Fans, er, patrons, take note: you can put in for your tickets to Augusta now.

With the 2013 Masters still less than a month old, applications for next year’s tournament have been made available at Masters.com, the Masters Tournament announced this week.

As is custom at Augusta, tickets will be awarded by random selection after the designated deadlines.

Also per usual, only one application per person or address will be accepted. You must be over 21 to apply.

Luke Bielawski estimates he'll take 48,000 swings to golf from California to South Carolina.

Final exams at law school are over at last, and it’s time for Luke Bielawski [right] to play a little golf.

Ok. Make that a lot of golf.

On Tuesday morning, in Ventura, Calif., the 24-year-old attorney-to-be will strike the opening tee shot of a long-distance round that won’t wrap up for nearly four months.

Unlike most golf outings, this one will take him in one direction: East from California toward Charleston, S.C., banging a golf ball the entire way.

A 6-handicap who graduates this fall from Indiana University’s Robert H. McKinney School, Bielawski took up the game in college and quickly drifted into golf addition.

But his cross-country journey isn’t driven by his jones.

His goal is to raise $100,000 in charitable donations to fund scholarships for Providence Cristo Rey High School in Indianapolis.

Bielawski dreamed up the idea for his epic round last summer while watching Forrest Gump.

Before long, he was mapping his own coast-to-coast route.

His estimated 110-day, 48,000-swing trip will take him from Ventura toward Phoenix, Ariz., then east through El Paso, Dallas, Tuscaloosa, Atlanta and ultimately, Charleston, where he’ll celebrate with a round at the Ocean Course at Kiawah.

Maybe then he'll be golfed out?

"I'm sure I'm going to still want to play some more," he says.

Playing his shots from wherever they lie (from atop a manhole cover, say, or a muddy gutter) Bielawski expects to do some damage to his sticks, so, he says, he’s bringing “60 or 70” beater clubs on his journey.

He’s also prepared to lose around 3,000 balls.

He expects the early days to present the greatest challenge, as he cuts a path through densely populated Southern California.

Car windows could be an issue, so he’s taken out insurance in case of errant shots.

“I’m a law student,” Bielawski says. “That was pretty much the first thing I thought of.”

Bielawski will have a team of volunteers traveling with him. He’ll also have a laptop, and he’ll be blogging and Tweeting about this trip. To follow along, visit www.getonthegreen.org.

President Barack Obama with, from left to right, Sen. Saxby Chambliss, Sen. Mark Udall,, and Sen. Bob Corker (AP Photo).

UPDATE (via White House report):

This afternoon, the President, who has the highest handicap of the foursome, paired with up Senator Udall, who has the lowest. Senators Chambliss and Corker, aided by Chambliss's hole-in-one on the 11th, won the match.

The President enjoyed the chance to spend some time on the golf course with the Senators. Most of the talk centered on the round of golf and not the latest round of legislative negotiations in Congress. The President was pleased that the rain held off, despite the damp forecast.

--

Never mind reaching across the aisle -- President Obama has reached across the tee.

With some free time in his schedule, the leader of the free world lit out for the links today, and he turned the round into a bipartisan outing by inviting two Republicans into his group. The President’s four-ball at the Andrews Air Force Base golf course in Maryland consisted of Sens. Bob Corker, R-Tenn, Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga, and Mark Udall, D-Colo.

You wonder if they played in two-man teams.

According to the New York Times, all three congressmen who joined the President are known for working together across party lines.

All three are the sort who are willing to work with colleagues of the other party on bipartisan legislation -- just the kind Mr. Obama is hoping to build into a super-majority of the Democrat-led Senate, at least 60 votes -- to pass his second-term priorities like budget, immigration and guns measures. With Senate passage of such legislation, the strategy holds, the House, and its Republican majority, would be under pressure to compromise in turn.

An avid golfer, Obama has caught flack from political opponents for spending too much time on the fairways. According to CBS News’ Mark Knoller, Obama has played 121 rounds since taking office in January 2009. On this occasion, at least, Sen. Corker had no complaints, describing the golf get-together as a “good thing.”

“With the major fiscal issues our country is facing, not mention foreign relations issues around the world, anytime you can get the president’s ear for a few hours, I think that’s a good thing.”

