We're walking down Tin Fairway and I'll see Tiger kind of walk over like he's about to say something to me, you know, like you're kind of walking to your path down down the hill and our balls were in similar spot and he kind of walks over. Oh my gosh, he's about to say something again, and he's like, wouldn't it be fun to just get like a running start and slow down this hill. I'm like, what put another log on the fireboy here is to get the time.
Andy Ogletree just drove down here today. Andy ago Tree U s M winner multiple All American at Georgia Tech played in the Masters, was low amateur. They're played with Tiger Woods and Shane Lowry. He stops by and shares his story and where he's at. I hope you enjoy it. To get started, my name's Andy Ogletree, um in the twenty nineteen US Amateur Champion and Georgia techon graduate from Mississippi.
How soon after you finish off your handshake, had off handshake, whatever the case is, you're the U s M champ, how quickly do you think masters? Thinking Masters? Before the thing before tell your one in the US am I mean Tiger one the Masters in nineteen, so everyone knows leading up to the U s M. If you win the U s M, then you're playing with Tiger at the Masters the following year. So UM, all throughout the week during press conference and stuff, that's all they're talking about.
So there's no way to there's no way to really avoid that. UM. I was thinking about it for sure. UM. I remember the most nervous I was the semifinal match, because so much FRIZ on that semifinal match and if you if you don't win that one, then you basically getting nothing out of the US AM. Um, you win that match, you get into the US Open and the Masters, and you don't get in the British but unless you win. But UM, a lot rods on that match. And I
remember that morning. I mean, I'm like, goly, like, this is the most nervous I've ever been and never really felt this. And that was a really good experience for me to have, UM, learn how to deal with that adrenaline, learn how to deal with the emotions and kind of
put everything aside. And for the first nine holes or so, I didn't really get a hole to my game, and lucky for me, the guy was planning it's was kind of the same way and ended up hitting a few quality shots down the stretch and got my emotions under control and um closed it out. But you know that was that was one of the hardest rounds of golf I've ever played. Tell me, talked me through that hole? You know. Yeah? Um, how many times do you think
you had played the golf course before? You? Really? We get to go over once a year in college. Um, so I played four times with the college team, and then it got to be really close with a few of the members and they would take me over on weekends and stuff. So I must have played twelve times before the week started, maybe thirteen fourteen times. I don't know. You love the golf courtion? I love it, absolutely love it since the first time I went. I mean I
was obsessed with Augusta National. What do you love about it? It's just every hole it tells you what to do. It's like, you're supposed to hit it here to this pen, you do this, to this, when you do this, Um, you can't hit it here. It's just very like straightforward. I mean, that sounds weird to say about Augusta, but it really does tell you where to hit it and where to miss it. And I like golf courses like that.
I like the like how heart it is. I like how punishing it is for bad shots, but it also rewards good shots. And um, I think they have the greatest part fives in the world. Um, the greatest green complexes. I mean, it's just really cool golf course. And obviously Augusta National just has a different feel about it once you get on property than anywhere else in the world.
I haven't really experienced that. I mean, I've played all the all the cool places been done, the pun Valley done, Cyprus Seminal, I mean, all these places are amazing, but I guess it just has a different feel and attention to detail than anywhere else in the world. And it's just special Augusta National Masters. So you get in, tucked me through, you got a lot to manage, You've got family, got tickets, you've got you know. That just sort of walked me through sort of the chaos that is Masters
we compared to everything else. So I mean normally, um, I was preparing for playing in April, and I would sit in class in college and I had these spreadsheets of Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. I made all these spreadsheets of who's getting tickets on what day and texting all my friends, Hey, can you go on this day? Can you go on this day? And uh, I finally got to get eight tickets.
I had it all spread out. I was going to give my high school friends the day, you know, high school coaches, everybody that's kind of brought me to where I'm at. Um, everybody was going to get an opportunity. And then they say, you know, the Masters just put spawning in November. I'm like, oh my gosh, I've done all this. I've done all this work. We've got the house set up, we know who's going, we know what day we're getting there, like everything's everything's very planned out.
