What would you pay to play Augusta National?

[Gerald]

About $100 sound a fair price to me, Okay it is a nice course, a very nice one indeed, but I see no point paying a fortune ...... golf is for the game, for the sport  and for the fun ...... nothing to do with spending big bucks for playing this or that course.......... I think my approach will bring me closer to ever playing there, than the guy wanting to donate a (small) fortune to play there.......

[Lefty-Golfer]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

This.  It doesn't matter how nice the course is.  If I don't have the skills to handle it, then it's not going to be much fun.

Sometimes in life there is much more to it then just being able to handle it...if you get the chance it just needs to be taken if at all possible. I would play it just to say i have done it and to able to watch the masters then next with a frame of reference for what they are attempting. Not to mention i don't believe it would be that hard of a course....putting would have its problems for sure.

Originally Posted by Gerald

About $100 sound a fair price to me, Okay it is a nice course, a very nice one indeed, but I see no point paying a fortune ...... golf is for the game, for the sport  and for the fun ...... nothing to do with spending big bucks for playing this or that course.......... I think my approach will bring me closer to ever playing there, than the guy wanting to donate a (small) fortune to play there.......

i would beg to differ with this.

[Lofty Lefty]

Kingston Heath in Victoria (where Tiger last won something) charges about AUD$330 for green fees. If you are a member of an affiliated PGA club it comes down to $220.

I voted for $100-$499 on this basis, as I value things comparatively. But with Augusta you get a MASSIVE demand versus supply problem... Like in South Park, the longer you say to people "You can't come" the more they will want to!!

I would pay up to about $400, but I want a caddie, and full access to the club's facilities to somehow get a feel of the entire place.

And I would like to play two rounds there. The first playing 2-ball ambrose with myself, the second round (after seeing the course) with one ball for the score that counts!

[Shorty]

Originally Posted by Gerald

About $100 sound a fair price to me, Okay it is a nice course, a very nice one indeed, but I see no point paying a fortune ...... golf is for the game, for the sport  and for the fun ...... nothing to do with spending big bucks for playing this or that course.......... I think my approach will bring me closer to ever playing there, than the guy wanting to donate a (small) fortune to play there.......

You wouldn't want to see where so much history has been made? The history that inspired so many of us to take up the game and a place where incredible memories are made? A place which has been the setting for so much triumph and heartbreak?  The place which to many golfing fans is a holy place.  You wouldn't want to go and see where Mize made his shot? Where Tiger holed out from on 16.  Wow. I'm an absolute golf nut and may be mad, but I would think that even the most cynical golfer would have a different perspective than yours.

I would pay $2000 just to spend a few hours walking around there and would probably think about the experience every day for the rest of my life.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Shorty

You wouldn't want to see where so much history has been made? The history that inspired so many of us to take up the game and a place where incredible memories are made? A place which has been the setting for so much triumph and heartbreak?  The place which to many golfing fans is a holy place.  You wouldn't want to go and see where Mize made his shot? Where Tiger holed out from on 16.  Wow. I'm an absolute golf nut and may be mad, but I would think that even the most cynical golfer would have a different perspective than yours.

I would pay $2000 just to spend a few hours walking around there and would probably think about the experience every day for the rest of my life.

It's your money.  I'd be thinking about the $2000 for a long time. That's 2 years of real actual golf right there.

I've enjoyed some great sporting events in my life. In person and on television. Once the athletes go home, the stadium is just bricks and mortar, or in this case just grass and dirt. It's a great track, but being there and walking the grounds wouldn't make me feel any more connected to those players and those moments than I did while reading about it or watching it on TV. Whatever.

[Fourputt]

Originally Posted by Shorty

You wouldn't want to see where so much history has been made? The history that inspired so many of us to take up the game and a place where incredible memories are made? A place which has been the setting for so much triumph and heartbreak?  The place which to many golfing fans is a holy place.  You wouldn't want to go and see where Mize made his shot? Where Tiger holed out from on 16.  Wow. I'm an absolute golf nut and may be mad, but I would think that even the most cynical golfer would have a different perspective than yours.

I would pay $2000 just to spend a few hours walking around there and would probably think about the experience every day for the rest of my life.

Mostly no to all of this.  I'm just not that enamored with sports in general.  It's entertainment, it isn't history.  Gettysburg battlefield is history.  The Roman Colliseum is history.  Omaha Beach is history.  The Acropolis is history.  Sport is just sport, and not really worthy of that kind of awe or reverence.  I love the game - I love the history and tradition of golf; and I'm even a bit fanatical about the rules of the game.  As games go it's at the top of my list, but in the end it's still just a game.

If you want to steep yourself in the history of golf, then the only places that really count are in Scotland.  I'd pay more to play The Old Course than I would to play Augusta, but I wouldn't break the bank for either of them.  Just my opinion.

