Your dream trip to Augusta National for the Masters may be cheaper than you think due to the coronavirus.
A ticket to Augusta National for the Masters is one of the most coveted and exclusive in all sports.
Tickets aren’t just difficult to acquire, they’re also expensive. If you don’t know someone, then you must take your chances via the Masters ticket lottery or the overpriced second-hand market. Either way, you’ll have to pay handsomely just to step foot on the property.
Unless there’s a pandemic, of course.
Thanks to growing concerns over the coronavirus outbreak, your dream drive down Magnlolia Lane can be a reality for cheaper than you might think. A one-day badge for Thursday’s opening round is going for $1,163 on SeatGeek, half of what it would normally cost. Friday’s second round will cost you just over $1,000, with Saturday and Sunday going for around $900.
According to Yahoo! Sports, the average price of a Thursday badge was $3,616 in 2016, $3,211 in 2017 and upwards of $4,475 in 2018. Compared to the SeatGeek prices above, StubHub also shows a significant drop compared to years past.
“With fears growing about the coronavirus, and the plummeting stock market, get-in prices for the tournament are down 30 percent and at a five-year low,” said Jesse Lawrence, the founder of TicketIQ.
Monday and Tuesday practice round tickets are both under $500, with Wednesday’s pricing out at $661.
Beginning in 1995 as an amateur and going up to his triumph in 2019, here’s a look at all 22 Masters appearances for Tiger Woods.
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When thinking of Augusta National, what is the first thing that comes to mind?
Is it the flush foliage, the famous Masters logo, the smell of springtime and fresh-cut grass? Or is it one of the golfers most synonymous with victory in Augusta, Georgia?
Tiger Woods has played in 22 Masters Tournaments and totaled five victories. The only golfer to have won more at Augusta National Golf Club is Jack Nicklaus, who has six green jackets.
Beginning in 1995 as an amateur and finishing, for now, in 2019 after his fifth Masters win, we document each of Woods’ 22 Masters appearances with a photo and his result.
A club-affiliated corporate entity recently acquired more than $6 million worth of real estate, including a Wendy’s fast-food restaurant.
AUGUSTA, Ga. — The Augusta National Golf Club’s footprint continues to grow.
A club-affiliated corporate entity in recent weeks has acquired more than $6 million worth of real estate, including the Wendy’s fast-food restaurant on Washington Road and several homes in the West Terrace neighborhood.
The eight properties, totaling just over three acres, will be added to the more than $200 million in west Augusta land the club has acquired during a two-decade long campaign to expand its boundaries.
The Augusta National, as a matter of longstanding policy, does not comment on its business operations.
Richmond County property records show the club’s most recent acquisitions – eight since late December – were made through Berckman Residential Properties LLC, one of several limited liability companies the club has used over the years to amass more than 100 acres on its north and west perimeters.
The largest of the purchases – $3.45 million for the nearly 1-acre Wendy’s property – gives the club ownership nearly all Washington Road frontage on the southside between the club’s western fence and the Berckmans Road-Alexander Drive intersection.
The Wendy’s property was purchased from WendPartners, a Cortland, N.Y.-based franchise group. The local franchise operator, Wendgusta, said the restaurant would continue operating as usual through the remainder of its long-term lease.
“We are aware of the purchase and that the lease has changed hands,” Wendgusta President Mike Iezzi said. “Other than that, nothing is going to change with the operation.”
Iezzi declined to disclose the expiration date of his lease, but said it was not “a near-term end.”
Based on the latest available property records, the only Washington Road frontage properties on the southside between Berckmans Road and the city water tower inside the club’s fence are the Olive Garden restaurant and the Walgreens pharmacy on Washington Road.
On the north side of Washington Road, the club acquired a 0.4-acre tract at 1085 Beverly Drive, a vacant lot formerly occupied by Padgett Business Services. The property doesn’t front Washington Road.
