My first impression of the course was the extremely high level of difficultly.  To compare it to skiing, this is not a double diamond, this is helicopter skiing in the back country!  Augusta National is very hilly and very long.  The greens consist of many plateaus with extreme slopes.  The bunkers are much deeper than I had anticipated and the winds are incredibly tricky.  This course makes the greatest players in the world look average at times.  I have a great appreciation for how well these players handled the elements.  I saw A LOT of players second guessing the wind conditions.  I stood next to the 12th tee box and didn't feel any wind, I moved over 100 feet by the 11th fairway and it was a steady 30 mph wind, and I watched the 12th flag blow three different directions within the span of a minute.  As a player, you have to commit to a shot pattern and club selection; but when the wind is changing this drastically in such a short period of time, it is amazingly hard to focus on your swing and trust a particular strategy.

Congratulations to Trevor Immelman for winning the 2008 Masters.  He has a beautiful golf swing and simply handled the harsh elements better than any other competitor; including Mr. Woods.  The wind got the best of him on some of the later holes, but he had already built a comfortable scoring margin and closed the deal on the 18th hole with a great drive, strong second shot and a couple of short putts.

The Masters has always been my favorite tournament and I look forward to watching it with a new found appreciation for the difficulty of the course and the amazing ability of the pros to get the ball in the hole while battling these great elements.  I highly recommend a personal visit to Augusta National GC.