And you were handling all of that him. You were managing that. Yeah. I mean I never asked my parents to do anything. Um, I kind of like to to do it all on my own. So um yeah, I had it all, had it all ready to go, and then um we did. We ended up having no fans,
no spectators, so all those tickets, nobody could go. A lot of people from my hometown had spent, you know, a lot of money for them to be able to go, and um, even a few people had reached out like, hey, is it okay if we like sleeping yell floor will bring like a pullout couch or blow up bed or something. And uh so it was gonna be a really fun
week and it still was. I mean, don't get me wrong, but um, hopefully we'll get back soon and uh give everybody the tickets and they were gonna have I'll probably still have this spread sheets. That's amazing. So now so it bummer that you didn't have all that, but in a way it kind of simplified. It also simplified your life in a sense that you know, I mean, there was a lot less to worry about, um getting there in November. It was just me and my caddy and
my parents. My grandma came over from Mississippi to cook every night. We had a super cool setup. We had a we had a nice house and um my brother was there or my brothers were there, and um, how many who's your caddy? My assistant coach in college caddy for me, he caddy for me and all the all the term ats how players and am and he caddy for me at the U S M two so I felt like he kind of helped me get to that point, and I wanted to I didn't want to take a
different caddy. I want to take somebody else comfortable with, especially to a place like Augusta. I mean, there's enough stuff to make you uncomfortable already then um adding a new caddy of the mix. So I wanted to take him. And he came over on a few trips with me before, and um he always loved golf and uh kind of
learning about the game. So he was obsessed with learning everything you could have about august And I feel like he knows more than you know most of the caddies now because he studied it so much, and he helped me a lot. Had you had a couple of really low rounds, had you had some success at playing in all those years, I think the first time I played, I was like five over through five and shot even a bogey the last sole to shoot even I was
so mad about that. But um, I always shot around par I don't think I ever had like a really great round or a bad round. It was always around par Um. Fun fact, actually, my my senior year of college I was playing basketball. It was like early November and we were playing at the campus Recreational Center and uh, I went up for a rebound and got mad because
this kid like stole the rebound from me. I went to jab the ball and I I had a bone bruise in my thumb, hairline fracture, and I was supposed to go to Augusta the next weekend, and so like, don't tell anybody, don't tell anybody. In my hands like super swollen, and I come to Augusta anyway. I'm like, I'm going to play Augusta. But my hand was broken and I had to shake like a hundred hands that week because everybody's like, oh, congrats on the us AN.
I was like wincing every handshake. But I didn't play well that time. But I ended up just getting a cast like the next week and took like a month off or something, but cut it off for a cruise for New Year's Eve. Doctor. The doctor was not happy about that. But yeah, I mean, you can't take a cast on New Year's Eve cruise. Talk me through your practice rounds of Augusta and who you played with, any kind of memorable stuff that happened before you. That was
a great question. I think I play with Lucas like every day. Um, Lucas Glover's kind of taking me under his wing, especially on on tour, and uh, I been kind of a mentor for me and kind of showing me the ropes and gotten onto me for playing too much on Monday and Tuesday, and UM kind of tell me, you know, how to be a pro and how to go about it. So he was definitely someone that's helped me a ton since I've turned pro and and kind
of how to how to do it. And obviously he's been out there for so long he he knows, he knows what it's like. And UM gave me a lot of good advice. And he's played Augusta so much that he gave me, you know, a lot of different opinions and and pointers. And I played a few times with Roberto Castro to another Georgia tech guy, UM, on my trips over here. We did a couple overnight weekends together with Roberto and and he kind of told me everything
that he knew about it as well. So I had a lot of different people always bouncing information off of and trying to trying to learn as much as I could. What was some of the what what some of the advice you that that stuck out that really helped you that kind of I mean, I think the biggest thing in any PG tur event or major championship is just
not wearing yourself out early in the week. Um I never played more than nine holes of the Masters verse is the U S Open, I played probably eighteen Monday Tuesday, and then um, I remember the first week that I was playing in a professional tournament was Colonial. I think I played eighteen on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. And because I got all these different people reaching out, Hey do
you want to play practice drum? And I thought it was just like cool that I was playing with all these guys and didn't really even think about the tournament. It's like, yeah, I'm gonna go play with Phil this afternoon, and I'm gonna go play with Davis this afternoon, or you know, all these different people, and uh, obviously that was super cool, but it didn't help my golf game.
