women actually play about a 1000 rounds a golf per year, but they can only do it as guest. Im sure that Barrack could arrange it if he really wanted to. They need to let me on the course though
Becoming a member of Augusta National Golf Club
- Thread starter wheels686
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My uncle actually got to play there several years ago. His good buddy from high school is a groundskeeper there and they get 1 day per year to bring outsiders as guests to play. He said it was amazing and very difficult...and it wasn't even setup for Masters' conditions.
Funny story about that. I grew up in Augusta, Lakeside High School '95, and have been fortunate enough to go to the Masters each year since 1989. I think it was 1992 or 93 and Michael Jordan showed up at the front gate of the National, wanting to play. The guard asked him "Are you the President of the United States?" When Jordan said "No" he was told that the Prez is the only non-member who can play without an escort or invite. How do I know this? I got paged to the school office around noon and thought I was in trouble again, only to find my dad and my best friend's dad, who were signing us out of school. We were perplexed until we got in the car and were told MJ was at the range in our neighborhood hitting balls(West Lake Golf Club). Sure enough, there he was, and after he was done putting, he had about 15 people around signing golf balls and told us the story before he teed off. Still have that ball. It's a Titleist Tour Balata 100.
The only way to play is to submit a Volunteer application and hope you get selected. I finally took my head out of my arse my Junior and Senior year of high school and picked up cigarette buts with a little stick while wearing a caddy-type jumpsuit for a week so I could play on volunteer day, instead of going with my dad. Wish I would have done it from the day I turned 14.
The course is 40 times harder than it looks on tv. The slopes and hills in the fairways are incredibly dramatic, and the greens are like pool tables with random boulders in the middle of them. HD does not remotely do justice to the severity of the greens. And I played it before they grew out the rough and made it longer. I was on our golf team and have played my whole life and managed a 108 my first year and a 101 the second. Granted, my level of concentration was zero as I just couldn't believe I was actually there.
I would suggest to any golfer to try to volunteer. It is truly the most beautiful place you could imagine playing golf in.
I wouldn't want to play at Augusta. I know it looks really nice and it's magical and all of that, but they are too much of d-bags for me to want to support them...
Playing at Augusta National is always free to members. Membership cost $25,000 entry fee and the monthly dues vary - they take operating costs and divide by the total members (300) usually about $15,000 - $20,000 per month - peanuts to all members. If they do not get your payment within 30 days - you are dropped! (This has NEVER happened!!) Most members today pay their dues by automatic credit/debit card - some pay years in advance. And they don't play much - they average USUALLY - about 20 rounds of golf per week during the golf season - and they close the course to everybody in March - to get ready for the Masters. (Membership averages a 15 handicap - so they cut the course up pretty good - almost ever year!!!!) Members and all past Masters Champions have a locker in the locker room.
A ticket to The Masters - is the hardest ticket to get on the planet!!! Be patient - MAYBE you'll get one in your lifetime!!!!!!
Also - by course rules - The President and Vice President of the United States can play whenever they want - except for the 4 weeks preceding the Masters - and of course - the week of the Masters Tournament!!!
You cannot buy your way into Augusta National - although all current members (you cannot get their membership list - few can even SEE it!) are at least multimillionaires - if not billionaires!!! (NO - Bill Gates is NOT a member!) Today, memberships are NOT transferrable - when you die - your membership expires (there are a few transferrable memberships left from the old guard (guys that joined 1930 - 1960)!!! They have had a membership list TWICE that I know of - in the 1970's and the 1990's but shut it down quickly - both times! They have a list of about 500 people waiting for a membership. That usually takes AT LEAST 20 years on the waiting list - if ever!!
If you ever get the chance - Augusta National is a must see - well worth it!!!! They used to allow people to walk the course (not play golf - just walk the course) for $50 - that was back in the 1980's! I don't think they do that anymore.
I worked there for 3 summers - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - while in college (Georgia Tech in Atlanta) and all the rumors you hear about free golf are FALSE!!!!!!! The only way to play free golf - is to be with a member!!!! And trust me on this one - when you work there - you WORK - I left a good 50 gallons of sweat there - and it was the most loved job I've ever had!!!!!
Augusta National no longer sells tickets for the Masters Week events - they release the number of tickets to be sold to outlets - and that number is a VERY tightly held secret. I'd guess MAYBE 4,000 per day will get a badge (you get a badge - which you MUST wear - you do not get a paper ticket). And tickets today (2010) run about $2,500 per day (Thursday/Friday) - and Saturday/Sunday tickets about $4,000 per day. To get the entire week (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday practice and the Par 3 tourney - rounds are sold by Augusta) from a broker - usually includes a close hotel room or cabin and transportation - and usually run about $25,000 to (I've seen them for) $150,000 for the entire week. EVERY YEAR - they sellout completely - and there are no exceptions - NEVER!!!!
