Making memories at The Masters
Attending The Masters is one of the holy grails of golf – akin to a tennis fan attending a Wimbledon Final at Centre Court but with a difference – tickets are just not available to the public at Augusta. You have to be invited by a friend who already has a Masters badge.
So when I was there last week, I realised that when you enter the gates at Augusta, you need to arrive with a game plan because the sheer vast expanse of the course can suck you in and you could end up wasting a lot of time figuring out what to do. So here is my guide to making the most of a Day at The Masters if and when you get the opportunity.
This is the line for merchandise at The Masters.
They’ll do about $70 million in merch sales this week.
That’s $10 million a day, $1 million an hour, $16,000 a minute, and $277 every second.
Absolutely insane.
(: u/seamus_MC) pic.twitter.com/IBkVgRfpQA
— Joe Pompliano (@JoePompliano) April 6, 2023
First – be early as there is a lot to do and 75,000 other people wanting to do the same things. First stop is the huge gift shop, which is the only place you can purchase Masters Logo merchandise of any kind. Although the line looked long, it moved fast but when we entered and saw the crowds inside, especially since it was Sunday, it was a bit intimidating. The good news is that service speed was exceptional and check out stands were super quick. Best of all, after doing our shopping, there is a check stand where we could store our goodies and pick them up at the end of the day – saving us the trouble of either going back to leave our shopping bags in our car or lugging the weight around all day.
One item on our shopping list was a foldable Masters chair. You next take your chair to the 18th green early in the day and leave it in a good spot with your visiting card slipped into a little flap on the back of the chair. This way after you’ve walked all over the course, you can return to your chair as the final groups come up the 18th and no one will have taken your place. If someone is sitting in your chair, you can simply tap them on the shoulder and they will politely vacate the chair without a fuss !
Similarly if you go down to Amen corner – say the 12th tee and find a vacant chair, you can sit on it for a while and if the rightful owner returns, you simply get up and move on somewhere else.
#TigerTuesdays
Holes 11, 12 and 13 make up Amen Corner at Augusta National.This is how to play them. pic.twitter.com/KIo7il4CCr
— Skratch (@Skratch) April 4, 2023
Another early item we ticked off the list was to grab one of Augusta’s famous $1.50 sandwiches – especially the Pimento Cheese or Egg Salad sandwich. And when you buy a soft drink with it – you get a plastic glass with the Masters logo to keep as a souvenir. Soft drinks come in white glasses while beers are served in green.
2023 Masters Food Menu
The spectator guides with the tee times and pairings that are available at various spots tell you the best vantage points – it could be a spot behind the 2nd or 7th greens – both close to each other from where there is plenty of action all around you.
Then we went to the famous Amen corner of the 11th green, par three 12th and par five 13th which we’ve seen so often on TV but now studied from a fresh perspective. What strikes you is how much lower the 11th green is than the fairway where players hit their approach shots from. Also how tiny the 12th green looks from the tee, especially with water in front of it. And you realise that the 13th is a really sharp dog leg with the fairway narrowing at the exact landing area, since this year the tee has been shifted 35 yards further back. The 13th has become a true risk reward shot now, with players having to hit rescues or long irons into the green, also angled along the creek.
The next stop is the 15th – 16th another combination of risk-reward par five and par three with water. The 15th requires an awesome downhill approach over the water. A lot of players lay up but even then, the 60 to 100 yard pitch requires real skill as anything landing on the front half could spin back to the front of the green and catch the bank down in the pond guarding the green.
The par three 16th has provided a lot of drama over the years especially Jack Nicklaus holing a 40 footer when he won the 1986 Masters, his sixth and Tiger with the famous chip in from just over the back in 2005. This time while we were at the 15th green , we heard a massive roar as the talented 25 year old Indian origin Californian Sahith Theegala had basically duplicated Tiger’s incredible shot – which sent the spectators into an absolute tizzy.
Sahith Theegala chips in for birdie on No. 16 to move into a tie for third place. #themasters pic.twitter.com/bMrbBmYLKt
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 9, 2023
At the end of the day, we found our chairs up by the 18th green and watched in wonder till Jon Rahm had holed his winning putt. We waited patiently till the vast crowd cleared, which remarkably didn’t take as long as expected.
On the way out, we picked up our shopping and our cell phones from where we left them at the entrance, since cameras and phones are not allowed at Augusta on tournament days. This itself presents a variety of challenges – the chief one is finding any particular person you need to anywhere on the course !! Not easy. Be careful as you could end up spending most of your day looking for your friends, if you do get separated.
Finally a day at The Masters is indeed a memorable outing – meeting up with friends, experiencing the immaculate perfection that is Augusta National and admiring the army of thousands of volunteers that are literally around to guide you every step of your way around the grounds. And of course the memories and merchandise that you get to keep forever, makes all the trouble worth it !!
Write to us if you too would like to go to The Masters, and we will try to help guide you on the way!