A reflection on The Masters

As The Masters, arguably the most famous golf tournament in the world, comes to a close, I can't help but apply what we've learned to the tournament's landscape.  Augusta National, the golf course that houses this world famous tournament, is a place flooded with tradition.  Forgotten, old world charm is not forgotten by the members of this country club to which only the richest of the rich belong.  Bringing cell phones onto the golf course is the worst crime one can commit at Augusta National.  Why does such a place warrant discussion in an environmental aesthetics course?  Many people say that, during The Masters weekend, Augusta National is absolutely the most manicured 350+ acres of land on Earth.  There are hundreds of men at all times working behind the scene to pick up pine needles, trim leaves that are out of place on bushes, straighten flower petals, etc.  There are trees that have branches wired so they cannot move out of their perfectly aesthetic position.  It has been joked that Augusta has a name for every blade of grass on the golf course.  A theme of our course (I can't quite remember which philosopher brought up the idea) has been that the natural world is beautiful, not the man-made world.  Anything man touches is officially ruined and beauty is slowly running out the more we touch.  However, watching The Masters, even on television, its difficult to avoid that tingly feeling that lets you know you're looking at something beautiful.  I had numerous "wow" moments in the short number of hours I got to watch the tournament on television over the weekend.  How can we say that Augusta National Golf Course is not beautiful because it is extensively manicured?  The bridges reflected in pools of perfectly glassy water, the bright, blooming flowers lining the tall treeline of those green, blushing Georgia pines.  Not one blade of grass out of place.  I think man is capable of beauty, even when it comes to competing with nature.  I believe Augusta National proves that man can hold his own against nature when it comes to producing beauty.