Why does Augusta National Golf Club look so perfect? How is the merchandise shop built like a stately home? Why is a press building worth multi-millions worth having for two weeks a year?
The investment at the Masters and the golf course is vast. Each fairway and green is a carpet, you knew that already. You could eat your dinner from them. And whoever wins the Green Jacket now receives $4.2 million, and this won’t decrease in the coming years, either.
Would you like my best guess as to how the club affords all of this? Among other things, it is the merchandise shop. From Tuesday to Sunday, the stretch I have been here for, there have been thousands of patrons queuing for most minutes of the time they have in the gates, looking to grab the most exclusive and prized possessions with the Masters logo that so few golfers possess.
$270 a second is the touted figure that the merchandise shop takes. When one patron told me this as we chinwagged on the side of the 14th hole, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. I thought it might be more, if anything.
This astronomic income is not least helped by the variety of items in there. You have T-shirts, quarter-zips, hoodies, jumpers, hats, gloves, and fleeces.
But you also have the miscellaneous items – the little pieces that draw you in as you walk through the checkout, similar to the way Tesco lines up chewing gum and paracetamol at the final stage of your transaction.
There are belts, flasks, glasses, sunglasses, duffle bags, wallets and coasters, too. And the Masters gnome. You can read about the gnomes here. There are supposedly only a thousand made available a day, which means well over a thousand children will be heartbroken when their parents discover they are all gone by 9 am.
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I did my shift in the shop and, I suspect unlike most people, I actually managed to spend what I could afford, while also fulfilling some requests from home.
But I wanted to find out more about the shop from the patrons themselves – some visiting the golf course for the first time and some for the 20th time. Here is what they said were the best Masters merch items:
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Best Masters merchandise, so say the patrons at Augusta National
“All the T-shirts are so good. There’s about 60 types of them!” – said Michael from Savannah.
“We haven’t been yet, but we have a long list of things to get for friends and family” – said Kathy from Savannah, who showed me the list. I hope she brought more than one credit card.
“We had to get gnomes to give to the kids. But the general Masters T-shirts are good, and the hats” – said Carey from Augusta. Those gnomes sure do cause a stir here at the Masters.
“I love the Tervis cups! Every year I want a new Tervis cup, and a hat too” – said Miranda from North Carolina.
“The best thing about the shop is being able to get stuff for other people. It’s the altruistic side I like” – said Tim from Washington D.C. That’s all well and good Tim, but get in there and get yourself something now.
“The slim can coozies. I love the slim can koozies” – said Maria from Augusta.
“I really liked those light hoodies they have in the shop – but I don’t need anything anymore!” – said Brian from Chambers.
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“During the first time I came, I bought a flag and a vest, but this time. I’ll make sure to get a hat” – said Glen from Charlotte.
“The hoodies are great. I know it’s the summer, but they’ll be great in the winter” – said Joseph from Alabama.
“We got the gnomes this year to take home to the ladies” – said Josh from Iowa.
NOW READ: What the patrons at Augusta really think about the Masters
NOW READ: Meet the Augusta member who plays in the Masters
What is the best Masters merchandise to you? Which item on this best Masters merchandise list do you like the most? Tell us on X!
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