The four sat in a bar Monday, Augusta National Golf Club within walking distance, and nursed their beers - and their blues.
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Brian Sobrero, of Pleasanton, Calif., plays solitaire at Hooters on Washington Road. The rain boosted business at restaurants near the course. KEVIN MARTIN/STAFF |
There would be no practice round for Mark Bergstrom, Keith Halan, and Greg and Bob Ortquist to watch. No golf course to view. No merchandise to buy. No nothing.
Masters Tournament officials made the decision to close the course and cancel Monday's play at about 11 a.m. So the four Minnesota natives sat at a table inside Somewhere In Augusta, drinking a pitcher of Miller Lite while Bob Ortquist sipped a Bloody Mary.
Instead of golfers, they were surrounded by cigarette smoke and other upset patrons.
"We're so bitter, we may never come back," said Greg Ortquist, Bob Ortquist's son. "It's the whole principle of the thing. Ever since we found out we won the lottery last summer, I've been like a little kid that's going to Disney World. We're devastated."
All wasn't lost for the foursome. After they finished their pitcher of beer, they were headed to Hilton Head Island, S.C., to play a round of golf. That didn't make Monday's bad news any easier to swallow.
"You can't even buy a hat," Bob Ortquist said. "You couldn't even get in there. But that's the way it is. There's nothing you can do about it."
Lisa Davidson sympathized.
In town with friends and family - who came from Dallas, Minneapolis, Chicago and Boston - Davidson watched traffic while standing at the Texaco gas station across the street from Augusta National.
"It's like a MasterCard commercial," said Davidson, a native of Fort Worth, Texas. "Lunch at the Buckhead: 40 bucks. Breakfast at Mally's: $4.87. Seeing your best friends and your brother-in-law but not getting into the Masters ... priceless."
It wasn't just that they couldn't see the famed course or watch their favorite golfers practice. Some fans were bummed that they couldn't get inside to buy souvenirs.
Take Scott Chastain and Chip Beale, both from Athens, Ga.
Told they couldn't enter the gates, the two walked back to their car in the rain and tried to figure out how to fulfill their friends' requests for official Masters memorabilia.
"Is this the only place you can get souvenirs?" Beale asked.
Said Chastain: "I got this long list and about a thousand dollars to buy everyone stuff from the gift shop."
"Hey, does Kmart have souvenirs?" Beale replied.
Still, Todd McLellan and his buddy Andy Anderson, from Little Rock, Ark., did their best to weather the storm. After all, there was beer to drink at Somewhere In Augusta.
And it was only 11:45 a.m.
"There's nothing to do in this town but drink and play golf," said McLellan, an Orlando, Fla., native. "So what are we going to do all day?"