No word yet on what the stakes were. But most likely they were playing a five-dollar nassau.

Or for the future of health care reform.

Odyssey Golf's "Office Putt of the Month" contest doesn't end until May 31, but this video is going to be hard to top:

Who says office workers aren't productive?

UPDATE: Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn walked their first red carpet together at the Met Gala in New York City on Monday night. Here's the photo from Getty Images:

The Met Gala -- hosted by Vogue editor Anna Wintour -- is one of the hottest events on the New York social calendar. In addition to Woods and Vonn, other invited guests included Madonna, Katy Perry, Anne Hathaway, Jerry Seinfeld and many other celebrities. Here's our original story:

Tiger Woods has a busy week ahead of him. He'll be playing in the Players Championship at TPC Sawgrass later this week, but first he's going to a glamorous New York City party with new girlfriend Lindsey Vonn, according to US Weekly.

The once-undercover couple will make their official debut at the 2013 Met Gala on Monday, May 6, in New York City, sources tell Us Weekly exclusively.

Insiders say the pro golfer and his Olympic gold medal-winning girlfriend will attend as guests of Vogue. The magazine is also dressing both athletes, though there's no word yet on which designers will be called upon for the occasion.

Woods and Vonn made their long-rumored relationship public via Facebook in March, but the Met Gala will be the first time they've been seen in public together. Recently, Woods went to Michael Jordan's wedding without Vonn, and Vonn attended a party in New York without Woods last week.

Facebook photo by Tiger Woods and Lindsey Vonn.

Add Padraig Harrington’s name to the lengthening list of Tour pros who oppose long putters.

But while you’re at it, also toss him in among the growing ranks of players who have turned to an anchored putting stroke in tournament play.

In a do-as-I-say-not-as-I-do moment this week at Quail Hollow Golf Club, Harrington, 41, voiced his opposition to the controversial putting method, which may be outlawed in a matter of weeks by the USGA and R&A if a proposed ban on it goes through.

Harrington said he hopes that happens.

“For the game, I definitely don’t agree with anchoring at all,” he said.

Funny thing was, he’d just wrapped up his opening round at the Wells Fargo Championship, where he used an anchored stroke for the first time in competition.

“I think it’s bad for the game of golf,” Harrington said. “[But] I’m going to use everything, if something’s going to help me for the next three and a half years, I’m going to use it.”

Harrington’s comments echoed those of Ernie Els last year after Els won the British Open with the aid of a belly putter.

“Nothing should be anchored to your body and I still believe that,” Els said. “But as long as it’s legal, I will keep cheating like the rest of them.”

Late last fall, the USGA and R&A issued a joint proposal to ban anchored strokes. The organizations are expected to come to a final decision on the matter this summer, though the ban, if approved, would not go into effect until 2016.

So whatever happens, Harrington will have plenty of time to perfect his anchored stroke and his rationalization for using it.

For now, it seems, he needs work on the former.

In Thursday’s opening round, Harrington shot 80, with 32 putts. On Friday, he shot a 75 and missed the cut.

(Photo: Nell Redmond/AP)

Players at the Wells Fargo Championship have had mixed reactions to the PGA Tour's announcement earlier this week that it will not punish Vijay Singh for using a banned substance. Singh admitted in Sports Illustrated in January to using deer antler spray, which contains the growth factor IGF-1.

The Tour had warned players not to use deer antler spray because it contains IGF-1, which could trigger a positive test in the Tour's anti-doping program. And, according to the Tour's statement earlier this week, the Tour tried to discipline Singh, but he appealed the sanctions. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) then advised the Tour that it had removed deer antler spray from the banned list, exonerating Singh.

Well, not so fast.

According to a report by Golf Channel's Jason Sobel, Tommy Gainey is among those who wonder whether the Tour's failure to discipline Singh sets a bad precedent.

“I’ve got nothing against Vijay –- he’s done a lot; he’s a Hall of Famer – but you just don’t come out and admit that you used a banned substance, then Mr. Finchem and the Tour don’t punish him for it,” Tommy Gainey said Wednesday. "I’ve got a problem with that as a player. Because now it’s on the banned substance list, so there’s no gray area. Either he did or he didn’t. He admitted he did, but he got no punishment. I just think it’s going to open the door for a lot of bad things to happen.”