You can get Master Tickets!!!!!!!! They go on sale every June for the next years April Masters! Write to the Masters in Augusta - you will be put on their list and a lottery is held for NEXT years Masters Tickets - ONE ticket per application!!!
Good luck - you'll need it - and you'll need a pile of CASH!!!!!! Wouldn't you do the same thing if YOU owned the place???
And one more thing - just to show you who's running the Masters:
1) Whoever televises the Masters each year - MUST agree to only 6 minutes per hour for commercials! People tune in to see golf - not commercials!!!
2) EVERYBODY that has worked there - LOVED it - it was a great experience.
3) EVERYBODY that has worked there KNEW in December - that Tiger Woods would play there this year - it is the only golf event with world wide appeal - and they completely control who gets in to see the Masters tournament. (The tournament is ALWAYS held - the week the azaleas bloom!!) And if a reporter starts asking too many questions about non-golf events - they (and their publication) may be excused from the Masters for up to 10 years!!! So NO magazine will send an idiot reporter to start asking Tiger about his affairs!!! And Tiger knows this – so why no start there!!!!
Really - at Augusta National - in late March and early April - it is all about the golf - and only the golf - and NOBODY is bigger than the game of golf itself!!!!
A ticket to The Masters - is the hardest ticket to get on the planet!!! Be patient - MAYBE you'll get one in your lifetime!!!!!!
Also - by course rules - The President and Vice President of the United States can play whenever they want - except for the 4 weeks preceding the Masters - and of course - the week of the Masters Tournament!!!
You cannot buy your way into Augusta National - although all current members (you cannot get their membership list - few can even SEE it!) are at least multimillionaires - if not billionaires!!! (NO - Bill Gates is NOT a member!) Today, memberships are NOT transferrable - when you die - your membership expires (there are a few transferrable memberships left from the old guard (guys that joined 1930 - 1960)!!! They have had a membership list TWICE that I know of - in the 1970's and the 1990's but shut it down quickly - both times! They have a list of about 500 people waiting for a membership. That usually takes AT LEAST 20 years on the waiting list - if ever!!
If you ever get the chance - Augusta National is a must see - well worth it!!!! They used to allow people to walk the course (not play golf - just walk the course) for $50 - that was back in the 1980's! I don't think they do that anymore.
I worked there for 3 summers - 1973 - 1974 - 1975 - while in college (Georgia Tech in Atlanta) and all the rumors you hear about free golf are FALSE!!!!!!! The only way to play free golf - is to be with a member!!!! And trust me on this one - when you work there - you WORK - I left a good 50 gallons of sweat there - and it was the most loved job I've ever had!!!!!
Augusta National no longer sells tickets for the Masters Week events - they release the number of tickets to be sold to outlets - and that number is a VERY tightly held secret. I'd guess MAYBE 4,000 per day will get a badge (you get a badge - which you MUST wear - you do not get a paper ticket). And tickets today (2010) run about $2,500 per day (Thursday/Friday) - and Saturday/Sunday tickets about $4,000 per day. To get the entire week (Monday/Tuesday/Wednesday practice and the Par 3 tourney - rounds are sold by Augusta) from a broker - usually includes a close hotel room or cabin and transportation - and usually run about $25,000 to (I've seen them for) $150,000 for the entire week. EVERY YEAR - they sellout completely - and there are no exceptions - NEVER!!!!
You can get Master Tickets!!!!!!!! They go on sale every June for the next years April Masters! Write to the Masters in Augusta - you will be put on their list and a lottery is held for NEXT years Masters Tickets - ONE ticket per application!!!
Good luck - you'll need it - and you'll need a pile of CASH!!!!!! Wouldn't you do the same thing if YOU owned the place???
And one more thing - just to show you who's running the Masters:
1) Whoever televises the Masters each year - MUST agree to only 6 minutes per hour for commercials! People tune in to see golf - not commercials!!!
2) EVERYBODY that has worked there - LOVED it - it was a great experience.
3) EVERYBODY that has worked there KNEW in December - that Tiger Woods would play there this year - it is the only golf event with world wide appeal - and they completely control who gets in to see the Masters tournament. (The tournament is ALWAYS held - the week the azaleas bloom!!) And if a reporter starts asking too many questions about non-golf events - they (and their publication) may be excused from the Masters for up to 10 years!!! So NO magazine will send an idiot reporter to start asking Tiger about his affairs!!! And Tiger knows this – so why no start there!!!!
Really - at Augusta National - in late March and early April - it is all about the golf - and only the golf - and NOBODY is bigger than the game of golf itself!!!!
