IS THE MASTERS OVERRATED?

*cue the official Masters soundtrack*

There’s a special kind of hype around The Masters. Every year right around 2 weeks before the event starts in Augusta, it begins. The social media posts. The betting speculations. The Masters outfits. All the golf brands releasing their limited edition Masters themed collections. And so on..

It really is the most hyped golf event all year. Every year.

And to be honest with you, I guess I’m kinda contributing to the hype? I’ve already posted twice (here is my countdown hype post and here is my WAKE UP The Masters starts today hype post) on socials about The Masters in the last week. And I’m also sitting here writing this as I’m patiently waiting for the coverage of the first round to begin.

So why?

Well, because The Masters is special. I guess that’s the best way to quickly summarize it.

The cheesy tagline ‘’a tradition unlike any other’’ really is a pretty good description of the week. I remember spending The Masters weekends at home as a kid, following the action live with my family. Every single year.

I also think the fact that it’s the only male major held at the same course every year, plus the exclusivity around Augusta National, definitely contributes to the hype. They’ve created this course and event with such limited access and it’s made everyone go a bit crazy. Because you always want what you can’t have, right?

☝🏼 my Masters inspired caddie suit outfit (which is actually such a cute Adidas golf jumpsuit that you can find on my LTK)

The thing is, I actually had the incredible chance to go to Augusta National in 2019. This was during my last year in college and I was gifted a ticket to the last day of the first ever Augusta National Women’s Amateur. Augusta is only a 3h drive or so from Gaffney, SC where I went to college, so it was a no-brainer to make the trip down and visit one of (if not the most) exclusive and definitely most hyped course in the world.

The main thing that comes to mind when I think about that day at Augusta, is the quality of the course and the atmosphere out there.

First of all, the quality is like nothing else I’ve ever seen. The fairways looked absolutely unreal - like a carpet of synthetic turf more than grass. The greens are much more undulated than what they look like on tv. They are so difficult. And the bunkers are absolutely surreal too. The color of them so white it’s blinding in the sun.

You also feel like you’re disconnected from everything when you’re out there. It’s so secluded from real life - not only because you can’t bring your phone in with you but also because there’s not one place where you can see anything but the course, the practice facilities or the forest surrounding it.

The only thing that would ever beat visiting Augusta National is playing Augusta National. Can you imagine teeing it up out there?

It was extremely cool to watch the best amateurs in the world compete for the win at Augusta during the inaugural ANWA. I remember Jennifer Kupcho and Maria Fassi (both now incredible pro golfers on the LPGA) having a fearsome battle down the stretch before Jennifer birdied 18 and was crowned champion.

And what I’m about to say now might sound a bit silly but I remember thinking I was there, at Augusta, for a historic day. The first ever final day of ANWA, which also marked the first ever female golf event hosted at Augusta National. A pretty cool day and milestone for women’s golf, when you think about it.

Next step is to make sure they actually get to play all of their rounds at Augusta (and not only the last one) but that’s a topic for another day. Because believe me, I could write a novel about this but I don’t want to ruin the positive vibes around The Masters in this post hehe.

I now think it’s time to answer the one question I just know that you’re still waiting for me to address: did she buy anything in the shop??

Well the answer is yes, of course I did.

If I remember correctly I dropped $350-$400 in there and this was as a student with a not-so-stretchable-budget so that was a lot of money to spontaneously shop for. But thankfully my birthday was the week prior so I pretty much spent all my birthday money buying some souvenirs for all my family members. Money well spent haha. And still just a fraction of the $70 million (!!!) that they apparently make in the shop every year during The Masters week.

My only regret is that I didn’t go buy myself a disposable camera before heading down to Augusta. Since we couldn’t bring our phones inside, I literally have zero photos and zero evidence of my presence there. Apart from the expensive merch, of course. And the little spectator guide in the picture above that I’ve saved from that day.

So I guess that would be my main advice if you ever get the chance to go. Make sure you find a way to document the visit, because believe me you are going to want to keep (and possibly even frame) those photos forever.

Oh and also, eat more of the pimento cheese sandwiches. They’re an absolute bargain.

(I received the cutest golf balls ever before this week from TaylorMade. They’re Masters themed with Georgia peaches and I might actually never play with them because I don’t want to lose a single one of them.. More peachy balls content here)

In a way, it’s almost difficult to put your finger on exactly what it is that makes The Masters so special. But it sure is something.

And you can bet that I’ll be spending the next few days constantly updating the leaderboard and following the action live any chance that I get. Just like millions of other golfers around the world will, too.

It’s been a while since we actually had a Swedish player with a chance to make a run for it at Augusta. So I’m secretly (or maybe not so secretly since I’m writing it here??) hoping for Ludvig Åberg to blow us all away with his game this week. That would be pretty cool.

And to answer the question that brought us here in the first place.. is The Masters overrated?

I really don’t think so. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year and I don’t mind the hype. In fact, I welcome it.