Virginia Tech junior Drew Weaver became the first American since 1972 to capture the British Amateur Championship. The victory earned him a
spot in the 2008 Masters Tournament. The High Point, NC native is writing an exclusive, web-only diary for masters.org on his first experience as a Masters participant. Weaver was an on- campus witness to the horror of 32 Virginia Tech students being shot and killed last April. He rebounded to help lead his team to the ACC title.
Weaver is writing his daily diary during Tournament week. This is his fifth entry.
Well, my first competitive round at the Masters is over, and while I didn’t play as well as I wanted to, I thought I played pretty solid (four-over 76). I didn’t make any double bogeys and had a great experience.
Today was pretty tough and pretty long this morning waiting to tee off, especially with the one hour fog delay.
I was planning to sleep late, but I got a pretty funny start to the day. I forgot about Mr. Palmer teeing off this morning and the first thing I heard was (Masters Chairman) Billy Payne’s voice booming through the speakers. Then, I heard a huge roar when Mr. Palmer teed off.
That certainly jolted me out of bed, but thankfully I was able to go right back to sleep when they finished.
I finally woke up for good about 8:30 a.m. and went down to breakfast about 9. It was a pretty leisurely morning, which was nice.
After breakfast, I had a good warm up session and was ready to play.
On the first tee, I wasn’t really nervous, maybe because I had played here so many times. But I hit it down the middle and made par which really settled me down.
I was trying to concentrate out there, but it’s hard not to notice all the support and friends I had. The Hokie Nation certainly came out in force to support me and that was nice to see.
Plus, my hometown of High Point (NC) is only a few hours away so if some people had tickets, they could easily drive down to see me.
I thought I played really well on the first nine, but after making the turn, I was mad that I missed the putt on No. 12 and then 13 turned into a real round saver. The ball hung on the edge of Rae’s Creek and didn’t go in so I was able to salvage a par.
My par putt on 15 was another real saver for me. I know you can’t bogey a par 5 out here, so that’s why I came out with the fist pump after my par putt circled the hole and dropped in.
The 16th was certainly the highlight of the day. I knew the pin was in a position where I could birdie it, and when it hit the slope and started rolling down to the hole, that’s exactly what happened. I only had about 1½ or two feet for birdie and just tapped it in.
I hated to bogey the last hole, but that’s how it goes some of the time. I still don’t know what happened, but overall it was a pretty solid round.
After the round, I did a bunch of interviews, including my first at the CBS Studio at Butler Cabin, which I’d seen on TV.
I just hit a few balls and headed for dinner at my parent’s rented house and an early night. I know I have to play early tomorrow, so I wanted to get some rest.
I’ve played a lot of tournament golf in the past, so I know about scores and numbers and cuts. I figure I probably need even par tomorrow which I’m certainly capable of out here. I really like where my game is right now and I just need to get back out there and go at it again Friday.