And I would get to Friday afternoon, I'd be exhausted, and I t off last off ten and every tournament that I played in, every sponsor in about your last off ten, and then you'd wake up super early Friday
morning and play again. So I needed to I needed to be a lot more disciplined with um kind of how it went about the week, and um, the stuff that I could do off the course to to give my off a lot better advantage versus I thought I had to go see the golf course because I hadn't seen these golf courses and everybody else has played it,
you know, ten times and tournaments. So you know, that was definitely a learning experience for me, and UM, those guys helped me a lot with different advice and not just on the course stuff, but off the off the course stuff as well. So you're pairing for Thursday of Masters in November, is, Yeah, I play with Tiger and Shane Lowry and uh, Shane's a beauty. He's he's super fun and UM cuts a lot of jokes and man, we had we had so much fun and Tiger was
so nice to me. Um, you don't really know what you're gonna say to Tiger, how that first encounter is gonna go. You don't want to really want to bother him and um, so I was just not gonna really say anything, you know, good luck before I tee off or something like that, and he comes over to me on the putting green and slaps me and let's let's go do this thing today. And I'm like, oh, you know, that's super cool. You probably had a couple of the
words slipped in there as well. But broke the Yeah, I broke the ice made it a lot more comfortable for me. And uh. We tee off on Tin and we're walking down the fairway and we had just had a rain delay that morning. As if you're not like already worked up too much and then you gotta wait around another two hours for a rain delay. I think we're supposed to see off at like eight something, ended up teeing off at like ten something, but um, yeah,
that was. We're walking down Tin Fairway and I see Tiger kind of walk over like he's about to say something to me, you know, like you're kind of walking to your path down down the hill and our balls are in similar spot and he kind of walks over. Oh my gosh, he's about to say something again, and he's like, wouldn't it be fun and just get like a running start and slide down this hill. I'm like, what that's what you just said? And I kind of gave him some crap about that. From then on we
were we were buddies. So, um, I think he likes people that kind of give it back to him and and aren't really like that intimidated by him, and kind of treat him like a normal person. So that's what I try to do. And I think he appreciated that. So it was fun and talk me through that round. I mean you start on ten, you're yeah, it's it's pretty funny. So I stay in the crow's nest the night before, and uh, no one ever does that, the amateurs.
They don't want to stay there the night before. They're like, oh, we'll stay there Monday night or Tuesday night or whatever. I was like, I'm gonna get the full experience, Like I'm gonna stay there, stay there Wednesday night, and do it like they used to do in the old days. So um, yeah, I by myself, I was the only one there. Creepy a little better, I mean not really, no, I'm not really want to be scared anything, but um, actually, yeah, it's super cool. You hear every door shut in the
whole clubhouse. So I've probably got like three hours of sleep and they're out blowing off the lawn at three am and getting ready for the day. I'm like, golly, setting up the umbrellas and stuff outside, Like, can you guys just put that off for a couple of hours. I'm trying to sleep. Um, but now it was it was cool and you know, one of those things you can only do it once. And Tiger actually I asked about that during the round. He's like, dude, how cool
was it? I guess he found out I was staying in the Crow's Nest that night, and how cool was the Crow's nest last? He was like, I would love to stay there again. I'm like, that's you know that, How cool is that? That? Like someone who's probably rented the biggest house at Westlake and has chef and everything there at his disposal, and he would rather stay in
the Crow's Nest. And that just shows like how cool the amateur tradition at the Masters is and how well they treat you, and just that tradition of amateurs the Masters is super cool and you know, very grateful that they even let amateurs play. Also kind of revealing a little bit about Tiger wear. He's just a big kid, like I mean, wants to slide down the Hill, wants to stay in the Crow's nest. I'm joking around around talking about his kids, and you know, I was like, so,
what's what's next for you? And this is before he announced that he was going to play The Father's Son. He was like, it's so excited that he was going to play in The Father's Son. And uh was telling me about it, and he was like, man, like, it's gonna it's gonna be awesome, like all this stuff, and I'm like, man, that's so cool that, like, you know, he's playing the Masters, but he's already thinking about playing
the Father's Son for the first time. And I don't think he announced it for like another three or four weeks, and I couldn't tell anybody. I'm like, you know, that's kind of like confidential. UM. I didn't want to be the guy that goes out and says, you know, Tiger's gonna play with the Father's Son, and so, UM, I think you know all that stuff. I'll definitely remember all these conversations, and UM just sound nice. He was. He didn't have to say anything to me. And obviously playing
