A Short History of the Masters Ticket Lottery
Did you get lucky? Neither did I, nor did anyone else I know (except one buddy’s uncle, who says he’ll be taking him with his extra). This is not surprising; of the millions of people who sign up for the Masters ticket lottery, few will actually win tickets to golf’s promised land.
In fact, your chances of winning any single day tournament ticket are roughly 0.55%, according to Dan Killbridge, who did some incredible detective work to come up with those odds for Bookies.com.
Masters Tickets in the Before Times
Practice round tickets gave patrons the chance to see the course and shop for merchandise featuring the iconic Masters logo.
It’s no surprise that a ticket to the Masters has always been a tough score. Getting a $375 Series Badge meant you either knew somebody, were somebody, or were willing to pay somebody upwards of $2,000 on the secondary market (which Augusta National Golf Club notoriously prohibits and actively enforces).
But back in the glory days, savvy patrons knew the best way to see a tournament round was to show up early and buy a Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday practice ticket then hang around Augusta hoping for a miracle. In fact, practice round tickets were easy to get until 1995, and they were available in unlimited quantities.
For most folks, it was their only way on the grounds, and you wouldn’t hear any complaints; practice rounds offered a certain type of access. You could see more golfers, smell the azaleas, shop for Masters merchandise and enjoy those terrifically low Masters food prices. Demand surged.
As word spread about this Masters backdoor, real numbers started to take advantage of the practice round purchase. Travel agents and service providers fueled a mini-market, bringing more and more early-week patrons to Augusta each April, and the crowds surged.
When Monday of the 1994 Masters rolled around, 25 private jets (up from 3 the prior year) and record breaking crowds swarmed the humble infrastructure of Augusta. Practice round attendance that year exceeded 80k, and an increasingly large gathering of friends overwhelmed the infrastructure.
The ANGC responded with the Masters Ticket Lottery, replacing the practice round free-for-all with 50,000 daily ticket allotment. No longer could hopeful patrons purchase tickets to heaven at the gates of Augusta.
While the odds of winning the Masters Ticket Lottery are certainly not in your favor, we will continue to enter each June and await that supreme tease of an email at the end of July. And why wouldn’t you? There is no better way to experience Augusta National Golf Club than in person, and it’s a bucket list event for even the most well-traveled golfer. Just don’t get your hopes up…too much.
