There's more than smoke in the air at the course

SMOKE GETS IN YOUR EYES: If the Masters Tournament had a smell, what smell would it be?

Ask that question to 1,000 people and you’re likely to get 1,000 different answers. If you asked me, I would say it smells like a cigar.

Everyone*, it seems, is smoking a stogie.

There are roughly a half-dozen tents selling cigars outside the gates of the Augusta National Golf Club, and all are doing brisk business.

“What just this one tent does is two-fold what we would do on an average day (at our store),” said Clayton Smith, who was manning one of the four tents run by Top Shelf Cigar & Tobacco Shoppe.

The company, whose brick-and-mortar store is on Washington Road in Evans, sells roughly 30 boxes of cigars a day. Cohiba, Arturo Fuente, Ashton and Partagas appear to be patron favorites, Mr. Smith said.
What about Cubans?

“We get asked that constantly,” Mr. Smith said. “We don’t have them. We run a clean business.”

SOMETHING ELSE IS IN THE AIR: Verizon Wireless said it expects data usage over its network around the Augusta National to double this year.

Cell phones and other wireless devices are, of course, not allowed on the course. That means people are making up for it once they get outside the gates.

“It’s all those people trying to get some work done on their Blackberrys,” Verizon Wireless spokeswoman Kira Perdue said.

Last year, Verizon moved more than 131 megabits of data per hour last year through its towers near the course between 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. During that same period the company processed 5,000 phone calls per hour.

There was no shortage of people using their wireless toys to get work done at Executive Marketing Services’ Foundation Club corporate hospitality building on Azalea Drive on Tuesday.

“I expected to come up here and work,” said Skylar Rupp, vice president of underwriting at Guarantee Insurance Co. in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., while working on his AirCard-equipped laptop.

Sitting next to him, also working on a laptop, was Marshall Gordon, the company’s vice president of marketing.

“We’re entertaining customers. We’ll be working all week,” he said.

SO THAT’S HOW THEY GET THE AUTOGRAPHS: Ever wonder how these sports memorabilia dealers get all those autographs?

Me too. That’s why I asked Joe Soprano** of Classic Golf Images Inc.

The answer, unfortunately, wasn’t as interesting as I thought it would be. Turns out golf megastars such as Arnold Palmer and Ben Crenshaw have arrangements with memorabilia companies for their autograph. These companies are the ones that supply Mr. Soprano’s company with autographed photos, scorecards, and flags.

Mr. Soprano said memorabilia from golf greats such as Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods cost more because they don’t work with such companies.

That explains the $9,995 price tag on the 36-by-51 inch oil giclee of Tiger Woods at St. Andrews hanging in Mr. Soprano's Azalea Drive tent. The painting has Tiger’s autograph and a certificate of authenticity.

But is someone really going to pay $10,000?

“Oh yeah,” Mr. Soprano said. “Some Japanese guy will come in here and buy it.”

He practically has to sell it. His tent, across the street from the Augusta National’s main patron entrance, is costing him $16,000.

JUST GOOD TIMING: Whole Life Ministries didn’t plan to open its restaurant, Honey From The Rock, to profit during Masters Week, it just happens to be a fortuitous coincidence.

“We had hoped to open a couple of weeks ago,” said Cindy Jones, the children’s pastor at the church located across the street from the Augusta National.
The 95-seat home-cooking cafe is going gangbusters at breakfast and is doing well at lunch.

“We have people lined up here at 6:30 in the morning,” she said. “They’re trying to get something before the gates open.”

Dinner traffic, however, is so light that the restaurant plans on closing after lunch for the rest of the week.

* Well not everyone, just most men over 40.
** That’s his real name.