Watch some of golf’s finest skip balls across the pond in Masters tradition

A couple of days before the Masters golf competition gets under way, players engage in a tradition which belies the strict nature of the tournament and its venue.

During a practice round, a group of players took turns skipping the ball across the stretch of water that separates the tee and green at the 16th hole, rather than hitting the ball over the hazard.

Jordan Spieth, 2015 Masters champion, had this effort to go nine feet from the pin.

Meanwhile Dustin Johnson, Gary Woodland and Tyrell Hatton attempted a group effort.

Unfortunately for Hatton, his ball fell a few feet short.

Ted Potter Jr took just three bounces to cross the water with this shot.

Meanwhile, Si Woo Kim’s shot took five bounces and finished pretty close.

Nobody managed to land a hole-in-one, but Jose Maria Olazabal came a few inches from such an achievement, the ball just sailing past the hole.

Just don’t expect anyone to actually try this during the tournament proper.