The remainder of the recently acquired properties were homes in the West Terrace subdivision, a residential neighborhood off Berckmans Road near the club’s southeast corner, an area where the club developed its Berckmans Place VIP hospitality complex a few years ago.
All homes in the sale except one were purchased from investment firms on Dec. 17. Para Brothers LLC and 311 West Terrace LLC – two Las Vegas-based companies headed by the same principal – sold five homes, early 1970s-era ranch-style residences that were purchased for prices ranging from $375,000 to $400,000, roughly three to six times their assessed value, depending on the property.
The Augusta National has been acquiring property outside its historic boundaries for the past two decades, primarily on its west and north sides.
The field off Berckmans Road used as free parking during the Masters Tournament was primarily a residential neighborhood that club-affiliated companies acquired parcel-by-parcel before helping the city pay for the realignment of Berckmans Road.
The club greatly expanded its property portfolio in late 2017 and early 2018 by acquiring two Washington Road shopping centers for a combined $41 million.
Land the club has purchased over the years on its northeast side is slated to become a state-of-the-art television and digital media compound that Augusta National Chairman Fred Ridley called a “Global Broadcast Village” during his 2019 “State of the Masters” address.
The nearly 40-acre tract is being linked to the main club property at Gate 1 by a 120-foot tunnel being constructed under Washington Road.
The club did not return phone and email messages seeking comment on the tunnel’s completion status. A Georgia Department of Transportation spokesman would only confirm that “work in the state right of way” has been finished.
Recent Augusta National acquisitions
2738 Washington Road, Jan. 15, $3,450,000
2703 W. Terrace Drive, Dec. 23, $350,000
301 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $400,000
302 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $400,000
306 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $375,000
309 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $375,000
311 W. Terrace Court, Dec. 17, $375,000
1085 Beverly Drive, Dec. 17, $300,000
The Notre Dame men’s golf team went on a golf trip of a lifetime to several high-profile courses, including Augusta National.
Being a college golfer has its perks, especially at a high-profile Division I school.
The experience afforded to those who are good enough to compete at the highest level leaves the average golfer living vicariously through teenagers and 20-somethings alike.
For example, the Notre Dame men’s golf team.
It’s not uncommon for college teams to play some of the best courses in the country. It becomes uncommon when those courses are Augusta National, Michael Jordan’s exclusive Grove XXIII and Jack Nickalus’ Bears Club, to name a few.
“We take a lot of practice trips down south to get ready for this first event,” said head coach John Handrigan before the Fighting Irish’s first event of the spring in Puerto Rico. “We’re lucky to have such a great alumni base and network. People have some great memberships at nice places across the country and they’re huge in supporting our program, so we’re fortunate to be able to play some of these great courses for practice trips to prepare for the spring.”
Practice trips to Augusta National, Seminole, MJ’s XXIII, Bears Club, McArthur, Old Palm…We are ready to start the spring season in Puerto Rico! Go Irish! pic.twitter.com/X0QV1EZnJ8
“It never gets old,” Handigran said of the team’s trip to Augusta National. “To me, it’s the elite place to play so I love it every time I get to go, and it’s really fun to take the guys and especially the freshmen that saw it for first time. There’s no better place in the world.”
“I played Augusta with the guys because I couldn’t let that one slip. All the other courses I’m just out there with the guys trying to help out a little bit and get them ready for the spring,” added Handigran, who shot even-par on the last day.
The other course that stood out from the pre-spring swing was Michael Jordan’s exclusive Grove XXIII in South Florida.
“It’s not a course you typically see in Florida and to get out there, I think there’s 75 members and Mr. Jordan was helpful,” Handigran said of the trip, noting the course had the best practice facility he’s ever seen.
While the practice trip wasn’t anything new, this spring will be different than most for the Notre Dame men. After a historic fall that featured four wins in five events, all eyes will be on the Irish in 2020.
That’s quite alright with them.
