The Masters Golf Tournament - A Tradition Like No Other Sport

Spring in the North Georgia Mountains begins early, bringing new life in March and as early as February. Enjoy North Georgia's exquisite display of dogwoods, azaleas, wildflowers, and mountain laurels as butterflies and hummingbirds visit the colorful and fragrant flowers. Ellijay's expansive apple orchards are blooming with aromatic and beautiful apple blossoms as the days become warmer and longer. The best thing to do is to take the time to plan before-hand for any miscellaneous activities you may have in mind.

As mentioned earlier, Butternut Creek, Whitepath, and Brasstown Valley are available for public play. Though there have been various debates and protests against it, the tradition stands and the club still doesn't give membership to women.

So there's some controversial and some well loved traditions of the The Masters golf tournament, which all add to the prestige and intrigue around the tournament and this is probably why it remains the biggest event on the golf calendar every year. All the golfing greats have won there, including multiple wins by golf legends like Jack Nicklaus (who holds the record of most wins at 6), Tiger Woods, Arnold Palmer and Phil Mickelson. Winning The Masters is the biggest honor for any golfer in the world.

o "The Arch," an iron gate found on everything from the UGA logo to t-shirts is representative of the Arch on campus which was an original gateway to the school. Legend has it that if a freshman walks under The Arch during his first year, he will never graduate.

o When the UGA Bulldogs have won a home football game, the school's Chapel Bell traditionally rings until midnight. Except when Georgia beats Georgia Tech, one of their biggest rivals- then the bell rings the entire night! In the old days, it was the job of freshmen to do the hard work of ringing the bell- today, fans, students, and alumni all take turns.

o During the 2007 Season, the bell was ringing after UGA's defeat over the University of Florida, when the 877 pound bell fell. It has since been returned to the platform.

o The Bulldogs like to get their opponents 'Between the Hedges.' This is a reference to the hedges that grow all the way around the playing field of Sanford Stadium, and dates back to the 30's, when a sports writer made the reference.

o In 1939, Coach Wally Butts decided silver pants would pair well with red jerseys- thus began the start of the Bulldog's 'silver britches.' Although Coach Vince Dooley changed the pants to white for several years, the silver britches were brought back in 1980, and were worn during the school's National Championship season.

o UGA has a student ID card and travels in his own dog house- with air conditioning! Because bulldogs are susceptible to heat stroke, he spends football games perched on bags of ice. If opposing teams get to close to his precious ice, he growls ferociously. He's a tough pup, who wears a jersey with a Varsity letter and a spiked collar.

o The costumed bulldog mascot is called 'Hairy Dawg.'

o Football players go through the 'Dog Walk,' which features players walking through crowds of fans on their way into Stanford Stadium, led by the Redcoat Band.