Death, taxes and the Masters gnome being the most sought after item in the Augusta National Golf Shop. Three guarantees in life.
Everywhere you turn this week at The Masters you'll see a lucky patron holding on tightly to their well-dressed garden ornament, which are limited to just one per customer.
The now-iconic Masters gnome wears a new outfit each year and is the hottest item on property once again.
This year's gnome is sporting a pair of white/green saddle shoes, beige slacks, a green belt and a colorful polo shirt decorated with peaches and ice cream sandwiches, all while holding his own ice cream sandwich from the Masters concessions menu.
'One gnome per patron please' is a sign spotted at the entrance of the golf shop, which is a sign that also sits above the mini gnomes that act as salt and pepper pots. There's Masters gnome Christmas tree ornaments as well as a Masters gnome kitchen towel.
The gnome is by far the most popular item in the store according to two attendants I spoke to, who picked the item out without batting an eyelid. The second-most popular item, I asked? The mini gnome, they said immediately.
My experience in the Masters Golf Shop
I spent 40 minutes queueing for the Golf Shop today at Augusta and spent 'just' $390 on items including caps, a headcover, ball markers, pitch forks, playing cards, an azalea-scented candle, tumbler glasses, a pin flag and more.
Like the ticket, food and drink prices, merch in the shop is very reasonably priced and you feel obligated to get as much as you can after queueing so long and knowing that you're in a store full of rare, perhaps once-in-a-lifetime purchases.
The patron before me racked up a bill of over $1,700 and I'd hazard a guess that number is pretty much par for the course. Some patrons buy so much that they get it shipped directly back to their home, while there's also a service to store it for the day to allow you to enjoy the golf hands free and come back to pick your bags up on your way out.
Joe Pompliano reported a few years back that the Masters shop makes $1m per hour, which is $10m per day and $70m for the entire Masters week. From what I saw today at Augusta, I would add 50% onto those numbers.
The queue, which resembles Hagrid’s Magical Creatures Motorbike Adventure at Universal Studios Florida or any other big-ticket theme park ride, was reportedly an astounding 85 minutes on Tuesday morning. Luckily for me I managed to wait less than half that.
Sadly for shoppers, there are no fast-passes, but like every line at The Masters, it moves quickly and patrons plus the helpful staff members along the queue are all wearing very big smiles on their faces.
The queue snakes around the main street within the Augusta National complex before making its way indoors via the Asia Pacific Amateur, Latin America Amateur and Augusta National Women's Amateur trophies, while there are also some screens and historical images to keep you entertained before it's your turn to step inside the Aladdin's Cave.
You're then held at the front of the shop before being let loose into what could be described as organized chaos, except it's not really chaos as even the busy polo/midlayer and cap stands, where items are numbered and on the wall for you to scout out and request which numbers you'd like, filter out extremely quickly.
Like everything at The Masters, it's a very well oiled machine. At other sporting or non-sporting events, you'd surely see demand like this lead to empty shelves and unhappy customers. That just doesn't happen at Augusta.
Once you've got what you're looking for, you then head into the cashier section where it is pretty much impossible not to pick up more goodies. This is where the accessories are housed, including all the ball markers, pitch forks, towels, golf balls and more. I got done here with the Pin flag, ball markers, pitch fork and even the playing cards. I certainly did not come in planning to buy playing cards...but why not? I'll cherish them for a long time!
Visiting The Masters is a bucket list experience, and visiting the Golf Shop is certainly near the top of the list for any patron's hit list. If you're coming this week or hoping to get badges for 2026, I'm sure the gnome will be top of your list but be prepared for plenty of unplanned purchases.
Also don't forget to buy your chair, as my colleague Michael Weston brilliantly writes how Masters chairs are one of Augusta's greatest traditions.
It's a shop like no other.