“We’ve been building up for the last two and a half years and you can see the trajectory the team was going on,” explained Handigran. “Obviously winning four out of five is spectacular and I’m not sure we expected that, but we expected to perform at the highest level.”
Perform at the highest level, they did. The Irish lineup features upper-classmen leaders Hunter Ostrom, Davis Lamb and Davis Chattfield alongside sophomore Andrew O’Leary and star freshman Palmer Jackson. Ranked No. 20 in the Class of 2019 by Golfweek, Jackson is Notre Dame’s lone individual champion this season, claiming the individual title at their fall finale, the Quail Valley Collegiate.
What does it say about the Irish’s depth that they were able to win four events and only have one individual winner? Bad news for the rest of the nation.
“One of our concerns was if there was going to be anybody content with what we did in the fall,” said a candid Handigran, “but I have a great team of guys that are hungry and they’re dedicated to continue improving and to win more tournaments.”
“We strive to win everything we play in. These guys aren’t content with what they did in the fall,” he added. “They’re really hungry to get back after it this spring and I could tell during these practice trips it just wasn’t like they’re playing fun golf. It was extremely competitive and they’re hungry for more.
When something historic happens in golf, it’s not long before the details are etched on a plaque to commemorate the moment.
Golfers love their history.
So when something historic happens in a tournament, it’s not long before the details are etched on a plaque, which is then placed in the ground, preserving the story and re-telling it for years to come.
Jack Nicklaus has a few of these commemorative plaques. So does Arnold Palmer, Ben Hogan, Bobby Jones and, of course, Tiger Woods.
Several amateur golfers look ahead of the Augusta National Women’s Amateur April 1-4 at Augusta National Golf Club.
A year ago, Augusta National was uncharted territory for women, at least competitively. When a 72-player Augusta National Women’s Amateur field returns there this year, the stakes will be undeniably different – it can never again be the first time.
Allyson Geer-Park has chewed on this idea. The Michigan State senior goes back to something that head coach Stacy Slobodnik-Stoll often tells her Spartans.
“My coach talks about legacies and what we’re doing here,” Geer-Park said. “The reason we’re able to do what we’re doing is because of the people before us.”
On Tuesday, Augusta National released a list of 65 confirmed entries for the second annual ANWA. Among the 65 confirmed entries, 27 are ANWA returners, including Geer-Park.
Viewers of last year’s ANWA final may not remember Geer-Park’s name to the extent they remember winner Jennifer Kupcho’s and runner-up Maria Fassi’s. The 21-year-old Brighton, Michigan native missed the second-round cut for a chance to compete at Augusta National (though she did take part in a practice round there, like the rest of the field), but for Saturday’s final round, she made sure she walked in the gallery.
Everything Geer-Park does in April when she plays the ANWA for the second time (and likely the last, considering that she’s eyeing a pro career post-college) will build on this event for the next generation. While Geer-Park walked Augusta during last year’s final round (along with many of the other players who had fallen short of the cut), she thought of the middle- and high-school players watching at home who will someday be invited to play the event.
“It was definitely still incredible,” she said, “but also I think a really cool opportunity to see and to sting me a little bit that I wasn’t playing as well, but still to realize that it was bigger than just me. To be there supporting those women I had played golf with a long time.
“I don’t think there’s many times in your life where you’re aware that the best thing that is ever going to happen to you, is happening to you.”
Geer-Park took mental notes that day about how Kupcho and Fassi attacked Augusta. She had husband Nick Park (the two were married in 2018) on the bag but this year, she’s already put in for an Augusta National caddie. Most of all, she’s prepared to run the Champions Retreat gauntlet, where the first two rounds are played, better than last year. She brought a signature draw that didn’t suit the sneaky-hard layout and knows this year that you can’t overlook that test (new players, take note).
“I’m prepared to play those two days the best I can so I can go to Augusta,” she said. “The difference this year is focusing on that first course and devoting all my energy to that.”
