The Players - Practice Rounds and Military Appreciation Day (Christmas: weddings, restaurant) - Jacksonville - Florida (FL) - City-Data Forum

Robyn55 · 05-07-2011, 04:03 PM

I'm sure most of you know about the Players (which will be held next week). And that those of you who like to go to the tournament have already made your plans.

But for those of you who don't know much about the tournament - or aren't interested in spending a lot of money to attend a crowded event - I want to point out that going to the practice rounds is a very nice alternative. They are held Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday. I wouldn't recommend Monday (many players aren't in town yet). Tuesday is good - but Wednesday is best - because it's Military Appreciation Day:

PGATOUR.COM - Military appreciation at THE PLAYERS 2011 (http://www.pgatour.com/tournaments/r011/military/index.html - broken link)

Special events - including a concert - and benefits for active and retired military (like free tickets). For non-military - the tickets are $20/day - and parking is free on the lot on CR210 - just a little south of its junction with A1A. That parking lot brings you into the tournament entrance right near the 17th hole.

Note that during the practice rounds - you're allowed to take pictures - and get autographs.

Oh - and if you want to catch Tiger Woods - get out early. He usually finishes up his practice by 10 or 11 or so. Robyn

BabyBoomers2 · 05-07-2011, 06:11 PM

Yes, next week is the Players Championship! Two BIG "thumbs up" for that one!

We won't be going, aren't into golf that much, but will be watching part of it on tv. We try to always watch when the "big boys" are playing!

CandaceMM · 05-11-2011, 02:55 PM

Spent the day there today ... had a fantastic time and managed to take some pretty awesome pictures. We arrived early and were rewarded with some fantastic pictures and an autograph from Tiger.

Robyn55 · 05-11-2011, 04:53 PM

From my pictures at the practice rounds yesterday (still sorting through the 150 or so that I took). Military appreciation program today was very nice. Robyn

islandtimect · 05-13-2011, 09:14 AM

Fantastic picture Robyn!

Robyn55 · 05-13-2011, 06:58 PM

Someone wrote me this DM:

I have to know.......how in the heck did you take such a fantastic picture of Tiger right after he swung that club? That is truely a sharp photo! As for me, I'm REALLY impressed! I've taken many photos, but generally I have a REAL BIG problem with "action shots". I use a Panasonic Lumix 8mp. I was lucky last November and got a few great photos of the Christmas Boat Parade Fireworks Display off of the Mainstreet and Acosta Bridges and off of the barge. But, generally, my "action photos" just are blurry. I took some of a Team Roping Championship inside the Jax Equestrian Center, but none of them came out......blurry. Do you have camera set on "burst" for photo taking (I do). What about Auto or Shutter Speed Adjust modes......which one? I've used both. I took our small GE 12.2mp Digital to a Mexican restaurant for Cinco Da Mayo and got some great "action photos" of Mexican dancers. In doing that, I used both Auto and "fast action" modes. I got a few good "action photos" at the N
AS Air Show last year, but really nothing to brag about.
Any help would be SO, SO appreciated!

And I thought I would share what little I know. I don't have a super duper camera. I have a pocket size Panasonic Lumix that is great for travel. But I found that I couldn't take good action photos without a view finder - especially when it's sunny outside and you can't see the LCD screen. So I bought a Panasonic DMC-FZ40 as a present for myself a few months ago. About the only non-SLR camera with a view finder left on the market these days.

And for that shot - and most of what I shoot - I just leave it on auto adjust setting. But - big but - you have to know what you're shooting. I've been going to TPC practice rounds for years. And generally know about when to click on a player's shot to get a particular result. The time it takes to swing the club - combined with the lag time in my camera. Still - only about 1 of 10/20 pictures are worth saving. And I just totally lucked out on this one. Not a half second too early or too late. Totally perfect. That's the beauty of digital photography - you can take tons of pictures and throw away the 90% of them that aren't great very easily. Robyn

Robyn55 · 05-13-2011, 07:11 PM

Here's another picture I like of someone most people will recognize. It was probably taken from about 300 feet away. This Panasonic DMC-FZ40 is a pretty nice camera IMO. Just looked it up. I bought mine for about $300 - and now it seems to cost more. Perhaps that is a function of this time of year being a big deal for weddings - graduations and the like. "Kodak moments". Robyn

BabyBoomers2 · 05-16-2011, 03:17 PM

Another GREAT photo Robyn55! My Panasonic is older than yours, being that we bought it in Nov 2005 and is only a 8mp! Now, the small GE (no viewfinder) we bought on Black Friday 2009 at Sears, seems to take a much better picture than the Panasonic........well, depending on what I'm taking. The colors on your two photos are so vivid! Any photo editing software used to bring out the color that much or just the camera?
One thing for sure, that was a HARD loss for Toms, but a very sweet one for Choi!! We watched it on tv and saw some balls go "kaplump" in the water at 17 and that hole (?) where Toms drifted to the right and hit the water. The golfers were finding the middle of the green of 17 a lot better on Sunday.

madcapmagishion · 05-16-2011, 06:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Another GREAT photo Robyn55! My Panasonic is older than yours, being that we bought it in Nov 2005 and is only a 8mp! Now, the small GE (no viewfinder) we bought on Black Friday 2009 at Sears, seems to take a much better picture than the Panasonic........well, depending on what I'm taking. The colors on your two photos are so vivid! Any photo editing software used to bring out the color that much or just the camera?
One thing for sure, that was a HARD loss for Toms, but a very sweet one for Choi!! We watched it on tv and saw some balls go "kaplump" in the water at 17 and that hole (?) where Toms drifted to the right and hit the water. The golfers were finding the middle of the green of 17 a lot better on Sunday.

Toms ball went kaplump on 16..my wife and I were about 5 yards to the right of him in the rough, when he hit the shot...when he pulled out that hybrid I turned to my wife wnd said, WTH is he doing he should lay up,, as Choi had to lay up because he hit the tree off the tee with his shot, and could not draw it around to the green. My wife who knows nothing about golf just likes to watch said ...HUH!

...LOL but it was a great finish.

Robyn55 · 05-21-2011, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LoveBoating

Another GREAT photo Robyn55! My Panasonic is older than yours, being that we bought it in Nov 2005 and is only a 8mp! Now, the small GE (no viewfinder) we bought on Black Friday 2009 at Sears, seems to take a much better picture than the Panasonic........well, depending on what I'm taking. The colors on your two photos are so vivid! Any photo editing software used to bring out the color that much or just the camera?
One thing for sure, that was a HARD loss for Toms, but a very sweet one for Choi!! We watched it on tv and saw some balls go "kaplump" in the water at 17 and that hole (?) where Toms drifted to the right and hit the water. The golfers were finding the middle of the green of 17 a lot better on Sunday.

I use Photoshop - but the "quick edit" didn't change these pictures very much. It was just an excellent day for photography.

And agreed - it was an exciting tournament. Robyn