You’ll hear the word ‘tradition’ almost endlessly this week at Augusta National but, like most clichés, this one has its foundation in truth.

Every year there are a number of unique aspects of The Masters which make it the revered event that it is and below are 10 of our favourites:

Drive Chip and Putt
The most recent addition to Augusta National’s annual events but already one of the best.

The Drive Chip and Putt began in 2013 as a joint initiative between the Masters Tournament, The USGA and The PGA of America as a way to grow the game and has quickly found its place in the world of golf.

Since 2013 the Sunday before the Masters has become the focus of the golf world as 80 youngsters, between 7 and 15-years-old and both boys and girls, gather at Augusta National for their 15 minutes of fame.

With former champions and club members on hand to offer both encouragement and hand out trophies, the Drive Chip and Putt final has become yet another Masters tradition that creates memories for a lifetime.

The Champions dinner
It might be the world’s most exclusive dinner club. Each year, on the Tuesday of Masters week, former champions and select Augusta National members gather in the club’s famed clubhouse for the Champions Dinner.

Started in 1952 at the suggestion of two time Masters winner Ben Hogan, the dinner is hosted by the previous year’s champion who also gets to pick the menu (though diners are also welcome to order form the club’s usual menu if they choose).

But this Tuesday tradition is about much more than food as unofficial emcee and two time champion Ben Crenshaw explains.
“The dinner is about stories,” the Texan told PGAGTOUR.com ahead of this year’s event.

“It is all fascinating and it weaves a fabric of a very exclusive club that is hard to get in to.”

The Wednesday par-3 contest
Starting life in 1934 at the height of the Great Depression the Masters was never guaranteed to be a success and club co-founder Clifford Roberts was constantly looking for ways to make the event more appealing to fans.

From long drive contests to trick shot shows and clinics conducted by the top players of the day, Roberts always had in mind that Wednesday of Masters week should be about entertaining the fans ahead of the main event.

The par-3 course was built in 1958 and Roberts determined a year later that a mini tournament on the short course ahead of the main event might be an entertaining spectacle.

“I am really rather bullish on the idea of making use of the par-3 course as a distinctive pre-tournament event,” he wrote at the time.
“If so, it can be quite a feather in the cap of the Masters Tournament.”

Even Roberts might be surprised at just how successful the idea has been with the tournament now televised live and always a highlight of Masters week.

Skipping balls across the pond in practice
There is no definitive evidence as to who was first to do it though it is known that skipping balls across the water fronting the 16th green became a practice round tradition some time in the 1980’s.

And of all the traditions attached to the tournament, this is likely the most popular with fans.

Crowds gather at the famous par-3 from early Tuesday to encourage players out practising to attempt the bold shot.

Those who accept, and pull off the shot, receive cheers almost the equivalent of Sunday’s applause. Those who balk at the challenge are treated to a sound never heard anywhere else on the grounds: boos.

Martin Kaymer and Vijay Singh have both had holes-in-one skipping balls across the pond and several others have also come close.

It’s a shot you will never see deliberately played in the tournament proper but for those on the grounds Tuesday, it can often be the highlight of Masters week.

Honorary Starters
No tournament or club honours its past, and past champions, quite like Augusta National but the tradition of honorary starters at the tournament springs not from the Masters but another tournament that was hosted at the club.

It is a little known fact that in 1937 and 1938 the Senior PGA Championship was played at Augusta National, the two tournaments won by Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod respectively.

In 1963 the pair were invited to fulfill the role of honorary starts for the first time at The Masters and while there have been gaps in between, it is a tradition that continues to this day.

Jack Nicklaus and Gary Player will hit off the first tee to get proceedings under way this year, the pair the eighth and ninth players to be afforded the role.

Hutchison stopped in 1973 and McLeod three years later with a five year gap before Gene Sarazen and Byron Nelson restarted the tradition in 1981.

Ken Venturi joined the roster for one year in 1983 when Nelson’s wife was sick then in 1984 Sam Snead joined Sarazen and Nelson.

Those three held the position until 1999 when Sarazen died then in 2002 Nelson also stopped taking part.

Sam Snead hit his last ceremonial tee shot in 2002 then it was five years before Arnold Palmer accepted an invitation to restart the tradition with Nicklaus joining him in 2010 and Player in 2012.

The Crows Nest
Augusta National co-founder Bobby Jones is still considered the greatest amateur golfer in history and it is fitting that the Masters pays homage to the non-professional each year.

There are six places set side in the Masters field each year for amateurs but apart from the experience of playing one of the world’s most prestigious tournaments, there is another bonus to being at Augusta National: The Crows Nest.

Sitting atop the Augusta National clubhouse and accessed by a secret stairway located behind a hidden door, the Crows Nest is reserved during Masters week for those not playing for a cheque.

"It’s the one room, the one spot at Augusta National that is off-limits to everybody but the amateurs,” 2004 resident Brandt Snedeker told US magazine Golf Digest in a feature story five years ago.

“It’s our escape."

Australia’s Curtis Luck will be among the lucky few in history to get access to this sacred place (though it is likely he will stay off site with family and friends for most of the week).

As the reigning US Amateur and Asia Pacific amateur champion he joins US amateur runner-up Brad Dalke, British Amateur champion Scott Gregory, Latin America Amateur champion Toto Gana and US Mid Amateur champion Stewart Hagestad in the field, and the Crows Nest, for the 2017 Masters.

Crystal
At most tournaments there is only one trophy handed out for the week but at the Masters, there are many.

It’s a tradition at the tournament for players who record scoring milestones to be awarded various crystal items for such feats.

For an ace a player receives a crystal bowl while the low score each day nets a crystal vase.

Make an eagle at any point during the tournament and you’ll be taking home two crystal goblets.

The Big Tree
The Masters is more than just a tournament, it’s an annual meeting point for everyone who is anyone in the game.

And the place where those of importance choose to gather at Augusta National is an historic giant oak tree, planted in the 1850’s, right outside the clubhouse.

During the week of the Masters you’ll find Augusta National members, television executives, players, their agents, media types, captains of industry and countless other involved in the business of golf deep in conversation around the magnificent oak.

While the tournament itself is the centre of attention for most, there is no shortage of activity in this part of the grounds as the wheeling and dealing that is the lifeblood of professional golf takes place.

The Champions Locker Room
Adding to the exclusivity of The Masters week is the Champions Locker Room, as the name suggests entry is restricted to former and current Masters Champions.

In the center of the room, a display case contains a green jacket and a sterling replica of the Masters trophy.

Containing only 28 oak lockers means members of the exclusive club share compartments with champions of the past.

Australian Adam Scott after his victory found his locker mate the next year to be three-time Masters winner Gary Player.

The Green Jacket
The ultimate Masters tradition, and the one even non-golfers are familiar with, is the famed Green Jacket awarded to the winner.

While it seems the jacket has been part of the tournament forever it was, in fact, first awarded in 1949, 15 years after the first Masters was played.

Initially the green jackets were only for Augusta National members and were worn during tournament week so fans would know who to approach if they needed assistance.

But in 1949 it was decided the winner should also be awarded a jacket, which they are allowed to take home for one year before returning it to the club grounds, and Sam Snead was the first recipient.

That same year jackets were made for all previous winners of the event and each winner since has slipped on one of the iconic items of clothing.