Geer-Park, she was among the final Americans to be selected based on her World Amateur Golf Ranking position. That’s daunting in itself.
The prospect of falling outside the magic bubble of the top-30 ranked Americans had Erica Shepherd, another returner, so flustered that she felt she could only relax about it once her dad had run every possible scenario.
“My coaches will tell you that I probably worried a little too much about rankings this fall,” she said.
Erica Shepherd of Greenwood, Indiana was named to the 2019 Rolex Junior Boys All-Americans first team. (American Junior Golf Association)
Shepherd, a big goal setter and determined competitor, is halfway through her freshman season at Duke. She made all four starts with the team in the fall.
Shepherd had her tonsils out over the holidays and spent her recuperation time re-watching the final-round broadcast. It got “the determination juices flowing.” She had goosebumps.
Shepherd played in that final round, nine groups ahead of Kupcho and Fassi. She was 1 under on the front and her name was on the leaderboard. She calculated a yardage incorrectly on her second shot at the par-5 15th and left it in the water. She made double there and followed it with two bogeys to finish with 75. She finished T-23.
“I think that I had my dream of playing in Augusta, being one of the first females to ever do that and then now, after watching Kupcho and Fassi in the final group, just seeing the impact that had on the game, being in that position in myself over the next four years…that’s the dream now,” she said.
While seven spots in the field remain unknown, there are a handful of players who qualified based on their ranking – or an exemption category – who remain conspicuously missing. Rose Zhang, Kaitlyn Papp, Angelina Ye and Gabriela Ruffels are among that group. A handful of amateurs are traditionally invited to the ANA Inspiration, the first LPGA major of the season. It overlaps the ANWA.
Amateur invitations to the ANA have not yet been confirmed.
The Sydney Herald confirmed Tuesday that Ruffels, who automatically qualified for the ANWA as the U.S. Women’s Amateur champion, will play the ANA.
“Yeah it was a really tough decision, but I think we all decided ANA would be the best,” Ruffels told the Herald.
“I’m only getting the ANA start because I won the U.S. Women’s Amateur and it’s a rare opportunity; they don’t give out exemptions to anyone at majors.”
Ruffels, a junior at USC, also noted that her parents lived close to Mission Hills in Rancho Mirage, California, where the ANA will be played. She also said she wanted to remain amateur for the next two years, long enough to finish her degree in Los Angeles.
Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi walk across the Hogan Bridge on the 12th hole during the Augusta National Women’s Amateur at Augusta National. (Rob Schumacher-USA TODAY Sports)
Rachel Heck knows something about that decision. The Memphis, Tennessee-based high school senior, who is headed to Stanford next fall, ultimately chose the ANA Inspiration last year. She approached the decision from the perspective that neither tournament could be the “wrong” choice.
“I was hoping, with where my ranking was, that I would get to go back and play Augusta the next year,” she said. “So of course Augusta was hard to turn down but ANA is a very unique, special opportunity that I definitely couldn’t turn down.
“I have no regrets for choosing ANA that first year.”
As a result, Heck spent part of the week in the players’ lounge, watching the broadcast with LPGA players (who she remember were similarly glued to the TV). She’ll never forget watching Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi cross the Hogan bridge to No. 12 green – a familiar Masters scene for any golf fan.
“That’s the picture I’ve seen my whole life, I’ve drawn that for school projects – freshman art project,” she said. “That was what I idealized in my mind.”
The invitation she received from Augusta went up on the Heck family mantle this month when the Christmas decorations came down.
In all the post-tournament conversations with friends who did play Augusta, Heck can’t remember green speeds or shot-making coming up once.
“They just said, ‘You have to be there.’”
Heck didn’t need to be in Augusta last year to know that.
Eighty junior golfers will get the chance to compete in the National Finals at Augusta National Golf Club on the Sunday before Masters week.
Registration for the 2020-21 Drive, Chip and Putt qualifying opened on Wednesday.
