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Wednesday's festivities are anticipated Masters tradition
Posted: Wednesday April 09
By Amy Allyn Swann
The Augusta Chronicle
If the Masters Tournament is Augusta's Mardi Gras, then the Par-3 Contest is Fat Tuesday.
That's Augustan Dianne Muller's barroom philosophy of what makes the traditional Par-3 parties so much fun.
"You should call it Wonderful Wednesday," said Greg Holmes, of Atlanta, one of her table mates at Cadillac's on Washington Road.
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Patrons hit the dance floor with music from The Swingin' Medallions at Last Call's Par-3 party in National Hills shopping center. KEVIN MARTIN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE |
Par-3 parties are part of the Masters tradition, and it doesn't matter whether you spent the day walking the course or sitting at your desk.
Even the rain, which drenched streets and party-goers, couldn't wash out the night that some had been waiting for all year.
Don Peel and his wife, Samantha, had a Par-3 strategy.
"We leave the tournament and hit the first bar we come to," Mr. Peel said.
That's how the Fripp Island, S.C., couple ended up at Last Call in National Hills shopping center. The former Augustans spent the day at the tournament looking for their favorite golfers and taking lots of photos.
"The players are so laid back on Wednesday," Mrs. Peel said.
"It's the last day before the golfers have to get serious," her husband said.
That laid-back attitude flows off the course and into town.
Last Call had planned for a big outdoor bash this year with two bands, including the Swingin' Medallions. As the rain lingered into the afternoon, though, the outdoor plan was scratched and everything moved indoors.
"We're going inside, inside," a Last Call employee said as he hustled to get the band's equipment moved from the parking lot stage.
"The weather's unfortunate," said Pat Burke, Last Call's manager, "but we'll probably have 500 or 600 people before the night is over."
Up Washington Road at Cadillac's, Bobby Bishop had staked out a table next to the dance floor as he waited for his daughter and son-in-law, Michelle and Joel Ivey, to arrive from Charlotte, N.C.
"It's kind of a mystery," Mr. Bishop said about the popularity of Par-3 night. "It really is a tradition, though."
It turns out that it's also a tradition for his daughter. As she walked into the bar, shedding her coat and leaning over to hug her father, she said, "If we're able to get here in time, we go to the Par-3 parties."
The Iveys have badges for the tournament and are in town for the rest of the week.
On Wednesday night, it didn't really matter whether people knew knew a Par-3 from a parfait; everyone had a reason to be out.
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Leigh Lawrence (left) dances with Rick Barry at Last Call's Par-3 party. Both are from Hilton Head Island, S.C.KEVIN MARTIN/THE AUGUSTA CHRONICLE |
Angela Darsey, 26, who is in the nurse anesthetist program at the Medical College of Georgia, had a vague notion of the Par-3, but she was at Last Call for one reason.
"The Swingin' Medallions," she shouted, jumping up from her bar stool.
"They're the mini Medallions," her friend Michelle Kribel said, because only one of the original members of the beach music band remains and several of the performers are their sons.
Ms. Darsey said Par-3 night might become her Masters Week tradition.
"I'm single, and there's usually no guys out," she said. "Oh my God, they're everywhere tonight. It's like eye candy."
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