My first 30 seconds of live golf was watching the world number one and world number two on the 18th green at TPC Sawgrass.
Where do you go from there?
Well, luckily, the most iconic hole in golf is just around the corner.
I’ll preface this by saying that I’m a mixed martial arts guy. I’m much more accustomed to the driving roar that accompanies a knockout when glove meets chin and lights go out.
So the polite rattle of applause that followed Jason Day’s holing for par was a novelty.
By some quirk of fate I found myself in Florida; squinting into sunlight and finding myself surprised by the sheer amount of sweat that was coming out of my body. They say that 90% of your body is water but I became a one-man exception to that rule as my baby blue polo shirt turned royal.
By the end of the day, I was probably 85% water, 5% intrigue and 10% bones and stuff.
There was also a feeling of guilt – that I shouldn’t be the lucky one who was stood there watching athletes I admire but am not altogether obsessed with.
I’m a casual golf fan. Not so casual that I don’t know how many holes are on a golf course but casual enough where I’d struggle to rattle off Kiradech Aphibarnrat’s best finishes, or even pronounce his name. Somewhere in the middle there.
But, to me, this was essentially a whole new world.
From the 18th, we wandered down to the hole that is more famous than most players on tour and it lived up to what everybody had told me to expect.
The Island Green at TPC Sawgrass, doused in pellucid Ponte Vedra brilliance as it was that Thursday, was pretty damn spectacular.
Man-by-man, they stepped up to the tee and nervously let rip with the hope of just not embarrassing themselves.
Most breathed a sigh of relief to see their effort bobble along the green but several were greeted with the eye-shutting despair of a plop and a close-up of the rippling water before the camera pans to a reddening face contemplating whether to re-tee or sheepishly stroll to the drop zone.
I’m not going to say how long I spent at 17 but the blooming sunburn across my brow would have told you that it was perhaps excessive.
But there’s much more to the course than the picturesque 17th, and the golf in general.
It’s not spoken of nearly enough but The Players Championship actually doubles as a haven for foodies.
On the Thursday, I dined at an experience that I would urge anyone considering a trip to the Players to indulge in… the unforgettable Trucks on 10.
Any type of food you could care to think of all within sight. If you were to fancy a bit of Mexican cuisine to go along with your pizza then no problem, it’s in the next food truck over.
Local restaurants park trucks in a circle between the 10th fairway, 11th fairway and the 15th green, and it’s some of the best food in the city.
On the Friday, we took the advice of then-champion Rickie Fowler by visiting Tacos on 12 which is a mobile iteration of Tacolu, a Jacksonville mainstay.
Back at my spot…hanging at @tacolu tonight👍 #Cinco @ TacoLu http://t.co/EwmRoZbAk6
— Rickie Fowler (@RickieFowler) May 5, 2014
The queues are undeniable evidence of the quality of the food but the staff get the lines moving more quickly than you’d imagine.
They’re small so two or three tacos is acceptable and I’ll be damned if they weren’t the best tacos that I’ve ever tasted.
What was interesting about the turnout for the tournament was that it had much more of a feel of a music festival than a sporting event.
College boys with perfectly primped collars chased bronzed girls in sun dresses and, when the sun was going down, the boozy gloss of a day bathed in Florida warmth (a different kind of heat) was impossible to ignore.
They’d laze on the mounds and the golf was merely an afterthought because many of them had access to the Blue Room VIP Lounge where you can indulge in all the beer you can drink, afternoon snacks and entertainment including games and a live DJ… And all the beer you can drink. Tickets for this VIP treatment range from between $100 (€90) and $125 (€112) depending on the day.
But, at its core, the Players is a family tournament.
The Kid Zone keeps the youngsters interested and, in a gesture that took me by surprise, under-18s get in for free with a ticket-holder and it’s not just limited to one.
High school golf teachers often buy a ticket to the Players for themselves and bring their whole class along for free.
It’s a cocktail of all ages and types of people and, speaking of cocktails, the Sawgrass Splash is a bloody gamechanger.
The surrounding sights and sounds of Jacksonville makes it more than a trip for golf fanatics. It’s a holiday destination, pure and simple.
St. Augustine, the oldest city in the United States, is just down the road and it’s a must-see for history buffs as you can’t turn 180º without wandering into a supremely fascinating tour.
I’m a sports fan above all else but I don’t mind admitting that the highlight of my stay in Florida was the tour of the pristine Flagler College.
The college has a great system whereby its students give massively detailed and entertaining tours of the campus and to call it eye-opening would be an understatement.
I won’t spoil the details of the college’s foundation but so intrigued was I that I’d be pretty confident in making Henry Flagler my specialised subject were I ever to make it to Mastermind.
St. Augustine itself is simply gorgeous and every inch of its architecture screams of historic adventure.
Adventure simply encapsulates the whole setting.
The adventure of measuring 132 yards from tee to green with one shot in front of thousands of spectators, the adventure of Pedro Menéndez who landed at St. Augustine in 1565. And the adventure of trying biscuits (not that kind of biscuit) with gravy (not that kind of gravy) of the real south.
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