Golfweek Masters Survey: Tell us about your first visit to Augusta

There’s nothing like the first time you visit Augusta National, with its incredible sights and sounds.

As part of our Masters Surveys for 2026, we asked players: When did you first visit Augusta National and what’s your lasting memory from it?

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Here’s what they remembered:

Curtis Strange

I played in 1975 and I got there the Saturday before at midday and I met Jack Nicklaus and I couldn’t talk I was so nervous. I drove to Augusta and never left the gates. I didn’t have two nickels to rub together. I ate all my meals in the clubhouse and slept in the Crow’s Nest and hit balls on the range. What else could I possibly need?

Ludvig Aberg

It was with Texas Tech. We went my freshman year, about two months before COVID shutdown, and played 18 holes in the morning and the short course in the afternoon.

Keegan Bradley

I went with my dad. It was so incredible. I was just in awe of the place.

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Craig Stadler

It was in 1974 after winning the 1973 U.S. Amateur. It was pretty nerve wracking. Tuesday from about 2 o’clock on, I was an absolute wreck waiting until about 2:45 p.m. Thursday to play in a twosome with Jack Nicklaus. I walked over to the back of the tee and Jack was standing there with his back to me. Just as I got over, he turned around and I said, ‘Jack, I’m Craig Stadler.’ He said, ‘I know who you are.’ I was like, ‘You do?’ I’m some snot-nosed kid from San Diego. He said, ‘I remember you were in college and finished third in the L.A. Open at Riviera.’ I said, ‘You remember that?’ I thought that was awesome. He teed off first as the major champion in the group. We continued that for 18 straight holes. I think I shot 77 and he shot 67. [Editor’s Note: Nicklaus shot 70.] I didn’t cut him on one hole.

Wyndham Clark

It was with my dad and brother a couple months before my first Masters. It was a special moment because none of us had been there. My dad was just 6-7 months out of open-heart surgery. It felt like we were on hallowed ground.

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Harris English

I remember watching Davis Love. I couldn’t have been more than 8 or 9 and he threw me a ball. It was one of the first golf tournaments I ever went to and it was absolutely incredible.

Trevor Immelman

I qualified to play in the 1999 Masters as a 19-year-old amateur and I was fortunate to visit the club for the first time in February that year. I played 72 holes in two days — what a dream! I had watched every Masters on TV since 1986; it was such a surreal feeling to finally be there playing the course.

Xander Schauffele

My rookie year, I went out, and it was like 45 degrees and hailing and raining, and Austin (Kaiser, my caddie) and I were out there, and luckily, this caddie was able to stick it out with us. We were trying to write notes down on a piece of paper that was soaking wet. But that was my first time ever playing Augusta. The fairways were long, and the greens were slower, and it was dumping. So I’ve never gone back (outside of the tournament). My dad said he’ll play with me when I’m a member.

Padraig Harrington

I had the greatest experience ever. I got there on Monday in 2000. I’m late, a bit stressed and come down Magnolia Lane and it’s all beautiful, but I’m a bit panicked and getting this rush. I register and do my stuff. I walked through the clubhouse, out to the garden and overwhelmed would be a good way to say it because everything’s coming at me, and I’m worried about getting my practice in. The first people I meet are representatives from the amateur golfing body of Ireland and they’re sitting with Sam Snead.

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So, I’m lost, I don’t know anybody but I know these people and they’re sitting with Sam Snead. I’m absolutely panicked, in a rush, stressed, but I sat there for an hour listening to Sam Snead tell stories. So I don’t think it gets any better than that. I can’t think of anybody I would have stopped and sat for an hour. That’s not my personality, but when it’s Sam Snead, you’re stopping and listening for an hour.

Rory McIlroy

February 2009. I was so afraid to take a divot. I didn’t want to take a divot out of the fairways. I felt, you know, when people talk about walking on eggshells, that’s my first memory. Just so in awe of the place, I guess.

Larry Mize

Growing up in Augusta, I fell in love with golf at an early age. It was 1967 or 68 that I first attended; I would’ve been eight or nine. I was getting autographs. I wish I had kept them all. But I was running around and loving every minute of it.

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Russell Henley

I went there as a kid and I remember how green it was. It was like a different planet. But my first time playing it was my freshman year at Georgia. Our team got to play it and I shot 73. I was in shock the whole day.

Gary Player

My first visit was in 1957, when I was invited by Clifford Roberts, after my father wrote to him. It was a tremendous thrill. I was only a 21-year-old kid who was dropped off at the top of Magnolia Lane and took it all in as I walked down to the clubhouse. Augusta National has been an integral part of my life ever since. The Masters remains, in my view, the best-run tournament in the world.

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Zach Johnson

I remember I told myself I’m never going to step foot on Augusta National until I qualify. Vaughn Taylor, my buddy from mini tours, who was a local, offered me a ticket and I was like I’ve got to do it, I may never play it. It’s funny because I drank out of the Claret Jug before I won it too.

It was either 2000 or 2001. The weather was perfect and I walked the golf course twice. I remember following Nick Price for a while and Jose Maria Olazabal and watched Vijay Singh skipping it on 16 and thought that was cool. The thing I remember was I tried to find a weed and I couldn’t find one anywhere.

J.J. Spaun

The Monday afternoon in 2022, after I won in San Antonio the day before. I remember feeling lost, but the lasting impression was the elevation change. It was so much bigger than I expected it to be. Walking up that first fairway was eye-opening, for sure.

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Trevor Immelman

I qualified to play in the 1999 Masters as a 19-year-old amateur and I was fortunate to visit the club for the first time in February that year. I played 72 holes in 2 days, what a dream. I had watched every Masters on TV since 1986, it was such a surreal feeling to finally be there playing the course

Sahith Theegala

I went with my college golf team. We had played in a tournament at Augusta and I think It was everyone’s first time. We were adamant we get there as soon as the gates opened and told coach we were staying until we literally got kicked out of the place. We had a stack of cups from all the sweet teas we had. This was probably illegal but I remember picking a blade of grass and I ate it because I thought it would give me some magical Masters powers.

This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Golfweek Masters Survey: When did you first visit Augusta National?