Even players who refused to come down so hard on the ruling didn't exactly sound thrilled with it.

“They decided it wasn’t banned, so it is what it is,” Gary Woodland said. “There’s nothing we can do about it. It’s good for Vijay and we’ll move on. It’s a tough one. Some guys aren’t happy about it and some don’t care. He won his appeal and we have to move on from there.”

“If they say it’s right, if they say it’s legal, then it’s legal,” Bubba Watson added. “I stand by the PGA Tour. If I had a decision that went that way, I’d have to stand by it. The law is the law. There are laws we have to follow even though we may not like it."

Nate Smith was feeling pretty good about himself after he shot 63 to Monday qualify for this week's Wells Fargo Championship at Quail Hollow. So good, in fact, he decided to have a little fun with his friend James Hahn, who was already in the field, according to a report by Stephanie Wei.

Smith bought a walkie-talkie, turned it on, and secretly stuffed it in Hahn's bag, then started filling the airwaves with bizarre commentary as Hahn hit balls on the driving range Wednesday.

James heard noises coming from his bag, but he found it and then hooked it to his pants while he continued to hit balls and tried to figure out who the culprit was.

“Are you wearing boxers or briefs?” said Nate through the walkie-talkie as James was mid-swing.

Eventually, Nate cracked and told James it was him.

Hahn got his revenge on Smith later Wednesday when Hahn spotted Smith's new golf bag, which he planned to use for the week, in the locker room. Hahn taped a note on the bag asking players to sign it for charity, and when Smith saw the note on the bag, he decided to leave it overnight to see what would happen. When he got to the course Thursday there were more than 60 signatures.  

He shot an opening-round 67 while using the bag, but came back with a second-round 74 Friday and was at 3 under for the tournament, still within sight of the leaders.

“The best one might be the one that says ‘happy birthday,’ because it’s definitely not my birthday until August 7th,” said Nate, who was a rookie on the PGA Tour in 2011.  But I saw Stuart Appleby’s on there because it says 59. Then Camilo (Villegas) has one on here that’s kind of cool.

“It’s hard to make them out, but I haven’t checked them out because I was busy playing golf. But I’ll try to do something with the bag afterwards. Maybe I actually will put it towards charity now that I’ve used it or give it to somebody to keep it.”

Lindsey Vonn was in New York City on Thursday night for a gala, but boyfriend Tiger Woods couldn't make it, according to E! Online.

Professional skiier Lindsey Vonn attended the annual Delete Blood Cancer Gala in New York City last night, and we couldn't help but notice she was missing a certain someone next to her.

When asked where her date (and boyfriend) Tiger Woods was, Vonn simply stated, "He's practicing."

Regardless, the beautiful blonde was eager to arrive at the event, especially as it was her first outing without her knee brace; she got injured at the Alpine World Championships in Schladming, Austria in February.

Woods is preparing for the Players Championship next week, his first event since finishing T4 at the Masters in April. Vonn and Woods confirmed their long-rumored relationship in March.

Photo: Lindsey Vonn watches Tiger Woods at the 2013 Masters (Getty Images).

Phil Mickelson has continued the on-going process of tweaking his driver.

At this week's Wells Fargo, Mickelson touted a new and improved "Phrankenwood" driver [right], a 3-wood sized club that Phil hits more like a driver, according to the Golf Channel.

The club made its debut at the Masters, where Mickelson hit 40 of 56 fairways at Augusta National (10th in driving accuracy). But the success off the tee didn't translate to the scorecard, as Mickelson only carded one round under par and finished 54th.

Mickelson said before the Masters that he was reaching spots at Augusta that he hadn't in years with the unconventional approach with the driver and was hitting the ball 25 yards farther than his regular 3-wood.

“Taking that technology and putting it in the driver has kept the center of gravity up by the face,” he explained. “It’s made it easier to hit. I’m hitting the ball as long and straight with the driver as I ever have.”

“At the Masters, I drove it great,” he said. “My distance was back up there, my accuracy was back up there. I expect to drive it extremely well for the rest of the year.”

Mickelson only hit six of 14 fairways in the opening round of the Wells Fargo, but currently sits in second place at four-under.