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There is no accounting for taste -- I prefer the landscape and scenery of the old Scottish courses myself.
I have a friend who was a Turf Grass Management major at ISU and he was an intern at Augusta. He said that he got to play one round of golf during his six month internship. He also told me that he knew someone who got laid on the 12th green one night. That would be pretty sweet!
AlantaJeff,
The only thing I dis-agree about are the practice rounds. The practice rounds at least for me have been fairly accessible. We went in 2000 and have had 2 chances since to go again. The practice round ticket for me in 2000 was $75 per day. The concessions at the Masters were also very reasonable $1-2 for a pop and the same for a pimento spread sandwich, much less then the $7-9 pop and burgers at the PGA Championship event I went to last year.
If you have a passion for the Game of Golf, it is a must see, looks more spectacular in person then even in HD on tv....
The only thing I dis-agree about are the practice rounds. The practice rounds at least for me have been fairly accessible. We went in 2000 and have had 2 chances since to go again. The practice round ticket for me in 2000 was $75 per day. The concessions at the Masters were also very reasonable $1-2 for a pop and the same for a pimento spread sandwich, much less then the $7-9 pop and burgers at the PGA Championship event I went to last year.
If you have a passion for the Game of Golf, it is a must see, looks more spectacular in person then even in HD on tv....
If you really think that - then they don't want you there anyhow!! And odds are, if you played the course - you'd be pretty much alone - with your party anyhow!!! This is Augusta National, son - not your cheap pay-per-round muni!!!!! If you got the chance to play - you'd be there with new shoes and new clubs - freshly showered - and 2 hours early!!! And you damn well know it!!!!!
:biglaugh:
:biglaugh:
I know people that have been to the tournament and have played it as well and this is exactly what they have said. I, unfortunately, have neither been to the tournament or played the course.
I think Bethpage is a public course. I also think Pebble Beach is as well. Is that not correct?
Yes, Both of those are Public Courses. Green fees are around $3-500 Dollars at Pebble Beach. Bethpage is very reasonable $75-100 depending upon availablity, I believe they take open 1st come/ 1st served each day for a limited number, some have sleep in their cars overnight to get one of those spots.
You support d-bags all of the time just by buying stuff. You might as well enjoy it while you are at it.
While public, I thought you had to have a certain USGA handicap to play the Black Course. They don't let hacks play it...just too damn hard and it would bring play to a halt. I could be wrong.
My friends brother intern at Augusta so at the end of the internship my friend and his brother got to play it ... he says it is awesome and likes to remind me that he got to play there.
PB is the most beautiful course I have ever seen. And I only saw it from a few hundred yards away.
I played BPB back in 2002. They didn't ask to see any of our handicap's but our group was there with Reebok, about 4 weeks before the Open.
I have not played St. Andrews, but I do believe you have to be 18 or lower to play (raised from 12.5), and they do check, from what I heard. Most of the BO courses require Handicap Certification or they can deny play. Several of them have limits in the 18-24 range like St. Andrews.
I have played Pebble Twice, once in decent weather, and once in bad weather. All I can say is that the 18th green in real life is about half the size that it appears on TV. The first time I played it, I spent so much time taking in the scenery, I played like crap. The second time I played it, 17 was unreachable in 1 due to about a 3 club head wind, and back green pin placement.
I have also been fortunate enough to play Castle Pines, Sawgrass, Westchester, Shadow Creek, and Olympic Club. Was invited to play Baltusrol, Shinnecock, and Inverness, and had to regrettably decline.
Different line of work now, so the days of playing most of those places are on hold now.
I have never even thought about playing Augusta. Although it would be kind of fun to hack a big beaver pelt in the middle of a fairway the day before the Masters......
I have not played St. Andrews, but I do believe you have to be 18 or lower to play (raised from 12.5), and they do check, from what I heard. Most of the BO courses require Handicap Certification or they can deny play. Several of them have limits in the 18-24 range like St. Andrews.
I have played Pebble Twice, once in decent weather, and once in bad weather. All I can say is that the 18th green in real life is about half the size that it appears on TV. The first time I played it, I spent so much time taking in the scenery, I played like crap. The second time I played it, 17 was unreachable in 1 due to about a 3 club head wind, and back green pin placement.
I have also been fortunate enough to play Castle Pines, Sawgrass, Westchester, Shadow Creek, and Olympic Club. Was invited to play Baltusrol, Shinnecock, and Inverness, and had to regrettably decline.
Different line of work now, so the days of playing most of those places are on hold now.
I have never even thought about playing Augusta. Although it would be kind of fun to hack a big beaver pelt in the middle of a fairway the day before the Masters......
