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" &amp;quot;If you&amp;#039;re ever at Wheatley Hills, you can always stop by and play golf with me,&amp;quot; Bob Visucci, a middle-aged man in a leather jacket, said as we were riding the shuttle to Grand Central Terminal last Friday. &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s on Long Island. We hosted a U.S. Open qualifying round. That&amp;#039;s our claim to fame.&amp;quot; Visucci made the offer after noticing my green sport coat, a nearly flawless replica of the jacket issued to all 300 or so members of Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, GA, people like Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, Jack Welch, and, as of eight months ago, Condoleezza Rice. The only other way to get the jacket I had on is to win the Masters Tournament, which kicks off today and is one of the four major annual professional golf tournaments. Each winner since Sam Snead in 1949 has received a jacket, presented by the winner of the previous year&amp;#039;s tournament at the awards ceremony outside near the 18th green. Reportedly members are not allowed to wear these jackets off the club premises, although the reigning champion is allowed to wear his around during the year after his win. eBay is a great source for Augusta National memorabilia, and it&amp;#039;s where I find my imitation garment. Since I bear a slight resemblance to last year&amp;#039;s winner, Bubba Watson, I decided to wear my green jacket out and about New York City in the week before the Masters. On the 1 train to Times Square, a group of five teenagers alternated between staring at me and whispering to one another. After the first stop, one came over and asked, &amp;quot;Are you a golfer?&amp;quot; I told him I was indeed\u2014technically true, though I can barely get even odds against my younger brother, let alone against a field of PGA pros. He asked if he could take a picture with me. Another young man, dressed in a black fleece jacket, was not as brave. He whispered to an older woman with him, &amp;quot;I think he won the Masters,&amp;quot; before surreptitiously snapping a picture of me with his iPhone. &amp;quot;Play golf? I saw the jacket and I said I gotta see,&amp;quot; Visucci said when he first spoke to me. Not knowing enough about Watson&amp;#039;s background\u2014to say nothing about my skills at golf\u2014I decided the ruse would be more believable if I said I was the youngest member of Augusta National. &amp;quot;So is this some type of hazing? They make you wear the jacket though Penn Station and Grand Central?&amp;quot; The photo shoot had been scheduled near the clock tower in Grand Central during rush hour. While I waited for Hearst photographer, Kelly Stuart, to get situated on the Apple Store balcony, a fashionable man in an Italian suit and tie asked the whereabouts of Track 19. When I said I didn&amp;#039;t know he raised his eyebrows to indicate his annoyance, then added, without breaking stride, &amp;quot;You&amp;#039;ve got the jacket!&amp;quot; The photograph required a 22-second exposure\u2014a lot of standing still. One girl in a group of teenagers took a picture of me with a camera phone, then whispered, &amp;quot;Are you frozen in place?&amp;quot; A few members of a high school Amnesty International club from Hamden, CT, heading home on the Metro-North after an afternoon protesting at several embassies, spotted the jacket. &amp;quot;You guys just admitted Condoleezza Rice\u2014what do you think about that?&amp;quot; Jordan Coley, the most outspoken of the group, asked. &amp;quot;Have you seen her play?&amp;quot; Not yet, but I said I would be there for the tournament this week (more role play for the sake of journalism). One of Coley&amp;#039;s friends wanted to know how one becomes a member of Augusta National. Another asked what sort of privileges members received. They all wanted a picture with the man they believed to be the youngest member. The reactions of the older passersby were ostensibly more restrained. &amp;quot;You didn&amp;#039;t win that, did you?&amp;quot; a man in his mid-50s said. I used the youngest member line again. &amp;quot;Oh, congratulations!&amp;quot; he said before offering his outstretched palm for a handshake. Another man simply asked if I was going &amp;quot;there&amp;quot; next week. When I said yes, the man offered his concise assessment: &amp;quot;Very nice place.&amp;quot; I only wish I was actually attending the Masters this weekend so that I could pass along a message. Condoleezza, if you&amp;#039;re reading this, Jordan Coley says hello. He thinks it&amp;#039;s great that the 80-year-old club finally dropped its male-only membership rule and admitted you. "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.townandcountrymag.com/leisure/sporting/a1040/augusta-national-golf-club-green-jacket/>