meet a true legend of the game, John Daly. Although Daly never was lucky enough to slip on a green jacket, he knows his way around a golf course and major tournaments. Daly won the 1991 PGA championship and 1995 Open Championship. Dunn commented on his experience of meeting the golfing legend. “I met him at Hooters and we thought it was pretty cool and I went up and asked him for his picture and he was a really nice guy. He was selling some stuff there and all of his proceeds were going to charity,” Dunn explained.
Although conditions were not ideal to watch low scoring golf, Dunn was able to experience something better: how the pros are able to overcome adversity and grind it out in difficult conditions. Nevertheless, this was an amazing experience for Dunn and likely one that he will never forget or take for granted. The Masters truly is “A tradition like no other.”