with a guy like Shane too. UM. I had also played with Shane the U s Open. I think five out of six rounds I've played in majors I played with Shane, so I've got to know him pretty well, which is yeah. I mean, it's just the best group you can ever have because you've got some guy over here cutting jokes and um, keeping everything pretty light until he hits a bad shot, and then uh, you got uh Tiger who's obviously my childhood hero. So um, really
cool grouping. Another cool story that Thursday, I'm in uh player dining, and player dining is different than it normally is. It was like left of the range because of COVID, they had to space out of the the lockers, and um, We're in this big building and I'm scrolling through Twitter
or whatever I'm doing eating breakfast. Probably should have been like, you know, thinking about the round or something, but I'm like watching a lot from the Masters and like scrolling through Twitter and you know, looking at the hype for for the round, and h Henrik Stinson, who had played a practice round with at the US Open, walks over and I didn't even know this, but in the in the locker room they had all the pin sheets. You know,
obviously an amateur golf. You wait until you get to the first team, and then you fold your pin sheet. On the first team, you don't even know like where the pins are. Um, like, golly, I don't even think about that. But I go to where's that out? But he walks over and lays a pin sheet in front of me and just winks at me and walks off, and almost like that is the coolest thing ever. Like he didn't say anything. Um, didn't even you know, really acknowledged me, just winked at me and walked off. And
I'm like, you know, that's pretty badass. I love that guy. So, um, that was really cool and kind of got me, got me going that morning and kind of got me into the competitive mind frame versus just like oh, the Master's week sick, you know. And so we start and I'm like, pipe it down one. Um, it wasn't as nervous I
thought I was gonna be. I think, you know, some of those I was way more nervous that, like the Walker Cup or you know, some of those other events versus that first tea shot and no gallery though that helps. No gallery definitely helps, kind of like you guys are out there and yeah, I mean when they say like yeah, I say, like Andy Orgatree, now driving it's like, you know, you definitely get something, but it it wasn't what I was expecting. And uh, Everyone's like, oh, you got up
to the best. Are how nervous were you? Like you must have been so nervous. I'm like, you know, I was, but like I felt like I channeled it well and I was, you know, more excited for the round versus nervous.
And I had on the left side of the green on on tin, which was my first sole, hit it up to like four ft lip that one out, you know whatever, like hit three pretty good shots and part eleven and then Tiger kind of holds one up into the wind on twelve, and I saw that he hit nine iron, and I'm like, it's gotta be a nine iron, So I like bride the wind a little bit and it carries in the back edge of the back bunker plugged, and I'm like standing like half in, half out, trying
to like somehow keep this thing in the green not go into the creek and left in the bunker end up making double snappoging the trees on thirteen. So I'm four over three four and I'm just like, what has happened? Like I'm so into this round, like gonna get going, get off to a good start, blah blah blah, and it's just like four over, three four, and it's like, okay, let's let's reach out of here. UM ended up getting
back to one over. Anything to Chane, say anything to you when you're sort of struggling, And now they're probably like, who is this freaking hack of here? How this guy getting the tournament? Yeah, I didn't know this was a Wednesday pro am. Uh. They were super nice the whole time. You know, I didn't really say anything, but you could tell, like throughout the round they kind of realized that I was playing some good golf, and UM a lot more good shots were said in the in the end of
the round versus the beginning shot. One over the first round not bad considered I was four over therefore, UM played played pretty nice coming in and actually lipped one out to get back to even. My goal was to get back to even, and looked one out in the ninth hole to get back to even. But you know, still super solid round considering considering that start. UM, and then I played pretty good the rest of the week, just didn't didn't make enough bodies to to kind of
get back into the tournament. But what was your low round? I think I should one over, two under, three under one over. I don't know if I shot two or three second round, that's bad. Um, I ended up shooting too under for the tournament. I think I shot one over two under one under even that's what I shot. And you were t I think it was like T thirty four or some something something or something like that. But and low Am yeah, low Am, So that was
