What Is a Masters Badge?

A Masters badge or tournament badge is a ticket to The Masters, one of the four major professional golf championships, played in Augusta, Georgia. The badge resembles a press pass or work ID badge and is typically worn hanging around the neck or clipped to a shirt. Any person attending The Masters must wear or be ready to present the badge at any time. The badge displays the date of the tournament with a photo, usually a notable scene from past Masters tournaments.

  1. The History of The Masters

    • The Masters was started in 1933 by Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones. Augusta National Golf Club, the site of the tournament each year, was designed to be one of the most challenging courses in the world. In the 1930s, golf was considered to be a sophisticated sport or "gentlemen's game," and the founders didn't want just anyone to be able to come to the course and rub elbows with golfing greats and their high society followers. Masters badges were created to give fans who paid for them access to the course and the tournament.

    The History of a Masters Badge

    • Nearly all Masters badges in circulation are family owned and passed down from generation to generation. Augusta National prints new badges each year; they are picked up at the course. They are never mailed to badge holders because they must be returned at the end of the tournament. No one is permitted to keep them as souvenirs. The number of badges in circulation each year is never revealed.

    Master Badges Today

    • A Masters badge is considered one of the toughest sports tickets to obtain. In 2010, Masters badges ranged in price from $1,500 to $12,000. It isn't necessarily the price that makes them hard to come, it's the scarcity of the badges. A Masters badge, equivalent to a weekly pass to The Masters, have been sold out since 1972. There's no waiting list for them. it's much easier to buy tickets to the practice rounds, the rounds played by the golfers before the actual four-round competition begins.

    How to get a Masters Badge

    • Luckily for golf fans, August National recently announced an online lottery starting in 2012 for the tickets that are returned to The Masters each year following the deaths of longtime patrons. Applications for the lottery are available on the tickets page at Masters.com. Masters badges can also be obtained through ticket brokers or by legally scalping a ticket on a tournament day or through an Internet search.