My Masters

TICKETS

Masters badges have been described as “The Hottest Tickets in Sports” – and with good reason. Passes are only sold to “patrons” – golf's equivalent of football’s season ticket holders – who are given a lifetime right to purchase the coveted entry badges. This concept of patrons is fundamental to the entire ethos of Augusta and we’ll return to it later.
In 1972, the Augusta National Golf Club stopped selling tickets to anyone other than patrons and opened a waiting list for tournament day tickets. As such, they haven’t been directly available to the public since. Even the waiting list itself was closed in 1978 and was only briefly reopened in 2000.
So how can we mere mortals get tickets? The easiest route is from established ticket brokers, who have been buying from patrons for years, although prices can be astronomical. Prices as high as US$12,000 for just one ticket (which gives you entry for all four tournament days, the Par-3 tournament on Wednesday and Tuesday practice) have been reported.
Since 2001 it has actually been legal in Georgia to purchase tickets from “scalpers”, as long as the transaction takes place more than 1,500ft from the event. Given that fake tickets have been discovered in the past, this is a strange law in that it ensures that the seller of the fake ticket has plenty of time to scarper! It is also a significant leap of faith to fly all that way to take a chance on getting a ticket on the day. Prices here also vary massively, with scalpers this year reportedly asking for five times more than normal for weekend tickets after Tiger Woods scored a 66 on Friday this year to move into contention. It is my understanding – and this cannot be confirmed – that scalpers generally won't settle for anything less than US$1,000 for a Thursday or Friday badge.
My ticket (along with that of my chum) had been purchased at a charity auction in Hong Kong and included accommodation, transfers, entertainment, organized golf on local courses and access to a hospitality venue a few hundred yards from Augusta National.