that was really cool. Um. Obviously you know you want to win the tournament, but on the back of your head you're also thinking, okay, let's win low amateur. It's not it's not a loss, so to speak, if you if you can win low m And um, you know that was that was cool. Butler Cabin, Yeah, Butler cabin. So right after you finish, um, they take the amateur to Condoleeza Rice's cabin and they have this huge spread of food and you know, whatever you want before you
before they take you over to Butler cabin. So it's kind of like a holding sale before you go to Butler and all all the members come by and say hello and congrats, and um get to meet a lot of cool people and stuff like that, but um, it's kind of just a debrief from the week and they're like, what do you want? And we order like fried chicken to the uh to this cabin and all this stuff, and um, a member takes me over to to Butler cabin and Tiger had already beat me there and I'm
standing right outside Butler cabin. It's kind of underground and uh, someone comes up and slaps me on the butt. I'm like who and the you know, turn around real quick, like who's that? And it was Tiger and he was just laughing and he was like, oh, congrats man, like I'm happy for you, stuff like that. And we we chatted for a while, but I was like about the turn around and like get mad at somebody. I'm like, who is that? And it was Tiger. So definitely some
memories like that that I look back on. And then we go into uh, we go into Butler Cabin and before Jim Nance comes on for the whole presentation, there's like five minutes of just like chat between me and the chairman and Nance and Tiger before DJ got there and We're all just you know, talking golf and talking about DJ and how cool it is that he wanted. DJ walks in, he comes around and hugs me and hugs Tiger, hugs Nance and you know, him and Tiger have a moment and DJ's like, you know, kind of
tearing up and he's emotional. He's like, I don't even know, Like he's like, I'm not gonna be able to talk to Jim like all this stuff. So, um, what an incredible Yeah, just that experience what is going on in here? And then population nothing to Butler Cavin. I wasn't really nervous for Butler Kevin, which was kind of surprising too. Like I was just kind of hanging out talking and looking back, I'm like, I'll, you know, that is kind of nerve wracking standing there, you know, talking to the
audience that's that's watching the Butler Kevins everyone. He's pretty big, and uh, I was just you know, hanging out more so, I thought it was cool that Tiger and DJ were there, and um, getting to see someone put the green jacket on someone else up close and personal just makes it you know that much cooler for me and um, not not to mention Bobby Jones Georgia tech U s m u U Sam, Now you're a brother cabin Bobby Jones built build the Master. I mean, was we must see
paintings of Bobby. I mean like some of that part of I mean some of those overnight trips, Like I'd stayed in Clifford Clifford Roberts little cabin in his room, and like all night I would just you know, look at all the pictures on the wall and read all the different things around the clubhouse and branch off from the members at times, and you know, read all this different stuff and get to know little tidbits about the club and you hear all these like myths and Clifford
Roberts has the only fireplace in his room, and um, stuff like that. So I don't know, he wanted to be like it's far from the main clubhouse as he could. He wanted to kind of get away, which was only you know, thirty yards, but he was the last the last room on the end. And I don't know, there's just so many different things that um about Augusta that make it special. And I was able to you know, I'm I'm I feel like I have a lot of I know a lot of things that people don't really
hear about. And uh, I guess I really feel comfortable around that place just because you know, I know so many people there and I've been there more than most people they get to play the tournament, So it was always like weirdly calm around that place. You see yourself in your mind. This is all part of the process to slipping on the jacket something. Yeah, I think that would be. That would be the one that if you ask me if you could win any of them, I'd
probably say that one. I'd probably say that one over two of any of the other ones. Just I just think it's the coolest tournament in golf, and um, it's probably the easiest to win. But I think that place fits my more than more than US Open. Er. Um, I really like Links golf too, but I haven't been able to play British Open, so I don't really know what that experience is like. And then obviously the PJ is super cool, but there's something different about winning a
green jacket. You would trade you would trade one green jacket for an Open and the US Open probably, I mean great, yeah, well wouldn't you No, Yeah, you get to play the same I think there's a right or wrong would have to you know, Jack, Gary, Tom Watson on the first that you know you're champions dinners. Maybe my perspective will change when I play British Open or something, But UM, understandable considering your history, your connection you, I think that place just means a little more to me
than um other places right now. But you know, it's a long career and that could definitely change. But UM, right now, I would say that's the one that that I could see myself winning. Put another log on the fire. Nobody here is getting time