Spotting golfers is not easy

The cool thing about being famous is traveling. I have always wanted to travel across seas, like to Canada and stuff.

-- Britney Spears

Golf's featured celebrities are in town this week. Most are staying in private residences or facilities away from the crowds.

You could see them out on the course if you have tickets to the tournament, but what if you don't?

I asked Diane Johnston, the marketing director at Augusta Regional Airport, whether golf fans ever come out to Bush Field, hoping for a glimpse of their heroes arriving or leaving town.

She said they do but are usually disappointed:

"The general public is not allowed on the ramp for safety and security reasons. Also, we are very careful to protect our patrons' privacy. Our employees meet all the jets as they pull up and escort the passengers in a golf cart or airport vehicle to their waiting vehicles."

So your best (legal) bet continues to be to get a Masters Tournament badge through the practice round lottery.

GRAVE SUBJECTS: Chronicle readers are so smart. On Sunday we reported the mystery of Bluford Garrett, whose 1903 tombstone was found last month when workers drained the Augusta Canal. No one seemed to know much about Mr. Garrett, except that city records said he was supposed to have been buried in the Rollersville Cemetery.

This intrigued Doris Chavis, of Aiken County. She called to say Bluford turned up on ancestor.com.

Filling in the gaps on our mystery man, she said he was a carpenter who lived at 371 Ellis St. with his second wife, Sarah. He was apparently born in South Carolina, but in 1860 he was living with his parents and family in Georgia's Cherokee County, north of Atlanta.

She said she still didn't know why he was living in Augusta when he died in 1903.

THANK YOU: My gratitude also to the dozen or more readers who responded to my Sunday column about losing electricity. The loss of power prevented the use of my automatic garage-door opener, which would have trapped our cars inside if the door had not already been up.

Many of you suggested I simply pull the cord that disconnects the door from its overhead apparatus, then lift it by hand. Unfortunately, my door does not open that way. Disconnected, it becomes a 400-pound dead weight.

TODAY'S JOKE: Here's one from Everett Fernandez :

A tour guide was showing a tourist around Washington, D.C. The guide pointed out the place where George Washington supposedly threw a dollar across the Potomac River.

"That's impossible," said the tourist. "No one could throw a coin that far!"

"Well, you have to remember," answered the guide, "a dollar went a lot farther in those days."

Reach Bill Kirby at (706) 823-3344 or bill.kirby@augustachronicle.com.