Masters tickets aren't impossible to find, but they are among the toughest tickets in all of sports to get. And if you are able to find Masters tickets, it will require a lot of money - perhaps even thousands of dollars - to purchase one.
Tickets to tournament days (rounds one through four) have not been available from the Masters Tournament directly to the general public since 1972. That year, Augusta National Golf Club opened a waiting list, but due to demand the waiting list itself had to be closed in 1978.
Twenty-two years later, in the year 2000, a new waiting list was opened. But it is now also closed. There simply is no way to get badges for tournament days directly from the tournament.
There are options, however; some of them relying on luck and all of them requiring a good bankroll. The options are much more limited for tournament days, but open up a bit for passes to Masters practice days.
Masters badges are "among the most coveted tickets for any event, sporting or otherwise," according to Brian Talbot. Talbot should know - he works for a ticket broker, TickCo Premium Seating."From my experience, it's safe to say these are probably the toughest tickets to get in the world," Talbot said, "with Super Bowl tickets running a close second, depending on which teams make it and where the Super Bowl is hosted."
So what options exist for golf fans desperate to attend The Masters during tournament play? Ticket brokers are the easiest route, since many ticket brokers have been buying tickets from Masters patrons for years. But those tickets are hugely expensive. Talbot said tournament badges at ticket brokers might begin around $1,500, and he's seen prices as high as $12,000 ... for one ticket!
As with any major purchase, shop around among different ticket brokers to see if you can find a good deal (comparitively speaking of course). Talbot says to buy early if you're going the ticket broker route, since brokers have a limited supply (the larger, most established brokers might have 100 tickets available, Talbot said, while smaller brokers may have only one or two).
The auction giant eBay is another option, although you're more likely to find practice tickets than tournament tickets that way.
And you can always simply show up outside the Augusta National gates and hope to get lucky with a scalper.
"Ticket scalping was legalized in 2001 by the Georgia Legislature so long as the sale occurs at least 1,500 feet away from the event site (be aware that this provision is rigidly enforced)," said Dr. Melissa Stöppler, an Augusta, Ga., resident and formerly About.com's Stress Management Guide. "The law does not restrict the prices of scalped tickets as long as they are sold by a licensed ticket broker. In years past, fraudulent tickets have been discovered, so be careful when buying."
Tickets to Masters practice days are much easier to come by than tournament badges, although you'll still need a little luck and a lot of cash.Augusta resident Stöppler said that practice tickets usually run in the mid-$200-range per ticket. And practice tickets are more readily available through brokers and on eBay.
However, Masters practice tickets are actually still available for purchase by the general public from The Masters itself. A limited number of practice tickets are sold in advance by The Masters, by application only. Whether you get tickets - and how many you get - is the result of a random allocation among all applicants.
Applications for the next year's Masters are usually mailed around mid-year (in June for the following April's tournament, for example) to those who applied the previous year. But if you haven't applied previously, you can get yourself onto the list by mailing a request.
Send your request, including your name, address, daytime telephone number and last four digits of your Social Security Number, to:
Masters Tournament
Practice Rounds
PO Box 2047
Augusta, GA 30903-2047
Return to The Masters on About.com
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