Three qualifying stages in the Drive, Chip and Putt competition, organized by the USGA, the Masters Tournament and the PGA of America, lead up to the National Finals, contested on the Sunday between the Augusta National Women’s Amateur and the Masters Tournament at Augusta National.
Eighty junior golfers (40 girls and 40 boys) ages 7-15 who navigate local qualifying, subregionals and regionals will get the chance to compete in the National Finals.
“It’s exciting to see Drive, Chip and Putt continue to grow the game and inspire juniors everywhere to love and play it,” said Mark Newell, USGA president. “As a founding partner of the program, we’re able to witness, firsthand, the level of passion that junior golfers have and to know that the future of the game is in good hands.”
Augusta National Women’s Amateur champion Jennifer Kupcho signs autographs during the finals of the 2019 Drive, Chip and Putt. (Michael Madrid/USA TODAY Sports)
“Drive, Chip and Putt is a unique and exciting opportunity for participants of all skill levels to get started in the game,” said Fred Ridley, Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters Tournament. “Our partnership with the USGA and PGA of America is rooted in the shared mission of engaging golf’s next generation, and each year, we are encouraged by the smiles we see as boys and girls have fun playing a game we hope they enjoy for the rest of their lives.”
“The PGA of America is proud of the great tradition that Drive, Chip and Putt has become through our longstanding partnership with both the USGA and the Masters Tournament,” said PGA President Suzy Whaley, PGA. “Each year, Drive, Chip and Putt serves as a special opportunity for girls and boys to showcase their golf skills and their passion for the game in a fun and welcoming environment. We’re excited that PGA Professionals will help inspire the next generation to pursue a lifetime of enjoyment through the game of golf, as we host qualifying events across each of our 41 PGA Sections nationwide.”
Schedule
Local qualifying (May/June/July/August)
There are 317 host sites throughout all 50 states. Three juniors from each age and gender category from each venue will advance.
Subregionals (July/August)
There 61 subregional host sites. Two juniors from each age and gender category from each venue will advance.
Regionals (September/October)
There will be ten host sites in ten regions. One junior from each age and gender category from every venue will advance. Here are the regional locations:
Sept. 12 – Medinah Country Club
Sept. 19 – The Bear’s Club
Sept. 19 – Oakmont Country Club
Sept. 20 – TPC Scottsdale
Sept. 20 – Colorado Golf Club
Sept. 20 – Pebble Beach Golf Links
Sept. 27 – TPC River Highlands
Oct. 10 – Oakland Hills Country Club
Oct. 10 – Alotian Club
TBA – Quail Hollow Club
National Finals (April 4, 2021)
There will be 80 finalists who will make it to Augusta National Golf Club.
The finals for the current seventh season of Drive, Chip and Putt will be April 5 with live coverage on Golf Channel.
Last round of your life – where would it be? That was the question we posed to more than two dozen PGA Tour pros. Some of the answers were surprising while others were predictable. Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Pine Valley and St. …
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Last round of your life – where would it be?
That was the question we posed to more than two dozen PGA Tour pros.
Some of the answers were surprising while others were predictable.
Augusta National, Pebble Beach, Cypress Point, Pine Valley and St. Andrews led the way with multiple responses. We liked some of the creativity such as Chris Baker saying not just Augusta but Sunday at Augusta and Rickie Fowler wanted Augusta running fast and firm and Adam Hadwin specifying he would like a sunny day at Pebble.
Or how about Bo Van Pelt squeezing two gems into his final round with the front nine at Pebble and back nine at Augusta? Well played, Bo, well played.
If it makes you feel any better, we discovered that Steve Stricker and Jim Furyk haven’t played Pine Valley yet either. There also were a bunch of sentimentalists among us who chose one more round at the course where they grew up because as Hank Lebioda put it of Tuscowilla, where he learned the game, “it’s a cow pasture but it’s my cow pasture.”
Check out the places the pros would play their last rounds if they could choose. Answers are listed in alphabetical order.
