Here are the pairings and tee times for this year’s Masters:

A Masters’ tradition is for the reigning champion to pick the menu for the annual Champions Dinner. This year, Phil Mickelson chose to honor Seve Ballesteros with a spanish themed menu: gazpacho starter, paella, beef tenderloin with manchego cheese and tortilla, and Spanish apple pie with ice cream.

Seve, who has had a recent bout with a brain tumor can’t make the dinner, but Phil noted that “All of the past champions are really thinking about Seve. Honoring Seve is easy and no big deal, but I just want him to know that we all wish he was here and we are thinking about him so we are just having a little Spanish cuisine tonight.”

Nice touch, Phil.

Masters broadcasts are ripe (perhaps overly so) with references to the names of various geographical features at Augusta National. The announcers drop names like the “Crow’s Nest”, “Eisenhower Tree” and “Amen Corner” with careless abandon, perhaps assuming that the average listener knows what they’re talking about—or perhaps in an attempt to make themselves seem to be a chummy insider at America’s most hallowed course.

Here’s a guide to some of the more famous landmark references:

Few phrases in sports evoke as strong an image as “the Amen Corner.” Coined in 1958 by golf writer Herbert Warren Wind, it refers specifically to the second half of the 11th, the 12th, and the first half of the 13th holes at Augusta National, site of the Masters Tournament.

Wind, who was writing for Sports Illustrated, used the phrase to describe the scene of the critical action of the 1958 Masters, when Arnold Palmer earned his first major Championship.

Wind wrote:

On the afternoon before the start of the recent Masters golf tournament, a wonderfully evocative ceremony took place at the farthest reach of the Augusta National course —down in the Amen Corner where Rae’s Creek intersects the 13th fairway near the tee, then parallels the front edge of the green on the short 12th and finally swirls alongside the 11th green.

Wind later said that he was looking for a phrase like “coffin corner” in football, or baseball’s “hot corner”, but that all he could come up with was the title of the song, “Shouting At The Amen Corner,” by Milton (Mezz) Mezzrow.

Masters Traditions: Honorary Starters

The first balls off the tee at the Masters are hit by “honorary starters,” a tradition which began in 1963. The first honorary staters were Jock Hutchison and Fred McLeod—two men with ties to Augusta National.

Hutchison won two Major Championships in his golfing career—the 1920 PGA and the 1921 Open Championship. He also was the winner of the inaugural Senior PGA Championship (1937), which was held at Augusta; he won that event again in 1947. He started until 1973.

McLeod was a founding member of the Senior PGA, who played in the first four Masters. He acted as a starter until 1976.

Gene Sarazen performed the duties from 1981 until he passed away in 1999. Sarazen won the 1935 Masters with the “shot heard round the world”, a 225 yard four wood for a double eagle 2 on the par 5 15th. Sarazen also won the 1922 US Open and PGA, the 1923 PGA, the 1932 US Open and British Open, and the 1933 PGA. Sarazen is credited with inventing the sand wedge.

Byron Nelson served as a starter from 1981 to 1999. Nelson won two Masters—in 1937 and 1942. He also won the 1940 and 1945 PGA, and the 1939 US Open. He is perhaps best remembered, however, for wininng 11 tournaments in a row in 1945.

Sam Snead served from 1984 to 2002. Slammin Sammy won a record 82 PGA Tour events and about 70 others worldwide. He won seven majors: three Masters, three PGA Championships and one British Open

Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus now will serve as the honorary starters for this year’s event—and for the forseeable future. Gary Player has said he’d like to join the duo—and that’s appropriate.

But I wonder. Who will have the stature—and willingness—to serve as honorary starters twenty years hence?

A friend who volunteers to work the Masters each year reports yesterday:

A big storm went through Augusta and took out several trees. One of the trees was a magnolia on Magnolia Lane. Another tree was on one of the greens and the last tree is leaning over the fairway. This slowed down play as they needed to be dealt with before the golfers took the course.

Thursday and Friday

Live Video From Masters.Com
10:45 am - 6 pm: Amen Corner Live
11:45 am - 7 pm: Holes 15 and 16
12:00 noon - 7:30 pm: Featured groups 1 and 2

Masters Radio:
2 pm

ESPN
3 pm to 7:30 pm

Saturday

Live Video From Masters.Com
11:45 am - 6 pm: Amen Corner Live
12:30 am - 6:30 pm: Holes 15 and 16
12:30 pm - 7 pm: Featured groups 1 and 2

Masters Radio:
2 pm

CBS
3:30 pm - 7 pm

Sunday

Live Video From Masters.Com
11:45 am - 6 pm: Amen Corner Live
12:30 am - 6:30 pm: Holes 15 and 16
12:30 pm - 7 pm: Featured groups 1 and 2

Masters Radio:
2 pm

CBS
2:00 pm - 7 pm