Quigley blog: Masters memories will be crystal clear

The highlight of Brett Quigley's final round at the Masters was making an eagle and winning some crystal. And when he looks at it, he writes, he'll always remember his daughter's birth as the highlight of the best week of his life.

Editor's note: Brett Quigley played in his first Masters this week -- after taking a quick trip home to witness the birth of his first child in the wee hours of Wednesday morning. He shot 75 on Sunday, his low round of the tournament, and filed this blog prior to returning home to Jupiter, Fla., to see his wife Amy and his daughter, Lillian Sage Augusta.

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- This has been the best week of my life. We had a healthy baby girl and my wife's doing great. I played in my first Masters and I got to do it with my father caddying for me. Not to mention, I made an eagle today so I got some crystal. So it was a pretty darn good week, I've got to say.

I wanted to make an eagle all week. All the players talk about here is getting crystal and certainly in the position I was in, 19 over at the time, I wasn't exactly contending. So it was really nice to get the crystal and have a memento from this week. I hit a great tee shot and a great second shot about 20 feet behind the hole. It was an incredibly fast putt and somehow the putt went dead center and I was very thankful it did.

The golf course was way harder than I thought it would be around the greens. It's such a great golf course tee to green, and you have to hit a lot of great shots. You can hit good shots to the green and have a difficult time making par, though. I didn't think it would be that difficult and I didn't think over par would win the golf tournament.

Each day after I got done, I went home and charted my round. I wrote down the spots where you just can't hit it and where you need to be in certain positions on the greens. Even today there were a couple of spots you just can't play golf from -- you're going to make bogey and sometimes double bogey. I'm going to put that in writing and commit it to memory so I'll have something to draw from next time.

This week was definitely more than I ever expected. Everything about this place, the golf course, the fans, the people, being in the clubhouse and obviously, the birth of my child made it so very special. I just loved walking down the 15th fairway each day. You can see all the azaleas and see all the people behind the 16th green. To me, that's the epitome of Augusta and the Masters. I know Amen Corner is a special place but I think that's where all the energy and emotion is as people can share in the drama that's going on there.

The fans were great again today. I kept hearing, "Congrats, pop" and people saying "grandpa" to my dad. We're bringing a lot of stuff home, but I guess the crystal is my legacy to Lily. Of course, I hope to leave her a little more than that. My sister is putting some of the articles together in a scrapbook for Amy. When she's old enough, Lily is going to have a lot to read about the special circumstances by which she came into the world. We'll treasure it always.

I still have my hospital bracelet on. I think I'll put it in the scrapbook when I get home and tell her later that this made it around Augusta National with me all four days. I hit a great tee shot on No. 18 and the bracelet kind of took a digger out of my hands on both sides -- and that reminded me that I get to go home in an hour and a half to go see them. That thought stayed with me all day today. I'm going home see my daughter and my wife, and my dad's a grandpa again, so it was certainly an emotional time for me again.