Despite being the newest of the Majors, The Masters has many wonderful traditions that have helped to make the tournament what it is, writes BRENDAN BARRATT.
Most golf fans are aware of the Champions Dinner, the honorary starters, the Par 3 Contest and the Green Jacket. Some may even recognise Amen Corner, the distinctive caddies’ overalls and Rae’s Creek.
Yet there are a few other quirky Masters traditions that contribute to the mystique of the first Major of the year.
Amateur Dinner
The Amateur Dinner is held every Monday night of Tournament week and celebrates that year’s amateur participants with a dinner in the clubhouse.
Generally there are seven amateurs who qualify for the event, along with any special invitations, but this year only saw five amateurs teeing it up at Augusta, with US Amateur champion Nick Dunlap and NCAA Individual champion Fred Biondi having since turned professional and having therefore forfeited their invitations.
Dunlap still played at The Masters, having won the American Express Championship on the PGA Tour. The amateurs in the 2024 field were South Africa’s British Amateur champion Christo Lamprecht, Asia-Pacific Amateur champion Jasper Stubbs (Australia), US Amateur runner-up Neal Shipley, US Mid-Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad and Latin America Amateur champion Santiago de la Fuente (Mexico).
All that remains is for an invitation to be afforded to the African Amateur champion. Watch this space.
The Crow’s Nest
Amateur golfers also get exclusive use of the Crow’s Nest during the tournament. This unique dormitory is located above the Augusta clubhouse and is open only to amateur golfers playing at The Masters.
‘It’s the one room, the one spot at Augusta National that is off-limits to everybody but the amateurs,’ Brandt Snedeker explained.
The azaleas
Every year Augusta National is awash with colour as the plants happen to flower at exactly the right time of the year.
Remarkable. There are rumours of green-keepers spraypainting some of the plants and placing the early budders on ice. What-ever the case it looks spectacular.
The course is home to more than 30 varieties of azalea, with hole 13 boasting 1,600 flowers.
The language
Commentators use different terms when talking about The Masters.
For example, spectators are referred to as patrons and rather than a front and back nine at Augusta, it’s the first and second nine.
There’s also no rough at The Masters – players who stray offline at Augusta will find themselves in the first cut, and possibly even on the pine straw.
$1.50 cheese sandwiches
One of the most remarkable traditions about The Masters is that it really isn’t that expensive. Tickets are reasonably priced (although impossible to get) and food and beverages are downright cheap.
One that has remained a firm favourite with fans is the $1.50 pimento cheese sandwich.
Sorry, no phones
You’ve got to love this one.
One of Augusta National’s most stringent rules prohibits you from bringing your mobile phone into the grounds. Anyone wanting to call home will need to use the courtesy landlines available throughout the course.
More importantly, there are no irritating clicks during players’ swings and spectators, we mean patrons, have to watch the golf in front of them rather than trying to record it on their mobile devices.
Personal invitations
In what must be the single greatest piece of mail to arrive in your postbox, every year participants receive a physical invitation to play at The Masters. Players are expected to RSVP to the invitations, although they can get away with an email acceptance.
Skipping balls
It was some time in the 1980s when skipping balls across the water in front of the 16th green became a practice- round tradition. Some players are better at it than others, and it is a popular spot for crowds during the practice rounds.
Martin Kaymer, Vijay Singh and, more recently, Jon Rahm have recorded holes-in-one skimming the ball across the water.
Drive, Chip & Putt
Despite being the most recent tradition added to The Masters, the Drive, Chip & Putt has become one of the most popular.
It started in 2013 as a joint initiative between The Masters, the USGA and the PGA of America as a way to grow the game, with 80 young golfers, aged between seven and 15, gathering at Augusta National for a chance to play on the hallowed turf.
Theme song
If you’ve watched The Masters on TV, chances are you will recognise the theme song. It’s a soft piano melody that was first broadcast during the 1982 Masters and was composed by Dave Loggins – a third cousin of the famous singer Kenny Loggins.
The song’s title is, appropriately, Augusta.
We bet you can imagine it right now.
– This article first appeared in the May 2024 issue of Compleat Golfer magazine.
Photo: Andrew Redington/Getty Images
