Ive been there a few times and you have to get to the course at 5am to get good parking spots.

Stayed in Aiken, SC. Got to gates by 630. Definitely back 9 is awesome. I felt that the green at 14 was amazing. 14 is an underrated hole at Augusta

Absolutely amazing. I love your real take on your experience.

My dad and I went on Sunday in 2018. We stayed in Aiken, SC, so we were fairly close to ANGC. We still got up extremely early and were waiting in line when the gates opened. We went straight to the gift shop and only had to wait

Thanks for sharing this! For those of us who have never been, hearing all the details is super interesting! We have the Waste Management here in PHX which is a Zoo now, compared to the old days.

Loved this review. One of the few that are not based on hyped fanboys. Real experience combined with down-to-earth judgement.

I went on the monday practice day. got to the parking at 5.30am. drove straight in. absolutely no traffic issues. walked to front of the line and was in line by 5.45am. the gates actually open at 7, not 8 for the merchandise tent. went straight into merchandise tent, no line, went and got picture taken at clubhouse for free and had all that done by 9am. Biggest tip - GET THERE EARLY.... u can sleep when u die. get up early. i stayed in madison, between atlanta and augusta.

Thanks for sharing your experience. I just booked a package deal with Roadtrips. One practice round (Tuesday) and one tournament day (Thursday). Fulfilling a bucket list desire. Will be my first time at the tournament, although I have been to Augusta a couple of times in the past and viewed the course from Washington Ave. I'll be flying in from Southern CA so your suggestion to fly to Columbia SC is helpful. It was suggested by someone to me that you should hit the souvenir shop later in the day. I have paid a lot of money to do this and my biggest fear is that the weather won't cooperate and the day I have tickets for gets rained out. Did you have that fear. And, I too enter the Masters lottery each year but have yet to win. Congrats.

Great video! As others have said, the south gate is definitely the better (less crowded) entrance. The corporate hospitality area at the south gate is called Berckman's Place. Here are some other pointers that you didn't mention that I think are worth noting for first timers: 1. The bathrooms are VERY clean and there are plenty around the course. No port-a-potties. The bathrooms all have attendants directing traffic and who are constantly cleaning. 2. No cell phones allowed on the course, but you CAN bring a digital camera during practice rounds (as you demonstrated with photos from your brother). 3. If you can get there early, each of the two main gift shops has a free bag check, so you can store your purchased stuff and don't have to go back to your car. But the slots fill up quickly. 4. The two main gift shops also each have a shipping counter where you can pay to have your merch shipped home if you want. 5. There are some smaller merchandise stands out on the course (ex. one at Amen Corner, one next to the 18th fairway) that have a limited supply of gear- so if all you're looking for is a hat or a sleeve of Masters-branded Pro V1s, buy it there and save yourself time in line at one of the big shops. And finally- 6. You can get a commemorative photo taken in front of the clubhouse for free and the club will email it to you. Again, the line fills up QUICKLY for this, however. Walk around the east end of the clubhouse to the left of the Eisenhower cabin (overlooks the putting green, has an eagle on it) towards the Par 3 course and you'll see the line.

Great commentary and we appreciate your honest feedback. I went for the first time this year for the Tuesday practice round. We left Atlanta that morning at 3am. We parked yards from north gate and got in line at 5:30a. There were probably around 75 people in line ahead of us. The iron gates of the north gate were opened at 6am and we were ushered to the next holding spot under the north entrance arch. At 7am, the ticketing gates opened and we went straight to the pro shop with no line. We used the merchandise check-in service to hold our purchases so we didn’t have to carry our stuff all day. After finishing at the check-in office at 8am, we proceeded to founders circle for our free picture. The picture wait was minimal and we were done by 8:15a to get breakfast then explore the course. Everything was so seamless that I would recommend our plan to friends in the future.

Great review. As for the parking, you get what you pay for. My son and i went to the Ryder Cup at Medinah in Chicago. We too wanted to get to the Club early and take advantage of free parking which was at a horse racing parking lot a 15-20 minute bus ride from Medinah. Anyway we got on the bus and were let off right in front at the entrance gate to get in, which was great. However, as we were riding through the residential neighborhood that surrounds Medinah, we noticed that residents were offering parking on their property, including a row of houses literally across the street from Medinah that were offering parking for $25 per vehicle. As quickly and conveniently as our bus ride from the Racing Track was we certainly would've paid $25 to park across the street from the Course. Moral of the story is that sometimes it's worth it to pay a reasonable amount for a huge upgrade when free parking and transportation are being offered. Most of the crowd will do the free thing, especially if it's not too inconvenient.

