2005 Masters Tournament

Pine Mountain, GA

May 27 – 30, 2005

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First of all, I would like to thank everyone who made this trip to the 46th Masters Tournament possible: 

 

Carol Leonard for allowing us to borrow her car for the trip and taking care of my broken down old dog, Scrappy. 

 

Pro skier Glenn Campbell for providing us with 3-day event pavilion passes which saved us from the scorching sun, and allowed us to rub elbows with the pros.  http://zejskiers.homestead.com/GlennCampbell.html

 

George Obser, president of Water Ski Atlanta ski club in Atlanta, who provided us with a pull Friday afternoon.  Also, a special thanks to Eric, Swede, and the rest of the crew for the coaching between passes.  Lake Frances was a gorgeous and wonderful place to ski!  If you’re ever in the Ft. Worth area, drop me a line, we’d love to return the favor.  By the way, can we borrow Swede from your club se we can have a bug-free Marine Creek lake also?  :-) http://www.waterskiatlanta.com

   

 

Kristy Overton-Johnson, for providing me (Metroplex Ski Club) with an "In His Wakes" medal to present to a skier at our upcoming adaptive ski clinic!  http://www.inhiswakes.com/

 

And lastly, a special thanks to Larry Leonard for his hard work in planning the transportation, the hotel, and the tickets.

 

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And on to the synopsis… 

 

Thursday night, I get to Larry’s around 11 PM and the car is up on stands…  They were re-changing the anti-freeze because Larry put the wrong kind in.  Besides the car, Larrys dog had to be taken to the emergency room, but was OK.   Because of the last minute glitches, Kyle was not ready to go and we had to go get his stuff at his house.  As Kyle got his stuff together, Larry and I chowed on some left over brisket.  So, now it’s 12:45 AM Friday morning, we’re on the road to Atlanta. 

 

We had no traffic problems - smooth sailing all the way there with hardly any law enforcement.  We made two stops for gas/food: Monroe, LA, and Birmingham, AL (remind me not let Larry/Kyle have Taco Bell while road tripping with me again).  Oh yeah, and congratulations to Kyle who narrowly defeated me in "the contest" – it was a matter of five minutes. 

 

Next stop - Lake Frances to ski with Water Ski Atlanta.  Our host, George Obser, made us feel right at home.  Great boat, driving, coaching and most important of all, GREAT WATER.  After driving through the night and ˝ the day, we skied two sets.  Kyle skied into 35, Larry into 32, and I scored 5 @ 28’ (34 mph) twice. 

 

After Skiing, it was onto Pine Mountain, GA – a speck on the map.  We ate at McGuire’s Restaurant.  Buffet was $7.00, and unimpressive.  We were so hungry we could have eaten old shoe leather, so we didn't complain.  Score: Kyle 3 plates, Mark and Larry 2 plates each.  Great sweet tea at least.  Kyle told us stories of how he’d been kicked out of 3 different all-you-can-eat buffets because he ate too much.  After dinner we hung out on the patio of The Sportsman’s Grill for a few cold beers (pronounced "COL-BEEEERS" according to Kyle) and conversation.  The guys at the next table were there for the tournament too.  After Sportsman’s, we dropp in on  a small tavern for music, pool and a few more beers (not for me, I quit after two).  Kyle picked up the full tab though, nice guy…  Larry bailed early, so we walked back to the motel at 2:30 AM.  We’d been awake nearly 42 hours in a row. 

 

Now onto the tournament.  The tournament was incredible.  Lake Robin was not the best of sites with the retaining walls making for busy water.  OK, I admit, the site sucks for skiing, kinda like the course at the Trinity River when you don't wait for the rollers to go away.Either way, the pros made it look easy.  In the semi-finals we saw Jaime run 4 @ 41 off.  Plus Callaway Gardens in general was great - the smell of Magnolias was strong, and tons of birds and squirrels to go around.  
 

The semi-finals were great.  In men’s slalom, we saw Will Asher, Marcus Brown, Jaime Beauchesne, Glenn Campbell, Wade Cox, Jodi Fisher, Chris Parrish, and Chris Rossi.  In Women’s slalom we saw April Coble, Natalie Hamrick, Geraldine Jamin, Jill Knutson, Emma Sheers, and Karen Truelove. 

 

In the finals Sunday, we saw Jeff Rogers (who beat Glenn in a run off), Jaime Beauchesne, Chris Parrish and Jodi Fisher.  Jeff unbelievably fell at 5 ball 35’ off, which spelled almost immediate elimination due to the head to head format skiing against Jaime.  Jodi was up against Chris, and could not match up to the current world record holder.  It came down to Jaime vs. Chris.  Chris skied 2nd and edged Jaime by a ˝ buoy at 4.5 @ 39.5 off in absolutely horrible water conditions.

 

In the semi finals women’s slalom, we saw Geraldine, Natalie, Karen, and Emma advance to the finals.  Natalie skied the best that day into 39˝ off.  The final match up was between Natalie and Karen.  It was Natalie’s to lose as the top seed and the best skier Saturday.  Karen skied only 1 @ 35.  Natalie blew it when she fell at 2.5 @ 28’. 

 

We also saw some incredible jumping Saturday – Thank goodness noone was hurt.  We saw Jimmie do a forward flip off the ramp and land on his back.  He had enough sense during the fall to “cover up.”  Amazing.  We also saw Jason Seals wipe out – and hard…  His crash was more dramatic than Jimmie’s because he did not have time to brace.  Sunday was a real treat – we saw Freddy Krueger break the world record jump on his final attempt with 238 feet.

 

Being in the pavilion at the Masters enabled us to talk to the pros and sit in the stands with them.  We got to talk to athletes such as Glenn Campbell, Wade Cox, Jodi Fisher, Chris Parrish, Rhoni Barton, Karen Truelove, Kristy Overton, Jaret Lewellyn, Jimmie Siemers, Brandi Hunt, Regina Jaquess, Mandy Nightengale, Scott Ellis and Freddy Krueger. 

 

Also of interest, we ran into MSC life member Carol Lowe, who sends everyone at MSC a special hello.  She mentioned having a video of Glenn Sperry breaking his stilt skis, so I left her my email address to get a copy of it.  Be on the look out for it on the awards page.  We also ran into Shepp, former MSC member and president.  Sat with him and his family part of the time Sat and Sun.

 

Saturday night we ate at I believe it was Jeanine’s Steak and Seafood.  Good grub, good service.  Sunday after the finals, we were headed home.  We left at 4 PM and made our 1st stop in Monroe, LA for gas and Taco Bell.  Next Stop was in Bossier City at 2 AM for some gambling.  Score:  Kyle +$70 (blackjack), Larry -$30 slots, I didn’t lose anything because I didn’t play.  I drove the remainder of the way - Monroe to Fort Worth, and finally walked in the door at 6 AM.  Monday was the day of rest, I slept most of the morning, then napped the rest of the afternoon and then fell asleep early and slept through the night.  We’re already talking about the 47th masters trip. 

 

If you'd like to see pictures from the trip: Click Here.

 

- Mark Cohen

 

 Results:

 

MEN                                       WOMEN
Slalom

Parrish (4.5 @ 39.5)                K. Truelove (1 @ 35)
Beauschesne (4 @ 39.5))            Hamrick (2.5 @ 28)

Jumps
Kreuger (238)                          Sheers (177)
Llewellyn (222)                        Fladborg (169)

Tricks
LeForestie (10260)                   Nightingale (7350)      
Seimers (10220)                        Jaquess (7230)