He missed the Masters cut. On Saturday, we drank beers and bet on 6

AUGUSTA, Ga. – Is that Dwyane Wade watching his uncle?

Of course it is, Brent Holtz told his son, Bryson.

Should it say something?

Of course you should, Brent said.

Then he did.

“Yeah, so he went up to Dwyane Wade,” Brent said, “and said, ‘Thanks for coming out to see my uncle play in the Masters.’

What a collection of words. What a week. Bryson’s uncle, Brandon Holtzstarred Mastersshooting an 81 in the first round on Thursday and a 78 in the second round on Friday. And people came out to see Augusta Nationaljust like Holtz did, just last year, through the badges his father earned 22 years ago.

But what happens on Saturday?

Would the 39-year-old family man and real estate agent, who once played Division I college basketball and mini-tour golf before winning last year’s US Mid-Am, return after not making the cut? Would he replace his golf pants with shorts and walk among customers again, albeit as someone who just played what will they watch? Would he revert to the way he does the Masters, including proudly placing the closest bets to the tee just past the green on the par-3 6th, with losers heading to the tees and rushing for beers? Holtz and his wife, Liz, had promised they would. You write. The thinking was that if you believed it was rare for a defender to play the Masters, then the return to being a defender in the same tournament is a unicorn, similar to finding a bar in the ANGC.

Holtzes text returns.

Of course they are.

See you on the 6th green at 11.

Bring money.

“WHO HAVE YOU? WHO HAVE YOU?! SERGIO? MCNEALY? SERGIO? MCNEALY? WHO’S IN?” You find about a dozen members of the Holtz squad in 6. Brandon and Liz. His brother, Brent. Other family members. High school and university friends. Members of his club in Bloomington, Ill. Others will come later. All tickets found. Everyone is betting. Sergio Garcia first hit on the par-3 180 yards, then Maverick McNealy. You choose McNealy. Holtz picks up Garcia. You lose. Garcia is the closer. The gang heads out for beers, though not before Holtz sees former NBA star Richard Hamilton walk up to him and thank him for his alma mater, the University of Connecticut, beating the University of Illinois in the college basketball Final Four, since Illinois is not loved by Holtz’s alma mater, Illinois State University.

You, of course, didn’t play 6, and Brandon did. How did that go? It depends on the day. On Thursday and Friday, he made it even. He says you can’t go long and he didn’t. But you also shouldn’t shake straight. During his practice round on Monday, Holtz’s ball went through trees and over water to the left of the adjacent 16th green. Tommy FleetwoodHoltz’s partner begged him to hit him, but Holtz begged him to stop. Helluva story. And just dropping the name of the fourth ranked golfer in the world like Tommy by the way.

“It’s funny that we sit here and say Tommy, like they’re my best friends,” Holtz said. “And so I was, Tommy. I played with him Jordan (Spieth). I call him Tommy. I’m calling him Bubba (Watson).

“These guys are the best players in the world and I’m sitting here calling them by their first name.”

What about the ball?

“Oh, hell no,” Holtz said. “I wouldn’t take it.”

You, the customer, have more customer questions while drinking your Crow’s Nest Wheat Beer. The biggest surprise? Speed ​​- on fairways, around greens, on greens. And the idea that a 160 meter shot is a 160 meter shot; “If you hit 161 or 159, you’re in trouble,” Holtz said. No course he’s played, he said, has asked for more. His scariest moment? A sequence on the par-4 7th on Thursday. He was short and right after two strikes. His third went 50 yards and into the green, but “I had to hit it 52.” From there, he had a choice with his ball about 50 yards to the right of the hole. He talked it over with his father, Jeff, who he chose as his caddy. “If you look at that green, you’re literally going up a hill,” Holtz said. “And then after that hill, it’s straight down the hill. I said, ‘Dad, I think I’m going to leave this one like 10 yards short, because if I try to go after it, it’s an instant 6. So I set up to 10 feet for my par, and then I missed my 10-footer for bogey.

“Easy 6, I guess. But if I tried to follow it, it would have been a hard 7, wouldn’t it?”

What he and others can’t forget came on the par-5 15th.

But who are they? others?

They were the customers sitting next to the green and to her right. Holtz was there at the 2. He had 35 yards left. It was on an upper slope and the green turns into a pond. Holtz spoke to his father again.

“These guys were just dying laughing,” Holtz said.

“Because I’m there, I’m like, Dad, do I put it? Do I like to stick it? Do I hit it with an 8 iron? Do I throw it in the air? These guys — and then I asked them, I said, what are you guys going to do? And they’re just dying laughing. And I’m like, you know where to go at the end of the day. Commit and hit the perfect shot.

