Now that we had our share of shopping and lunch, it was time for the leaders to tee off. We left our chairs and headed to the third hole. It was a rather long walk, and we were surprised to find no chairs available. That’s why Bob and I now have chairs of our own. We arrived in time to see Rory and Bryson DeChambeau. They walked right past us in their pursuit of a green jacket.

As soon as the leaders were finished, we scrambled over to hole #6 to catch that action. Now we’re toting chairs, of course, but we always had a seat and the crowds were growing.

One of the most exciting things about the tournament was the roar of the crowd, which you could hear all over the course whenever anyone made an amazing shot. There also was the moan of the crowd whenever an easy shot was missed, but this was nowhere near as loud as the roar. It was exciting and I have to tell you I’m glad I didn’t have a cell phone to try to capture this. It couldn’t have done it justice.

At long last, we went back to the Azalea hole to locate our other set of chairs. We made ourselves comfortable waiting for the leaders. We were not disappointed as it was a noteworthy hole, even if in a negative sense. Rory got a rare double bogie on that hole – unlucky 13, I guess. Bob explained that that never happens. It’s almost as rare as a hole in one – almost.

I had quite the golf coaching staff at this point. The gentleman to my left had binoculars and was relaying the play by play. To the left of him was a man who was attending his 57^th Augusta National. Then between Bob and me a man about our age showed up. There were no empty chairs, so Bob offered one of our folded ones. That’s how we met Barry.

I know much more about Barry than you might think, and I’ll spare you the details of his life (which we were not spared). Barry was traveling solo and was very happy to find friends. He thought the alliteration of our three names was cool, and I have to admit I like alliteration and at this point that might have encouraged Barry a little too much. Barry showed me his chemo burn scars which were hidden under his long sleeves on this warm day and asked me if that grossed me out. He said he needed to stay out of the sun, which made our shaded location ideal. He talked a lot. I didn’t think you were supposed to talk that much at a golf tournament, but I guess since we were on the fairway we weren’t disturbing any golfers. I started leaning into binoculars guy to help me pay attention to the golf, but Barry was leaning in to us.

At some point, unbeknownst to me, Bob offered to give Barry a lift back to his car, which was at a shuttle area. Bob told him we were leaving after the leaders finished this hole and Barry was all good with going with us. By now he had noticed that I had a cane and Bob told him I had knee issues. Now Barry took on the job of making sure I was safe and carried the other two chairs. I looked at my sweet husband and reminded him that we weren’t going straight to the car as we needed to stop at the golf shop. Barry was good with that, too. He stuck with us through it all, even followed Bob into the men’s room (hopefully not too close).

Barry has slowed down since the chemotherapy and liked my slower pace just fine. He was especially grateful for the handicap golf cart which sliced some time off our walk back to the car. Barry piled into the backseat like one of our kids and oozed with gratitude. He gave us his card, in case we ever get to Chicago. He told us he wished we could get together later for dinner and cards, and he told us he loved us. Honestly, I didn’t know what to do with that. By now it was six o’clock, and I was running on empty, so we gently parted ways and went back to our VRBO to rest.

Highlights from The Masters:

Seeing Rory.

Seeing Scottie Scheffler, of whom I am a fan since he was wrongly arrested on his drive into a tournament last year. I loved the way he handled that.

Talking with people along the way.

Eating Georgia peach ice cream sandwiches.

The grounds – a golf course plopped into a southern garden or maybe vice versa.

Seeing men waiting in long lines to use the restroom.

Watching my husband enjoy this day – that was the best of all.