GOLF - US Masters: My new waterproof boots were being put to a severe test early on; it was still raining at day break, having heaved it down all night. I set off around the course, outside the ropes, to see where the first-round pins were being set.

There was the usual major posse of pin-setters. I counted over a dozen "green jackets" on the first green, including former US Open champion David Graham, pontificating over where the hole should be cut. The hole-cutter was there alongside the pin-holder and hole-edge manicurist (a man with scissors). There was a man with a putter and three balls. Another with a tape measure and his assistant with a sheet of paper, amongst others. There was me thinking it was a one-man job.

8.08 a.m. and I was hanging behind the seventh green waiting for the pin posse to come to a decision. A patron with his seat under his arm rushed up to me and excitedly asked if that was where the pin was being cut, as he considered his position for the day. The gates had opened for general admission at 8. The first group were not going to get to that hole until 12.30 that afternoon, due to a then-proposed three-hour delay.

Jeff Boom came rushing up to the same spot. He introduced himself to the security guard and asked after his predecessor. This event for many is a familiar affair. He has been placed behind the seventh green for 36 Masters. I used to think caddies were the only ones interested in the exact placing of pins at Augusta. Those long-term Masters fanatics have another perspective on that idea.

"It would have been a good day to wear those anti-stain pants you bought, hon," a middle-aged woman said to her husband, who looked like he had had a mud bath already and he had only gained access to the course 10 minutes earlier.

It was easy to spot the over-eager ones anxious to secure their positions at the bottom of the course. Augusta National flows from the clubhouse at the top down towards Rae's Creek. Many of the patrons had flowed with it down the slippery slopes that were once the crossing routes between holes and by midday had become mud slides.

So the real first-round casualties were the spectators. The players didn't have to set foot on the course. The reasons for the first day's play being cancelled completely were not clear. The assumption was that the only way play would have been possible was by lifting, cleaning and placing the ball. As one player remarked, there will probably be women members here before they will allow placing during the tournament. So that was never an option.

Having played the course on Wednesday, despite water lying in the low areas, the course was playable. The ball did not appear to be picking up mud as it came to rest. The greens, of course, with the aeration and drainage system underneath them, can be dried out as quickly as the rain falls. So despite the course playing as long as it ever has (even Tiger hit a three-iron into the 18th off a good drive), the greens were not in keeping with the rest of the course.

The players are going to be hitting long irons into many greens, but the greens will not be holding. So if you can carry the ball to the right spot the chances are you will not be able to stop it there.

It's cold and wet; watch out for the long hitters.