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Hello all. My wonderful wife has purchased me a ticket for this year's Masters. I need as much advise as possible about how to maximize the enjoyment of my 1 day there. Welcome any comments or suggestions.

I'm also wondering about souvenirs. I know I can't take pictures. Do they have a gift shop? I guess maybe the pro shop. I'm thinking about a nice book of photos of the course, a Masters pin flag, maybe a nice shirt.

How about in town. Are there gift shops with that sort of stuff? Must be, huh.

Anyway, wife paid a fortune for the ticket so I want this to be the experience of a lifetime.

Thanks for your help!

Ken

Is this for a practice round or one of the rounds? Have fun!

I'm attending the Tuesday practice round this year. My three golf buddies and I entered the Augusta-administered lottery in September and we hit for four badges. To make it even better we're playing golf on Daufuskie Island, SC (between Hilton Head Island and Savannah) for three days before heading for the Masters!

I attended a practice round in 1995, the year Ben Crenshaw won a few days after his mentor, Harvey Pennick, died.

My favorite location to spectate is at the dogleg on hole 13, the famous par 5. You watch the foursome tee off from a chute to the left, and their balls land in front of you. The golfers then walk right toward you to assess their tee shots, and you have a great angle to watch their second shots to the green if they go for it.

There's a terrific "pro shop" set up on site for the tournament where you can purchase all kinds of souveniers, and they don't rip you off on price.

It's great to attend the Masters just once so you can experience the glory of the place. For the rest of your life you'll have the memories to fall back on when you watch the tournament each year on TV. You don't get a sense of the elevation changes on TV - the uphill tee shot on 18 looks like they're hitting up an elevator shaft!

Have a great time - I'm thrilled to have a second chance!

I hear you are supposed to eat a pimento cheese sandwich when you are there, they are wonderful



Have two, if you'd like

Beer and sandwiches there are inexpensive too!

Hopken,
My first visit to Augusta was last year, so I'm no expert, but here's what we did. We watched Arnie hit the opening tee shot, then went to the range to watch the players warm up. Then we followed a non-marquee group from the first tee the the final green, so we could see it all (happened to follow Zach Johnson, lol).
The we looped back to stand behind the tee at 12 to watch several other groups play through, grabbed a bite there and went to 16 for more of the same.
The Pro-Shop has to be the busiest commercial enterprise per square foot than any other place during the Masters, but they handle it like pros and you have to go there. I spent $900 of gifts and souveniers, then checked them at the check stand and claimed them later.
Walking in the gate I had the same feeling I had when I first saw the Grand Canyon.....It was an unbeIievable experience..............enjoy!

I hope you have a hotel reservation. That is priority one. If you don't make one now, you can have some issues (unless you are staying with a friend). My in laws own a couple of hotels in Augusta and they get booked pretty quickly.

The Pro Shop has a lot of things from trinkets, clothing to equipment. I love that SC limited edition putter but it was $$$$$$. The only OFFICIAL Masters souvenirs are on site. Anywhere else is probably a fake or non-Masters. My favorite souvenir is the brass coaster set.

The practice rounds are fun. If I recall correctly, you can take pictures during the practice but not Par 3 and the Big event.

There are some who will sign autographs from the putting green area. My Mother in Law got me a flag with signatures from 20 people including the winner Mike Weir (twice! ha ha). She said they all look the same. LOL!

I wanted Els or Vijay's sig but no success.

I am probably going there this year. I was always on call during that time when I was in residency training (MD, radiology). I hope it is not wet this year. It can get slippery around the 18th green to the pro shop. I have seen many women slide down in 'them pretty dresses and nice hats'.

You are correct about the hotel situation. We made our travel plans for the Masters last September and the closest hotel we could find was in Statesboro, 80 miles away from Augusta!