It was last June when both Ben Martin and Lucas Glover participated in the same tournament together. Back then, senior Ben Martin actually had the lead of the United States Open as an amateur during the opening round at Bethpage Black for a small amount of time, until Clemson graduate Lucas Glover showed off his consistency by bringing home the U.S Open trophy, the first major championship win by any Clemson golfer. That win guaranteed Glover an exemption into the Masters Tournament for the next five years. The road for Ben to this past week began back in late August in Tulsa, Okla., at the 2009 United States Amateur Championship. By finishing as runner-up, Ben received an invitation to this year’s Masters.
Coming off the best season of his career, Glover started the 2010 season strong during the first couple weeks of the year but has since hit a little slump. Lucas rallied from an opening round 76 to shoot 71 on Friday, good enough to make it to the weekend and earn some cash. He finished on Sunday with a 2-over 74, to finish tied for 36th alongside amateur Matteo Manassero from Italy. “I drove it the best I drove it all week [on Sunday], but I just didn’t execute,” Glover said. “When I had to get birdies, I didn’t hit the ball like I wanted to. I was just hitting it in spots I couldn’t get up-and-down from.”
Going into the Masters, Martin was coming off his first-ever collegiate victory at the Furman Invitational. “I don’t know if it’s a good sign for the Masters or not, but last weekend I finally got my first tournament win of my Clemson career at the Furman Invitational. It only took me four years to do it. That still definitely put me in a good mindset getting ready for the Masters. After Furman, Jordan [Byrd, Clemson assistant golf coach and brother of PGA Tour player Jonathan Byrd] told me Matt Kuchar played well at Furman and then at Augusta, too, when he was still an amateur [in 1998; Kuchar finished low amateur].”
No matter what the outcome of the week was, Martin knew it was going to be an experience that he would never forget. “I’ve been going to The Masters since I was about seven,” Martin said. “When I was that young, I always used to wonder just what it would be like to play in the Masters. Now I may be getting that chance, which is going to be a great experience.” And would it ever. When the pairings came out for the first and second rounds, Martin was paired with tour veteran Steve Flesch and two-time Masters champion Ben Crenshaw. Later on that day, Martin was lucky enough to play a practice round with two other legends, Ian Woosman and Fuzzy Zoeller. “I picked their brains a little bit, and they gave me advice without my asking. I was soaking it all in. Any time you play with a former champion, you listen to what he says. They mainly told me about the greens, just being on the right side of the hole. Fuzzy said you can have a 10-footer and be down the hill, trying to two-putt it. He told me to hit 3-wood off the tee on a couple of holes, mainly 10 and 13. I’m going to try that out and see how it works. And yes, there was some razzing out there. But most of what Fuzzy said, you can’t repeat.”
During the first round, Martin played a great front nine on a day where weather conditions were shaky at times, with rain and wind at one moment, then sunny the next.
Martin finished the day with a 3-over 75, a great score for playing in your first-ever round at the Masters. “I was really nervous on the first hole and throughout the entire round. I think I was the most nervous on my first putt.
“You always hear about how fast Augusta National’s greens are, and I had a 20-footer straight up the hill and left it eight feet short, so I started off with a bogey. But I hit the ball great all day and had tons of fun.”
However, the second day proved to be much tougher for Martin, especially as he rounded Augusta National’s infamous Amen Corner.
“The hole that was most important was the par-5 13th, where I made triple bogey. I should’ve gone for it in two I guess. I had 230 yards to the hole into the wind and I decided to lay up. I had a little gap wedge from about 100 yards and just fatted it in the creek. Then I figured I’d have some fun, go down in the creek and hit it. The ball was probably one-third of the way under water, so I had to take both shoes off to go in and hit it. I took my hat off, put a rain vest on for security and rolled up my pant legs.
“Then came my socks and shoes. Some people started cheering when I took my shoes off. I didn’t know how it was going to turn out. I asked my caddie (Benjy Thompson), ‘You ever hit one of these before?’ and he said, ‘Nope.’ I just hit it and hoped.”
Ben even received a “live look-in” from Scott Van Pelt on Sportscenter while that was going on.
Even though Ben did not make the cut, just simply being at and playing in the Masters is something he can talk about for years and years to come.
He will get another shot this summer during the 2010 United States Open in California at famous Pebble Beach Golf Links.
