My sporting memory goes back to a warm spring day in April 1997. The venue – the hallowed golfing paradise of Augusta National, Georgia. The sky is a pure blue, the dogwood and azaleas vivid pink and red, the fairways an emerald green. As a humble BBC sports producer, imagine my excitement when I learn I've been successful in the media ballot to play the course the day after the Championship.
So barely 12 hours after Tiger Woods romped to his first major championship, there I am standing on the 10th tee at Augusta ready to start the round of a lifetime. Our group play the back nine first, teeing off at 0745. In those days, my handicap was 9, and I begin with three regulation bogeys. The par-5 13th is an iconic hole protected by Rae's Creek. Having laid up in two, I hit my third shot to within 20 feet, and to general disbelief, hole my snaking putt for a birdie four.
My second shot to the par-4 14th somehow rims the hole and comes to rest 3 feet from the cup. Another birdie.
In danger of drowning in my own incredulity, I make my way to the par-5 15th. 100 yards short of the green in two, I hit my approach to 15 feet. And yes – you guessed it – I hole out again. Three birdies in a row on the back nine at Augusta.  A poster (see attached) of the 13th – bought three years earlier on my first trip – hangs above the desk in my office at home.  I look at it each day.  And smile each day.
For a man who has always struggled to attain even sporting mediocrity, this was my one fleeting glance inside the world of sporting achievement. A day so glorious and etched in my memory I need the genius of PG Wodehouse to sum it up. "It was like going to heaven, without all the bother and expense of dying..."
Rob is a BBC Broadcaster, Producer, After Dinner Speaker and Broadcasting Coach to presenters, commentators and pundits.
Memory added on February 2, 2021
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