A Masters overload?
The Masters tournament has a huge positive impact on the economy of Augusta, Georgia and the 
surrounding area with the week of the tournament being the most significant economic week of the year! A recent report on a local radio station stated that there is a higher dollar amount of sales tax generated in Augusta during the Masters than any time of the year with exception of that generated during the Christmas season at the local Mall!
Because everything turns Masters green in Augusta this time of year, the city provides special events for the general public. Downtown becomes a golf course for Masters week. Shoppers use a score card as they visit 18 special downtown businesses and compete for prizes! A giant Mayor's Reception is held each year for the public with a ‘big-name' golfer in attendance! Many charity events take place including a "Monday after the Masters" tournament to aid junior golfers and attended by celebrities and PGA tour pros. Locals either embrace the tournament and the madness it brings or they get out of town. Some choose to make extra money, renting their homes to professional golfers and their families or to groups of fans. Golfers and fans alike return to stay at the same home year after year.
In real estate, ‘location, location, location' is evident in Augusta. If a property is anywhere near Augusta National or any other golf course, you will read about it in the real estate ads. It is not unusual to see an advertisement for a home that begins "Town home near Augusta National available" or "Property a 10-minute walk from Augusta National" as the real estate market gears up for visitors to the city! Ads are sprinkled with golf balls, tees, and sayings about golf to match the golf mania! Every moment on local news reports is taken with the tournament! Pro golfers make ‘surprise' appearances at local restaurants to sign autographs while fans pour into the city! Dollars for the local economy follow!
If you have watched a golfing event on television in the past month, you know that the pundits have been talking about the golfers and if they are ‘ready' for the Masters. The professional golfers are honing their games for the first major of the year.
Communities inside a 50 - 75 mile radius of Augusta are getting ready for the Masters, too. Here in Savannah Lakes Village, a retirement and second home community in McCormick, SC (a 45 minute drive from the Augusta area) homes, town homes, and motels are filled with Masters fans. Members of local golf courses cancel regular tee times as the courses fill with visitors who have brought their clubs to golf at one of the fine local courses on the days when they are not going to the Masters! Monticello and Tara, the local courses at Savannah Lakes, will be full as will local restaurants!
A Masters overload? Maybe! Good for the economy (including real estate)? Definitely
In Are You a Golfer? What's Augusta National Like? Part 2, we asked: Who was the first winner of the Masters Tournament - 1934?
The answer: The tournament was actually an 'Invitational' tournament, not called the Masters in 1934. Horton Smith, a professional from Springfield Missouri, won the first tournament at Augusta National. (Smith was known for his skill with a putter and was also a member of the 1929, 1933, and 1935 Ryder Cup Teams.)
For more information on the Masters Tournament at Augusta National, read:
- Are You a Golfer? The Masters Tournament Part 1
- Are You a Golfer? What's Augusta National Like? Part 2
Or check out the photo on
Bruce and Mary are South Carolina REALTORS® specializing in Savannah Lakes Village, a planned retirement and second home golf and lake front community in McCormick County, South Carolina.
©Bruce & Mary Smith "A Masters overload?"
Hi Bruce & Mary:
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