How I spent $250 in the Masters Shop (without buying a gnome)

It is as much of a rite of passage as Amen Corner these days on your pilgrimage to The Masters.

After all, Augusta National Golf Club has not only nailed becoming the most beautiful setting in golf – it’s also its most staggeringly lucrative business.

Indeed, the retail Disneyland that is the Golf Shop makes an estimated $70million in merch sales on Masters week. That’s $10million every day and $1million for every hour the place is open.

The numbers at first seem incomprehensible, but when you visit it’s clear to see why.

Before 8am, when I set out for my first walk around Amen Corner, the queue had extended to 80 minutes and was growing.

For most people, the course can wait. There are gnomes to flip and souvenirs to load up on.

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So, deciding that wasn’t the best use of my Masters Tuesday, I returned later in the afternoon when the queues had dissipated and the patrons had finally taken to the course.

When you do eventually get inside the shop, you are met with quite the scene. The shrewdness of the operation is such that nothing is ever out of stock, yet for some reason, it still feels like everyone in such an impulsive hurry.

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From candles to dog bowls, jigsaws to salt and pepper shakers, the patrons feel obligated to swipe from the shelves at anything with a Masters logo on it. It’s hard not to get swept along in the chaos.

Luckily on this occasion, I managed to show some level of restraint. I had a tentative shopping list – and for now – have stuck to it. The problem, of course, is that it’s only Wednesday and I’m already being lured back in.

I’m already jealous, for example, of my colleague Michael McEwan’s caddie boilersuit-themed T-shirt which I missed on the first loop round.

Anyway, here’s where $250 has got me so far. And no, I didn’t buy the gnome.

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Green Coffee Mug – $18 

Tri Fold Green Golf Towel – $20

Masters Tech Navy 1/4 Zip – $125

Masters Ball Markers (Pack of Four) – $22

Masters Commemorative Caps x2 – $68

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TOTAL: $253

Ben Parsons is the Senior Writer at bunkered and is the man to come to for all of the latest news, across both the professional and amateur games. Formerly of The Mirror and Press Association, he is a member at Halifax Golf Club and is a long-suffering fan of both Manchester United and the Wales rugby team.