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Posted April 3, 2012, 7:58 pm
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No. 16 fun for golfers and patrons during practice rounds

Golfers use short hole over lake to skip balls on practice days
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    No. 16 fun for golfers and patrons during practice rounds
    Photos description
    Jose Maria Olazabal, right, of Spain, skips his ball on the No. 16 pond as Miguel Angel Jimenez looks on.

 

During practice rounds at the Masters Tournament, No. 16 is where the golfers – and fans – have some fun.

It is customary for golfers to skip their balls off the pond fronting the green of the par-3. And fans now expect them to do so.

“They get embarrassed if they don’t,” Masters-frequenter Tony Coalson said. “People would yell and heckle.”

Coalson, from Rockmart, Ga., has been coming to the Masters for the past 15 years. Every year, he finds a spot by the ropes on the south side of the 16th.

“This is where the best action is on practice days,” he said.

Coalson said he saw turtles sunbathing on the opposite side of the pond.

This year, Coalson and his friend Scott Jones, of Franklin, Tenn., brought two first-time patrons with them. The first thing they did when they walked through the gate was head to No. 16 to take a picture in front of the water.

For first-timer Todd McAtee, of Dallas, the ball-skipping was something he had not expected to see.

“It’s great,” he said. “It’s been so much fun to watch.”

During the day, the group saw two first-time Masters competitors come through and skip. Both Harrison Frazar and Scott Stallings had made it onto the green on their skips.

McAtee was most impressed with 2000 Masters champ Vijay Singh. He said Singh had spent a long time on No. 16, noting he had skipped and then practiced shots onto the green.

“He shot from everywhere,” he said. “His caddie was the only one who took notes, too.”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5r18ka23UU