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Emotional: Palmer expresses his feelings for Augusta
AP Photo
Arnold Palmer, 79, hit the first tee shot fo the Masters at 7:50 a.m. yesterday.
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Published: April 10, 2009
AUGUSTA, Ga. - Arnold Palmer is never shy about his love for the Masters.
After fulfilling his duty as the ceremonial starter yesterday, he talked about how much being at Augusta National means to him.
"What can you say, I made contact," Palmer said, tears welling up in his eyes. "It's a great thrill, and it's something. This is my 54th year here and not once did I not enjoy it.… This means everything to me."
Palmer, 79, hit the first tee ball at 7:50 a.m. -- a good, solid drive that found the fairway.
Before hitting, he joked with the large galleries that he had ordered fog, so that nobody would see where his ball went. Afterward, he posed for pictures with several Augusta members in their green coats, including Johnny Harris, the owner of Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte -- the site of next month's Quail Hollow Championship.
Palmer looked as if he wanted to keep playing after his tee shot but decided to stay put. He put on his green jacket, went to have breakfast in the Champions Locker Room, then left about 11 a.m. for Orlando, Fla.
"I'm Florida-bound," Palmer said as he chatted with Jackie Burke, Tom Fazio and PGA Tour commissioner Tim Finchem under the big oak tree next to the clubhouse.
Palmer's love affair with Augusta National started when he was a boy growing up in Pennsylvania, and he said he thinks about that a lot.
"From the time I was a little boy, I thought about coming here and playing," said Palmer, who won four times and played in 50 Masters. "And I never knew it would end up like it has."
With Jack Nicklaus no longer playing in the Masters and Gary Player in his last one this weekend, there has been speculation that Palmer might have some company for the ceremonial opening shot.
"That's up to the chairman," said Palmer, who also was the ceremonial starter last year. "I've done it and enjoyed it, so maybe it's time to let them do it."
Among the things that Palmer will turn his attention to this spring and summer is his renovation of the Jesse Haddock Golf Center on the Wake Forest campus. Plans have been drawn up, and Palmer's design company will be heavily involved.
When the Wake Forest practice facility opened in 1988, it was one of the best in the country. Other programs have since passed Wake Forest, but the upgrade will be a big help to the program, Coach Jerry Haas said.
Lanny Wadkins, whose son, Travis, plays for the Deacons, said that the project is long overdue.
"It's going to be a wonderful addition to the women's and men's golf programs," Lanny Wadkins said. "And with Arnold behind it, we think it's going to be that much bigger."
The project, which will cost about $8 million, has several phases, but when it's completed, it should complement Old Town Club, the Deacons' home course.
Palmer, the first ACC champion in 1954, tried several times through the years to build a golf course for Wake Forest but never could pull it off.
"It's been about 20 years or more I've been trying to build Wake Forest a course, but we are doing this," Palmer said. "I'm very encouraged."
Wadkins said that the project has the backing of several former Wake Forest golfers who are either on the PGA Tour or Champions Tour.
"It's going to be a big upgrade with more office space, four or five short holes and just a total upgrade," Wadkins said.
With the Wake Forest baseball team moving to the former Ernie Shore Field, the first order of business for the golf center is taking down the outfield fence and clearing some trees.
Wadkins said that no matter how fast the project is completed, the two who should have a say in everything that goes on are Haas and women's coach Dianne Dailey.
"Jerry and Dianne know what's needed so they should be consulted on everything," Wadkins said. "Everybody has kind of blown by us with facilities, but this should take care of that."
■ John Dell can be reached at 727-4081 or jdell@wsjournal.com.
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