[sean_miller]

Originally Posted by Fourputt

Mostly no to all of this.  I'm just not that enamored with sports in general.  It's entertainment, it isn't history.  Gettysburg battlefield is history.  The Roman Colliseum is history.  Omaha Beach is history.  The Acropolis is history.  Sport is just sport, and not really worthy of that kind of awe or reverence.  I love the game - I love the history and tradition of golf; and I'm even a bit fanatical about the rules of the game.  As games go it's at the top of my list, but in the end it's still just a game.

If you want to steep yourself in the history of golf, then the only places that really count are in Scotland.  I'd pay more to play The Old Course than I would to play Augusta, but I wouldn't break the bank for either of them.  Just my opinion.

I should add a disclaimer on my thoughts - similar to yours - if I was able to use the tools the great players used and have their caddy carry my bag, then yeah I'd feel connected to the place. I like equipment. Being there and using the iron Mize used to knock out Norman or the putter that Faldo used on #11. That would be kind of cool.

[Stretch]

I would cheerfully jack off a horse for a chance to play at Augusta.

Get Mike Rowe on the phone Golf Channel, you've found your next hit show.

[jwrussell]

I think there's a bit too much preoccupation with the dollar amounts on here.  We all have a different level of means.  Some on here, I'm sure, could drop a few grand to play Augusta and not bat an eyelash.  For others, that kind of cash is unrealistic without going into hock.  I chose the up to $500 level because I could figure out a way to scratch together that kind of cash if such an opportunity presented itself.  If I had just won the Powerball last week for $300+ Million, or whatever it was, I would probably be willing to pay a heck of a lot more.  It's kind of like all of the big houses out on the water around Clearwater that the guides gave us stats on when I took some family out on one of the Dolphin Tours recently.  I can't imagine spending the kind of money necessary to own one of those houses...but then again, I don't have anywhere near the means to do so either.

[Lefty-Golfer]

Originally Posted by jwrussell

I think there's a bit too much preoccupation with the dollar amounts on here.  We all have a different level of means.  Some on here, I'm sure, could drop a few grand to play Augusta and not bat an eyelash.  For others, that kind of cash is unrealistic without going into hock.  I chose the up to $500 level because I could figure out a way to scratch together that kind of cash if such an opportunity presented itself.  If I had just won the Powerball last week for $300+ Million, or whatever it was, I would probably be willing to pay a heck of a lot more.  It's kind of like all of the big houses out on the water around Clearwater that the guides gave us stats on when I took some family out on one of the Dolphin Tours recently.  I can't imagine spending the kind of money necessary to own one of those houses...but then again, I don't have anywhere near the means to do so either.

well said

[oberscrc]

$2000 easy...to walk the same fairways (and pine straw) as Jones, Nicklaus, Palmer, Woods, Phil, etc., that's priceless.

[Lefty-Golfer]

The more i think about it i spent 1,600 to play pinehurst 2 (clients trip my treat) and another 400 in the proshop....and can't wait to do it again. Change my vote to the 5k plus...

[i-Guy]

As I read through the threads I wondered how many of the posters have actually set foot on the grounds at Augusta National?

I wonder if that would make a difference in how much they would pay if they were ever fortunate enough to have the chance to play there because since I have been there, I have a totally different perspective then I did before I went...it truly is a special place!

I have been there twice 2009 and 2011 (both for Sunday's round) and I know that I would pay quite a bit to play this course and think about all the hisotry made here....like the back nine charge by Jack in 1986.  Also like one other poster said it would have to be 36 holes as I would like to play the first 18 (while in awe that I am actually playing there) to get my perspective of the nuances of the course that you cannot see or feel as a patron...then I would want to try to post a score!

[ggolokin]

recreate tigers chip in on 16  with the crowds and all... that would be something special

[Losttsol]

I would like to play it, but sure as heck not from the tee boxes the pros use.  That would get ugly quick.  I'd think $600-$800 would be a fair price to play that course.  I think if I had the choice though, I'd rather watch the pros play live on Sunday at the Masters instead of me hacking it up on a Monday afternoon in August.

[jshots]

I would love to play it but I don't think I would every pay to play it. There is something about buying your way into playing Augusta that doesn't seem right.

[Bigtank]

I have been fortunate enough to play the course twice.  First off, I have the oppotunity to play some really storied locations, but there was something really amazing about hitting a golf shot there.  i have been going to the Master's Tournament for 30 years, but playing was Amazing.

Best example i can think of is I have been to some amazing churches (National Cathedral, Notre Dame and Westminster Abby) but there is something about the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter's in Vatican City.

I still have both scorecards framed at my parents house!

[GaijinGolfer]

$100-$499.  Its a great course but its not at the top of my list of courses that I would pay a lot of money to play.