{"id":594576,"date":"2026-04-09T01:14:14","date_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:14:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/594576\/"},"modified":"2026-04-09T01:14:14","modified_gmt":"2026-04-09T01:14:14","slug":"how-i-became-a-shop-a-holic-at-augusta-national-australian-golf-digest","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/594576\/","title":{"rendered":"How I became a shop-a-holic at Augusta National \u2013 Australian Golf Digest"},"content":{"rendered":"

AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 The Masters merchandise demand is very real, and I just experienced it first-hand. This is my third time at Augusta National and outside of the Open Championship it\u2019s the tournament I look forward to working the most, for obvious reasons. Growing up in the England, the Masters was my favorite tournament, but Augusta National always felt like a place I\u2019d never get to, so each time I\u2019m asked to cover the tournament, it\u2019s a \u201cpinch me moment.\u201d<\/p>\n

It\u2019s funny, the more I come back, the more merch requests I get, and this year was no different. I like to get my shopping done and out the way as early as possible, so I can focus on what I\u2019m there to do, cover the Masters. Monday morning at 7:30, I took a stroll from the media center, across the first hole, behind two green, past the famous 16th green all the way up to the South store. It\u2019s about a 20-minute walk, but I figured it might be the quicker option to the larger, but often crowded, North store. But when I made it up the hill, I met what\u2019s best described as a cordial stampede of patrons along with a sign that read \u201cMerchandise store line temporarily paused\u201d with lines exceeding an hour in wait time. News quickly spread and almost simultaneously another queue started to form. It was a line waiting for the real line, crazy scenes for any time of the day, let alone 8 a.m.<\/p>\n

I decided to head back towards the clubhouse, enjoying the walk once again, but this time with less intent, taking in my surroundings and feeling like I was one of few people walking the hallowed grounds as a noticeable crowd started brewing from the main scoreboard area back by the opening hole. <\/p>\n

More Masters stories \"\"\/ Payday at Augusta A brief history of the Masters prize money payout \"\"\/ Gnome-enclature Masters 2026: Chairman is mum on one of Augusta\u2019s most pressing issues\u2014is this the last year of the gnomes? \"\"\/ Golf Digest Logo Undercover: Inside the sprawling Masters merchandise operation <\/p>\n

Cut to later in the day and I decided to try my luck with a colleague at the North store. It\u2019s just a short walk from the media center and we weren\u2019t walking for long before we reached the end of the queue and a different sign this time \u201cWait time 45 minutes from here.\u201d We committed and decided to join the line. Just like waiting for a rollercoaster, the longer the line, the more the anticipation builds, overhearing people ask if there will be a gnome\u2019s left (there weren\u2019t) or \u201chow much do you think they\u2019re making this week?\u201d ($69 \u2013 $80 million)<\/p>\n

Now before I tell you what happened next, I\u2019d like to note that I\u2019m not usually one to spend a lot of money when it comes to clothes, merchandise etc. But It\u2019s hard to explain to buzz you feel inside that shop and the urge to drop $1,000 within minutes, or in my case $1,077. I queued for 45, spent 20 inside and dropped four figures without even thinking about it. The average spend of patrons at The Masters is exactly that, and I guess I am no different. You might be thinking \u201cwhat else could you possibly want to buy your third year in?!\u201d and that\u2019s a fair question, but until you\u2019ve experienced it yourself, I\u2019d like you to hold any judgements, please and thank you. Here\u2019s to another unforgettable week for all golf fans. <\/p>\n

Masters 101: Answering all your frequently asked questions<\/p>\n

How to watch the 2026 Masters<\/p>\n

Power Rankings: Every player in the Masters field, ranked<\/p>\n

Tee times for Round 1 and Round 2<\/p>\n

50 defining Masters Moments, ranked<\/p>\n

The most memorable Rules issues in Masters history<\/p>\n

Every course change ever made at Augusta National<\/p>\n

A brief history of Masters prize money payouts<\/p>\n

15 people who ended up in the Masters penalty box<\/p>\n

The Champions Dinner Tell-All, from those inside the room<\/p>\n

This article was originally published on golfdigest.com<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"AUGUSTA, Ga. \u2014 The Masters merchandise demand is very real, and I just experienced it first-hand. This is…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594577,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[566],"tags":[4225,64,63,755,138747,44,85,76226],"class_list":["post-594576","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-article","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-golf","tag-golf-digest","tag-news","tag-sports","tag-the-loop"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594576","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594576"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594576\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594577"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594576"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594576"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594576"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}