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Masters Golf Tournament:Each year in the first week of April, one of the most prestigious golf tournaments in the world is held at the Augusta National Golf club in Augusta, Georgia. It's called the Masters and it was first held in 1934. One of the original hosts of the tournament was Bobby Jones who did actually play in the event several times but never won. Great champions of the Masters have included Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson, Ben Hogan, Arnold Palmer, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. The winner takes the coveted Green Jacket that is presented by the previous years winner in an elaborate ceremony. Tiger Woods holds the 72 hole scoring record at Augusta, but Jack Nicklaus won 6 Masters with his last victory coming when he was 46 years old. Most likely Tiger Woods will catch Jack not only at the Masters for most wins, but Tiger will also win the most "Majors" before he is done with professional golf. The uniqueness of the Masters is that the field is by invite or qualifying only and the event is very hard to get tickets (noted below).
Masters Tickets:Tickets are not easy to get to the Masters golf tournament, in fact they are nearly impossible to get your hands on. Sure you can go through some ticket brokers that charge $800/ticket, but finding reasonably priced tickets (even to the practice rounds) is hard. Most years practice round tickets sell out way ahead of time. The practice round tickets are sold in limited quantities well in advance and you must apply for them. There are so many applicants wanting tickets, they randomly select a chosen few and the rest of us are left to find other avenues (namely scalpers) for buying tickets. Actual tournament tickets are sold to those on their "patron list" meaning you can forget about it. They have had waiting lists in past years, but in 2000 they closed all applications for the Tournament or "Series" Badges. What other alternatives are there for tickets? Many, but they will cost you a pretty penny. One such source is going to http://www.tickco.com/sports_golf_masters.htm and checking for availability. Currently practice round tickets start at $205 (general admission) and go up to $400+. If you want single day tickets to the Masters, you are looking at a minimum of $680 (Thursday), $770 (Friday) and the rounds on Saturday and Sunday are even more expensive. Many of the weekend tickets to Augusta are reserved for those that commit to all 4 days of action. Ebay offers some tempting opportunities for a chance to bid on Masters Golf tickets, but definitely beware of who you are sending your $1000's to online. Same goes for sites like Craigslist.org which is more of a local service site, but you will find Masters Tournament tickets listed there as well. I would say the Masters has become to high priced of a tournament with its exclusive background at Augusta National Golf Club. It's really too bad that more tickets aren't available each year at an affordable price.
Location & Hotels:Ok, so you made it past the tickets section (hope you got some). Now, how do you get to Augusta, Georgia. I've driven past the Masters a few times in Augusta and it's certainly not a destination place any other time of year except April. Hidden in the far eastern section of Georgia, Augusta does have an airport Augustaregionalairport.com with several arrivals daily from Atlanta and Charlotte on either Delta or US Airways. If you are not against flying into the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and then driving out to Augusta that is another option. Atlanta-airport.com is their main website and all the major airlines fly into and out of Atlanta daily (it's the busiest airport in the United States). It's about 150 miles from Atlanta to Augusta, so it shouldn't take more than a few hours to drive. Take I-20 East towards Augusta and signs to Augusta National will appear at Georgia Exits 195, 196B and 199. There is a fairly detailed map of the Augusta area HERE. Augusta National Golf Club is located on the corner of Washington and Berckmans Roads and gates open at 8 AM daily. You can park for free if you arrive early enough, otherwise expect to pay a premium parking outside the facility. Keep in mind that Augusta is an otherwise quiet little city when the Masters is not going on so finding a hotel during the tournament time is tough work. You can search on sites like Expedia and Travelocity, but we also recommend looking on Mastershousing.com. on the site you will find homes that are rented out just for the weeks during the Masters Tournament. Augustareservations.com is another site with listings in the Augusta metro region, Aiken (South Carolina), Columbia (SC) and Thomson, Georgia. Book early and save yourself from last minute headaches.
TV Coverage:If worse comes to worse, you can always watch the Masters tournament on regular TV. In yeas past the USA Network shows portions of the early rounds and CBS handles live coverage on Saturday and Sunday. Nothing beats being at a live sporting event for the atmosphere, but no matter how fast you walk or how strategic you are, you will never be able to see coverage on more than a few holes throughout the day at a major event like this. There are strict "flows" of movement around the course that are allowed and traveling from one hole to the next takes time. Sitting in front of the TV set will let you watch all 18 holes right when the action is happening. Plus you don't have to worry about those frequent and sudden thunderstorms that always seem to hit the Georgia area that time year.
Masters Champions:The Masters Golf Tournament recently went over its 70th year and past champions are many. We have tried to include the best champions down below with the years they won:
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