“I hit perfect.”

The bird.

Another group comes in the 6th group.

Another bet has been made.

“BRIDGEMAN OR RAI? I’LL TAKE BRIDGEMAN. YOU LIKE RAI? RAI. YOU CAN’T BEAT A GUY WHO DRESSES WITH TWO GLOVES. WAIT, WHO’S UP ON THE TEE? BRIDGEMAN. OK, READY.” Aaron Ray is closer than Jacob Bridgeman. You earn this. But you buy everyone beers for their time, though you get the feeling Holtz wouldn’t have to pay much on Saturday.

There are some interactions between patrons and patron-player-patron again. Near the concession stand, Mason Howellthe American Amateur winner, who also played in the first two rounds, stops to speak. Along the fairway to the right of the seventh fairway, a man taps him on the shoulder, says he went to high school with him and says he and his wife have been seeing him since last September, when he earned his Masters berth with a Mid-Am win. A volunteer on the 7th also recalled it from Thursday and Friday. “I was his favorite golfer,” Holtz joked. Then another volunteer comes in and says he’s an agent for State Farm, which sponsored Holtz.

Holtz looks and sees Adam Scott AND Sam Stevens move forward. He is only a few hours away from that place. He has a different story. Three kids were standing right off the tee on the 16th on Friday, and they’re yelling at Holtz’s partners: Watson, the two-time Masters winner, and Nico Echavarria. They ask for a ball. Holtz said maybe.

“And then we started talking, didn’t we?” Holtz said. “So we all hit our shots. And the kid comes up to me after Bubba hit, comes up to me and says, ‘Play rock, paper, scissors for a ball.’ I say, ‘That’s not good for you, though.’ He says, ‘Why?’ I say, ‘Cause I don’t lose rock paper scissors.’

“So we all hit our shots, and I’m like, okay, I grab three balls. So I go down there and I’m playing rock, paper, scissors. She throws the paper, I throw the scissors. I’m like, ‘Boom, I told you I don’t get beat.'” And I’m walking away, and as I’m walking away, I throw the three balls behind me.

“And the crowd went wild. So just moments like that, experiences like that, you just remember for the rest of your life. It made the kids’ days. It made my day.”

At this point, you are standing in line with Liz. She watched him on Thursday and Friday after watching him for 10-plus years at the Masters. How was that? There are layers to this, she said. She knew the days were coming. She had helped with the arrangements. And Brandon just was, with him at the Masters, albeit sometimes hundreds of feet away.

“I don’t know that I’ve processed that as I’m running as a quarterback and instinctively I’m like, ‘Oh, where did B go?’ she said.

“And I look down the fairway and I’m like, ‘Oh yeah, he’s over there with Bubba.'”

About half a cup of beer left.

ON THE RIGHT OF SECOND STREET, AN AUGUSTA NATIONAL MEMBER FAMILY MEETS THE HOLTZES. They had been following Brandon’s story all week. You don’t hear that he missed the cut; instead, they tell him that he ranks as one of their favorite invites. They tell him to remember to come back to the pro shop and when Brandon says he has, they tell him to come back again.

On Friday, everyone went to bed at 2 am, and Brandon and Liz were up around 5. He’s worked through some of the rounds, but won’t be fully asleep for a while. He has sent a message to several people. On Saturday, they drove friends and family to the course, checked in and then planned to stay all day. They also left his 6-year-old son, Baker, and his 2-year-old daughter, Millie, in a daycare. Earlier in the week, they were part of the gang during the Par-3 Contest. They’re probably too young to be wowed by dad or Dwyane Wade, and you’re curious what they did for the week.

“Well, Baker put a little pressure on me, my son. He’s like, ‘Dad, can we go do this thing again?'” Holtz said. I’m like, ‘Oh, s—, OK.’ So yes, they love it. Millie, I mean, she’s 2, she doesn’t really know what’s going on, but she really loved him, and then we had a little meltdown. Gave it to my aunt and my cousin so they went and got her a snack and she was fine with it. She is a big food girl. And then we met him again on the 9th, and I’m just looking at him, and I’m like, “Here we are.”

“And I got Jason Day back there, you know, recording it. And I’m like, ‘What the hell? Jason Day recording my wife and son hitting golf balls. Who am I? What the hell is this?”

Here, you let Brandon go. He has been revealed enough. He leaves.

Around his neck is a rope that says: “Player”.

“>