re: Masters practice round question

This is right - they still hit off grass but the tees they will be playing from are meshed off.

I went in 2015 and caught Tiger, Crenshaw and Spieth on the back.

As someone already mentioned, get there extremely early. The gates may say they open at 7 am but the year I went they were open before day break. We did all our shopping before 7am and checked it all - it was a great treat for showing up early. We then went to the range (this could be a good indication of who is about to tee off). When Tiger comes out to hit balls there will be a lot of buzz and people will be asking where he is teeing off and most will speculate the back 9. I remember asking an ESPN camera man and he said Tiger typically plays the back, so they expected him there but even they weren't sure it seemed.

Just enjoy the day - soak it all in. The Par 3 contest didn't really do anything for me. Spend as much time as humanely possible on the main course.