Amateurs gather for annual dinner with chairman Fred Ridley at Augusta National
There are many traditions the week of the Masters. A couple big ones are in the books after Monday night.
First, the five amateurs in the field joined Augusta National Golf Club chairman Fred Ridley on Monday night for the annual Amateur Dinner, not to be outdone by the Champions Dinner to come Tuesday. Evan Beck, Josele Ballester, Noah Kent, Justin Hastings and Hiroshi Tai all had dinner at the clubhouse, and then the group stayed in the Crow's Nest, the famed spot on top of the Masters clubhouse.
"I don't know if everything has even hit me yet," Hastings said Monday during his pre-tournament press conference. "It's totally surreal, and I don't think I'll be able to put it into words now, and I don't know if I ever will be."
The amateurs are all competing for the Silver Cup, which is awarded to the low amateur who makes the cut. Neal Shipley won the award last year.
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