Is there anything more beautiful than Augusta National during the Masters?

My dear friend, the late Robert Henry, who was one of the most terrific motivational speakers on the planet, was an Auburn Tiger fan. He would argue that heaven actually resembles Jordan-Hare Stadium southwest of the quaint little village of Opelika, Alabama just off I-85 on an autumn afternoon.

Clemson fanatics like Billy Amick and my brother Fred would certainly make the argument that God was actually thinking about what heaven should look like when He created their favorite school in the foothills of South Carolina.

Cynics would say that Auburn ain't much more than Clemson with a lake. While both campuses are lovely, there is no more beautiful setting for an athletic event than Amen corner at Augusta National off I-20 just across the South Carolina-Georgia border.

When I lived in South Carolina, part of my insurance territory for the company I represented included Augusta, Georgia, about an hour's ride from my home in Lexington, SC.

I had many clients in Augusta so getting tickets to the Masters, while difficult for most, was eased a bit by my relationship with many Georgia bankers and business people.

The Masters is head and shoulders above every single golf event on the calendar. One could argue that it towers over every athletic event that exists today. It's a spectacular as the Super Bowl and every bit as dramatic as the Daytona 500 or college basketball's final four.

The sheer beauty of the 7,445 yard course designed by Alister MacKenzie and built in 1933 is perhaps the most fabulous setting of any athletic endeavor ever. Amen Corner is merely the most famous confluence of three golf holes in the world. It's actually not a corner itself.

Amen Corner is a figment of New York golf writer Herbert Warren Wind's imagination, which is why he lifted the line from an old African -American jazz tune called Shoutin' Around Amen Corner. His goal was to describe the players and spectators overlooking the 11th, 12th and 13th tee box.

President Eisenhower loved Augusta National. They even built a cabin for him on the Augusta National property. While it didn't take Eisenhower to make Augusta National famous, the grand old course reached its pinnacle of notoriety when a young black man named Tiger Woods arrived on the scene.

How ironic. Augusta National's higher ups, not exactly known for their broad-minded approach to issues dealing with race and sex, was brought to a new level of awareness by a young black man, who has gone on to win four times over the past 11 years.

Notably, the only presence by blacks on those fabled greens over the years was as a caddie. And yet, Tiger Woods has humbly climbed to the summit of the golfing world and has shown a lot of class along the path of excellence.

Recently, Kelly Tilghman of the ESPN Golf Channel used an inappropriate "lynching" comment about Tiger. I don't know Kelly personally but I was in a made-for-Broadway musical "Lizzie" with one of her co-workers. She tells me that Kelly is a class act and meant no harm in the comment.

Tiger could have made a big deal of it but he chose the high road and now all the demagogues are crawling out of the woodwork to crucify him for not being indignant enough.

These are the same trouble makers who simply want to profit their wallets or their cause at the expense of others. I'm not buying it. If the man to whom the comment was directed was not bothered by it, let it be. Tiger has his own way of dealing with those who have crossed him. He lets his putter do most of the talking, which is why he's the number one golfer in the world today and will be for years to come.

Maybe we could learn a lesson from this terrific young man. I'm looking forward to seeing if he wins his fifth time at Augusta National.