That first time. Anyone lucky enough to have attended the Masters Tournament remembers the initial sensory overload. The unexpected vastness of the place. Its surreal lushness and beauty. The color. The intoxicating (unless you’re allergy-prone) bouquet of springtime flora. The ubiquitous birdsong, real or (rumored to be) prerecorded.
TV doesn’t prepare you for something else about Augusta National: its intimacy. Right. Vast and intimate. Remarkably so. The area immediately surrounding the pristinely white ANGC clubhouse is a magnificent mash-up of tee boxes (Nos. 1 and 10), greens (Nos. 9 and 18), historic buildings, bustling patrons, a cocktail outpost and buzz.
Put it this way: It’s a very short journey from jarring the winning putt on the 18th green to being green-jacketed (and Jim Nantz-ed) in Butler Cabin. On the chance it happens to you some day — or if you just want a sense of being there — allow us to show you around a bit.
[Map key/explainer located below photo.]
A. MAGNOLIA LANE. This is where you enter nirvana — if you’re a member or a player. Masters patrons are funneled through parking area gates.
B. FOUNDERS CIRCLE. (See above.) Many, many photos are taken here during practice rounds. Thursday through Sunday, cameras throughout ANGC are tech non grata.
C. ANGC MEMBERS’ DRIVING RANGE. Pretty sweet… but it’s not E.
D. PLAYERS’ PARKING LOT. Bumper-to-bumper Mercedes courtesy cars. “The best or nothing,” right? A special past champions’ parking lot is nestled among the trees above letters J and K.
E. TOURNAMENT PRACTICE RANGE. Eighteen acres in all. Four hundred yards deep. State of the art. As if these guys really even need the practice.
F. MEDIA CENTER. The most luxurious press digs in all of sports. Seriously. Four Seasons-like. Plus, all the pimento-cheese and (some say even tastier) chicken sandwiches you can eat. Win!
G. GREEN 38. So secretive, if we told you we’d have to… Okay, okay! It’s a hidden green tucked next to the golf course’s multiple maintenance sheds — for groundscrew putt-offs or sod experiments… who knows?
H. THE GOLF SHOP. Land of a thousand logoed golf shirts and hats — and a very select number of gnomes.
I. ENTRANCE TO THE COURSE. This is where you’ll first go, “Holy Bobby Jones, I’m at the freakin’ Masters!”
J. ANGC MEMBERS’ PRO SHOP. Sign in here — if you own an emerald green club coat.
K. PLAYERS’ LOCKER ROOM. Which, during Masters week, sports a pretty lavish buffet and some security-guard muscle.
L. THE TREE. Provides shade — and the ultimate setting for meetups and dealmaking.
M. CROW’S NEST/CLUBHOUSE/CHAMPIONS LOCKER ROOM. Cozy quarters for each year’s Masters amateurs are perched above the Champions Locker Room and the main clubhouse, both of which are as exquisitely appointed as you’d imagine.
N. THE TERRACE. Where you’ll drink in the crowd and many head-spinning Azaleas — the fruity cocktail, not the fragrant flower.
O. BUTLER CABIN. The interior? Meh. The historic moments? Indelible.
P. PRACTICE PUTTING GREEN. The last warm-up before go time.
Q. EISENHOWER CABIN. Digs for Dwight, whose lust for presidential golf rivaled The Donald’s.
R. PAR 3 COURSE. On Wednesday afternoon of Masters week, all the action (and all the fun) is found right here.
S. NO. 1 TEE. Those ceremonial first tee shots at dewy dawn? This tournament gets going with a wake-up call for every golfer. No. 1 is Augusta National’s sixth hardest hole.
T. NO. 18 GREEN. Gentle Ben doubled over with emotion, Lefty’s little leap, Tiger five-times triumphant in red. The images are seared into our collective memory. The home hole of all home holes? Maybe. But the Old Course might have something to say about that.
U. EXCLUSIVE MASTERS WEEK HANGOUT. Tucked in down by the 7th tee. Does membership at ANGC have its privileges? OMG.
V. BERCKMANS PLACE. Eighty thousand square feet of what has been called the world’s best sports bar. If you can get in.
W. RAE’S CREEK. Ball repository.
X., Y., Z. AMEN CORNER. One word: pray.
