20+ Interesting Masters Tournament Facts
by Joe · 47 things on Twos
- Media tickets (badges) have RFID tags inside them so the club knows where each person is at all times.
- The Masters doesn't start selling beer until 11 am on Sunday. The previous rule was 12:30 pm (after church), but the law was pushed 90 minutes forward in 2020.
- Augusta National might be expanding soon.
- Since 2000, they have:
- Spent $200 million
- Acquired 100+ properties
- Gained 270+ acres
- They've bought strip malls, restaurants & homes, often paying 3-4x their actual value.
- Total acreage has increased by ~75%.
- Augusta was purchased for $70,000 in 1931 — an inflation-adjusted $1.4 million today — but now has an assessed value of $200 million (+ 14,000%).
- There is no running allowed at Augusta National.
- Over 700 volunteers work at the tournament each year (thousands apply).
- The Masters will do about $70 million in merchandise sales this week.
- $10 million a day
- $1 million an hour
- $16,000 a minute
- $277 every second
- Augusta recently opened a new media building:
- Leather chairs
- Brass nameplates
- Personal lockers
- Touchscreen computers
- Full-service restaurant (free)
- The green jacket is allowed to be taken home for a year, but it must be returned to their locker the following year & can't leave after that.
- Someone found a green jacket for $5 at a thrift store in 1999 and sold it last year for $140k.
- Augusta has spent millions installing SubAir systems underneath every green.
- It keeps the greens consistent, sucking up the water when it rains & adding moisture when it's hot.
- Even crazier, Augusta put them under the walkways after a patron slipped & fell a few years back.
- And the IRS established "The Augusta Rule" years ago, enabling homeowners to rent out their homes for 14 days per year without being taxed.
- The Masters clubhouse has one of the world's best wine cellars (30+ pages of options).
- Players & members enter Augusta on Magnolia Lane, which is precisely 330 yards long and has 61 Magnolia trees on each side (122 total).
- President Eisenhower visited the club 29 times during his 8 years in office, and they even worked with the secret service to build him a special cabin.
- President Reagan vacationed at Augusta in 1983 & stayed at the Eisenhower Cabin.
- Someone smashed through the gate with a gun & tried to hold him hostage in the pro shop.
- But the secret service got him out in an armed motorcade & no one was hurt.
- Augusta doesn't even make CBS & ESPN pay a media rights fee, giving it to them for free in exchange for full and complete control.
- And the grounds crew is so good that they can replace entire pieces of sod within just 15 minutes.
- Many golf clubs across the US are registered as non-profits — but Augusta is a for-profit corporation.
- They give up the tax benefit, but it also means they don't have to share their member list, income, holdings, expansion plans, or anything else.
- They value privacy more.
- The Crow's Nest is a 30-by-40-ft living space on the 3rd floor of Augusta's clubhouse.
- Each of the 7 amateurs at this year's tournament will stay at least one night in the room.
- And previous guests include Tiger Woods, Jack Nicklaus, and Phil Mickelson.
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