Kevin Kisner and I have had some pretty interesting times just ‘bro-ing out’ up there. I brought the Claret Jug and we were watching the Georgia football game in the clubhouse. They were saying it’s the first time the Jug has ever been on property. I can’t verify if it’s the only time so I feel bad saying that but if they want to say that, that’s great.

I made a hole in one at 12 on the Sunday before my Masters playing with Brandt Snedeker and two members, Toby Wilk and Dave Norman. I hit a full pitching wedge to a front pin and one-hopped it in the hole. Ben Crenshaw was teeing off at 13 and ran around Rae’s Creek hooting and hollering and gave me a high-five and Augusta National sent me a shadow box with the ball. I thought that was very cool. 

I had a really cool trip with Coach Nick Saban and the Alabama athletic director. I’ve had some cool trips with Rory, Tom Brady, Jimmy Dunne and Novak (Djokovic). 

I was there the week before the Masters and it just so happened that Phil was there and so was Tom Brady. Phil invited me to dinner with them. Brady’s my idol so I changed all my plans to join them.

The first time I played it was really memorable. Charley Hoffman and I flew up after the Players. I remember feeling a lot of nerves for a practice round first tee shot and thinking I’m finally doing this and it was a very cool moment.

I took a good buddy for his 45^th birthday a few years back thanks to a member. It was cool to see how much it meant to him.

The first time I ever got there, I was with one of my closest friends. We were playing the next day but as we approached the club we decided to see if we could go in. We got to the gate and they initially said no, we couldn’t come in but then they phoned the pro shop and they said let them in and we got in a day early.

Getting to play Augusta my freshman year at Georgia Tech. It’s an incredible perk of being on that team. After the round we ate cheeseburgers in the clubhouse, toured the Crow’s Nest and sat up there with the team discussing the dream of one day playing as an amateur and staying in the Crow’s Nest. That next summer, I won the U.S. Amateur and got to live out that dream.

The first time I went up there it was after Bay Hill, weather was terrible, cold and rainy, and we were changing in the locker room and Phil (Mickelson) says, “You know, boys, on a day like today it’s nice to have a jacket to wear,” and he walked out with his green jacket. As trash-talking goes that was tough to beat and there wasn’t much we could say except laugh. 

The first time I ever played it, I hit my tee shot at the first in the right bunker, a 9-iron about 10 feet from the flag and made the putt for birdie. I was over the moon about that.

I’ve never gone other than Masters week. I show up on Monday morning and treat it like any other event.

I went (the week of the Mexico Open) and played for two days with Chris Kirk, Lee Hodges and Denny McCarthy. In my opinion, it’s the most special place in the world as far as golf courses go. There’s a different feeling about it and it took me a day and a half to where I would stop just looking around and be like, man, I’ve got to play golf here. There’s such an awe factor, I mean, just driving down Magnolia Lane and then the golf course is just perfect. It’s the most nervous I’ve been for a shot that means nothing. It’s just different.

Clark, who won the Wells Fargo Championship in May to book his first ticket to the Masters and then the U.S. Open in June to make him eligible for the next five years, made his first trip ahead of the Arnold Palmer Invitational in early March. “It was a really cool trip because I went with my dad and brother,” he said. “They have never been and so we went and had an awesome kind of Clark boys trip and it was very memorable. It’s something we’ll remember for the rest of our lives.” To read more about his first visit, click here.

Count Clark among those pros who didn’t want to play Augusta National until he earned his way into the tournament.

“I have had two opportunities to go prior to that,” Clark said. “And I kind of made a little pact with myself that I wouldn’t go until I was eligible to play in the tournament.”