Was there in 2019 on Wed.....first thing we did was park our chairs/seats on the tee of 5 th par 3 hole. We went back at noon after walking the big course and then watched all the players come through...ten feet away....awesome!

Great video

First of all, the gates open at 8 am. You need to be there between EARLY !!!!!!! We also we there on Wednesday and we go there at 5:45 a.m. and it was already crowded. If you get drawn again get there EARLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Also if you want to get in the Gift Shop go when you come in, take your stuff back to your car then you are good till you leave. We waited in line 45 minutes and the line moved really quick. I remember my first time and it was unreal. Augusta National is an awesome place for sure !!!!!!! Concessions are really quality food and extremely inexpensive.

Great video. It confirms my fear that when I enter the lottery each year, if I win, it's just not gonna be an easy trip...

20 bucks you can park by Kroger. If you've already paid that much, why not park right across from the gate.

Thanks for the video. Sounds like when I went to the US Open at Oakmont in 2016. It was a miserable madhouse. Just awful. I go to the API and Valspar each year and love them. The USGA sold waaaaaaaay too many tickets.

Great insights, don’t you think lengthening 13 removed a lot of the excitement as few attempt it in 2 now?

Good review, great insight for people who never have been. I know you drove from Atlanta but you need to be at the gates between 5AM and 6AM.

Got an airbnb both times - not sure if you looked - but it was perfect. 8am is WAY too late to start this process. We were on the road at 6:15

He is correct staying at Atlanta- we got a good hotel for $90/night. Go to bed at 9 or 10, get up at 4 with coffee, drive to Augusta, get in by 6:30-7am. This is worth it, because you avoid spending $400/night in Augusta (unless you are rich of course).

Is she was my first trip after applying for nearly 20 years it seemed. We stayed in an Airbnb about 25 minutes outside of the Augusta. We ended up leaving at 6:30 and we're in the lot by 7:00. I guess if you get there soon enough you wouldn't have had an issue parking. We only waited about 5 minutes to get into the lot. Even though we got there early there was still an hour plus wait to for the gift shop. Since we got there right when Gates opened it didn't seem to take away from the day. Overall was a fantastic experience and there isn't one bad thing I can say about the trip or the staff at Augusta national. We did meet up with a couple that was some sort of " status.". We chatted with them for a while and they ended up bringing my wife and I the Azalea drink. It was good but for the hype around it, it wasn't anything special.

I didn’t go this year because I might play there this fall

When you entered the lottery did you enter for all days or just Wednesday?

the traffic part is unfortunate but 8, 9am arrival is not nearly early enough

In my experience, you're better off figuring out how to get in off Berckmans road, rather than getting in all that traffic on Washington Road. There's a "back" gate that walks you past Berckmans place along the trees that line the 5th fairway. There's a smaller, but still fully stocked golf shop there. I have never waited more than 5 minutes to get in. Do your shopping early and leave your stuff in the free checkstand, pick it up on the way out. Now you are right near 16, 15 and Amen corner. When you leave in the afternoon you'll be walking down hill instead of up.

We got to north lot at 7:00am and waited 10 minutes. Get there earlier

Arrive in the South lot and plan to get there at 7am latest not 8am ... you'll save a headache from the traffic

Wait you went to the masters?!

Pro tip. Fly into Charlotte. Drive the hour south and stay in Columbia, SC. 1 hr drive from Columbia to Augusta

If I'm there and you're there, let me know when you're lighting up your cigars, and I'll be on the other side of the course!! 🤢😁

I’ve been 5 times and your review is exactly the opposite of a good plan….gotta get an Airbnb closer to the course, get there earlier, don’t go to the golf shop first thing….all rookie mistakes, do some research beforehand my man

If and when I go it will be by myself and I’ll rent a car and just sleep in it somewhere

This is contrary to everything I’ve always heard.

I went on wendsday this year as well. We stayed in columbia which made it easy. We got to the parking lot at 530 am. And had no issue. We actually got gnomes and we all decided to keep them. I was disappointed that azaleas arent available to everyone..i had heard so much about them i was really looking forward to having one there. Overall great experience..sitting and watching them skip balls at the 16th was the highlight for us.