Here’s how 5 Masters patrons kill downtime at Augusta National

Here are five creative ways patrons enjoy the golf course between tea time and tee time.

Follow the Masters Marker

Aside from the gnomes and pimento cheese plushies, the marker might be the closest thing to a Masters mascot.

When an odd number of players make the cut, Augusta National allows a member to play alongside the extra Masters competitor Saturday and Sunday.

The marker, Michael McDermott, has no official score. His caddie’s jumpsuit is nameless and he does not speak to the media after the round.

But patrons love rooting for a non-professional golfer as he plays one of the game’s greatest tournaments. McDermott might don a green jacket off the course, but he becomes a relatable people’s champion while he’s on it.

“The pros have got a superman cape on,” patron Darrel Hegar said. “If the marker is a superhero, he’s like Batman. He’s smart, he’s got money but he doesn’t have the superpowers.”

Hegar, from Cary, N.C., and his friends planned to follow the marker for several holes before finding their seventh hole seats for the day.

Masters concessions cup stacking

This is not the field day game you played in third grade. Patron groups track their beer total throughout the day by stacking souvenir cups, flaunting the plastic tower around the course.

Friends Nick Piña and Matthew Waddilove set a goal for 18 cups — one for each hole — by the end of the day.

The Kennesaw State students hit their quota by 2:30 p.m.

“Now, we’re going for as many as we can in a reasonable time,” Piña said. “If you start off around 7 a.m. and you drink six between seven and 10, you’ll be there.

“You’re just having a good time watching the little guys play. It’s like a pregame.”

Getting the nod

You spend more time watching golfers than golf at the Masters. The airtight fairways funnel the world’s best golfers right in front of patrons as they walk from shot to shot.

Some patrons try to get golfers’ attention with a quick word of encouragement or a call-out. A quick, “Let’s go, Scottie!” could prompt the world No. 1 to acknowledge an individual golf fan, if only for a second.

Atlanta’s Davis White respectfully tries to connect with golfers between shots.

As fellow patron Liz Vandevelde pointed out, though, proper timing is required. Frustrated players aren’t as likely to return a nod or thumbs-up.

White, an Alabama sports fan, told a similar story about the best reaction he experienced. It happened at the U.S. Open when former Crimson Tide star Justin Thomas passed White after a bogey.

“I said, ‘Roll Tide,’ and he turned around and looked at me like I had four eyes.”

Masters pay phones

The Masters’ “no-phone” rule might add more timelessness to the tournament than any other element. Cellphones are not permitted inside the golf course, creating a personal presence and attention to surroundings.

Another “time machine” aspect is Augusta National’s substitute: complementary pay phones located throughout the course.

Delson Coward said he had landline growing up in his room, but his girlfriend, Dianna Graham, had never used one before coming to the Masters.

Both called parents from the old-school relics placed behind the 16th hole. They reported average check-ins with family but were amused by some of the conversations they overheard on the lines around them.

Coward heard a mother reminding her husband to give her children Motrin while Graham said she heard a man asking for an off-site update on his Masters bets.

“To be honest, I haven’t thought about my phone once today,” Coward said.

Family tradition

Charles Lowery and his wife, Penny, placed their custom initialed Masters chairs in the same area as the past 50-plus years. They watch the 15th and 16th holes from the same spot that Penny’s parents brought her as a child from nearby Aiken, S.C.

“That was back before the Masters became the Masters,” Charles said.

Charles and Penny plant their seats early, grab coffee and breakfast and follow a golfer around the course back to their spot.

Penny can look to her left and see the grandstands her mother used to share with her cousins, betting a nickel on every golfer that played the 15th hole. To her right is a patch of grass between No. 14 and No. 15, her father’s favorite spot.

“Pop wasn’t as interested,” Penny said. “We’d turn around, and he’d be asleep up on the hill.”

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Patrons on 18th green react to news that Justin Rose bogeyed 17th hole during final round of the Masters golf tournament, at Augusta National Golf Club, Saturday, April 13, 2025, in Augusta, Ga. (Hyosub Shin / AJC)