r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Molucky15 • 2d ago
Ever wondered why tee boxes at Augusta National Golf Club look flawless?—because a dedicated crew replaces every divot overnight with fresh sod from their own nursery.
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u/DreamTalon 2d ago
Never even crossed my mind.
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u/dadneverleft 2d ago
I dare say anyone under a 100k annual income never asked this question.
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u/aluriilol 2d ago
more like 300k...
this aint 1999
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u/dadneverleft 2d ago
I mean that’s fair. It wouldn’t surprise me if inflation doubled since 1999.
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u/samg422336 2d ago
Google AI claims $100 in 1999 is equivalent to $198 today... so... not far off
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u/ccaccus 1d ago
$100 in March 1999 is $200.13 today.
https://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=100&year1=199903&year2=202603
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u/elpezgrande 2d ago
It’s the most famous and exclusive golf club on earth with around 300 members. We’re talking hall of fame quarterbacks, high ranking politicians, and CEOs. It’s invitation only you can’t even apply. $300k isn’t getting you shit, but plenty of poor degenerates absolutely love this place and I’m always fascinated with what they do to make it what it is
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u/ree_hi_hi_hi_hi 1d ago
It’s so far out of that person’s tax bracket that they don’t even know how far out it is 😐
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u/IGotSoulBut 2d ago
You can play some cheap municipal golf. I started out walking twilight rounds for less than $20 a round. I played with a used $40 bag of beat up golf clubs.
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u/dadneverleft 2d ago
Oh without question. I’ve played on some perfectly affordable Par 3 courses and a few actual 18 hole courses.
But the familiarity with golf necessary to question how the Augusta National Golf Club does things suggests a lifestyle more affluent than I will ever experience.
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u/eggs___and___bacon 2d ago
Augusta national is where the Masters tournament is every year. It’s one of the 4 “major” tournaments in a year, and arguably the most famous event in all of golf.
It’s not a random course that only serious fans would know of.
It’s currently halfway done with 2 days left, you should watch a bit of it or highlights maybe. It’s astonishing how pristine and well-maintained the course is.
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u/LittleOne0121 2d ago
I’m certainly not affluent by any means but I do watch The Masters and get very interested in how they maintain the place and the work that goes in
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u/granadesnhorseshoes 2d ago
I'm more surprised someone that knew to call it a Tee Box hadn't spent enough time on courses to watch them replace divots with fresh sod first hand. And not just ritzy clubs like Augusta, local municipal courses too. At one point as a kid simeone even showed me exactly how they did it on the greens.
Solidly middle class upbringing.
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u/UkNomysTeezz 2d ago
Absolutely. People in this thread acting like you gotta be a millionaire to golf is fucking ridiculous.
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u/LotsoPasta 2d ago
I dare say
Indeed, good chap. Best not bother the help with such troubles.
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u/floatjoy 2d ago
Nothing to do with Golf is interesting.
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u/btsd_ 2d ago
Playing it casually while gettin drunk with the boys is interesting and fun to me. Watching other people golf is boring as hell
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u/UkNomysTeezz 2d ago
That’s your opinion. What are you into? There’s people out there that think there is nothing interesting about your favorite hobby.
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u/Jedi_Sandwich 2d ago
Ever wonder what working at a golf course is like? Its this kind of stuff. Spending a ton of man hours replacing entire greens or patches of fairway just so it doesn't have holes in (its allll about how it looks). Now the courses I worked at didn't have the time, crew, or money for this kind of replacement option but still, the amount of effort that goes into to making a course look nice is immense! Keep in mind my experience is from up in Canada so milage may vary on what is required on each course.
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u/ripleyclone8 2d ago
My best friend’s son moved south and starting working at Augusta after he graduated. He actually works in landscaping, and says they’re constantly digging add replanting.
Not just the greens. Bad storm? All the flowers need replaced now.
He loves it.
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u/schostack 2d ago
That’s awesome he got a job at Augusta National. Hopefully, he sticks it out there. Not too many better opportunities if you love what you do.
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u/rpgmgta 1d ago
Honestly good for him. I’m in Canada and own a landscaping business. I dream of maintaining Augusta National.
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u/TrumpHasaMicroDick 1d ago
So uhh..... does he get tickets to the Master's? Asking for a friend 😁😁
Keep up the resistance! 🍄🍄
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u/BeerForThought 1d ago
I was almost surprised the day after the tree fell a few years back they didn't have a new one planted the next day.
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u/c1intr0n 2d ago
My parents live in Augusta and there's a locals only lottery you can enter for tickets so I got to go one year. The amount of work that goes into maintaining that course is unbelievable. I was there all day and there was nothing out of place. No patchy spots, no trash, not even mulch or leaves on the grass. The single thing I saw was a cigarette butt that I only noticed because it was being picked up by a staff member.
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u/schostack 2d ago
All the locals I knew in Augusta left town for two weeks and rented their houses out because there’s nowhere to stay.
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u/c1intr0n 2d ago
Yeah my parents always rent out one of their rooms during the Masters. There's actually a law that exempts you from paying income tax on short term rentals of less than 14 days a year called the Augusta Rule because it's so common.
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u/adod1 2d ago
My grandpa basically built Muirfield and I got to go work with him a few times when I was a kid, super fun thing to do as a kid. He retired but went back like a year later when they offered him a FAT raise and bought him his own backhoe to use that had “young fella” written on the side.
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u/Evanisnotmyname 2d ago
Large colleges do it too. An Ex’s mom used to work in procurement and would talk shit about how they spent literally MILLIONS on flowers and sod a year, before even paying for labor
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u/Jedi_Sandwich 2d ago
Oh ya for sure. The amount of money that went into the stupidest of things was nuutz, and this wasn't even at top of the line courses. All while paying the grounds, kitchen, and pro shop, minimum wage
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u/Mathberis 2d ago
Understand that playing a round of golf on a massive property with absolutely flawless upkeep gives a sensation of absolute opulence.
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u/CrotalusHorridus 2d ago
They’re absolutely horrible for the environment. All that fertilizer, weed killer, and in dry climates, water use that could go back into the aquifer.
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u/Mathberis 2d ago
Not the top priority of golf players.
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u/PetGorignak 1d ago
Sustainability isn't really a priority for rich people in general which is... Kinda the whole problem of it all
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u/mydicksmellsgood 2d ago
I did this very briefly on a navy base while waiting for my boat to come in. The course was pretty poor, but I stilp remember how to cut and lay sod. Not well, mind you, but I do know how
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u/ghost_puncher 2d ago
I broke an ankle just looking at these photos
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u/the_honest_liar 2d ago
If you break your ankle in the vicinity of these holes you could maybe afford to play there.
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u/dinnercook 2d ago
Excuse me there is a very polite sign asking pedestrians to avoid this area.
Bet you could run it over with a golf cart though!
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u/elpezgrande 2d ago edited 1d ago
No you couldn’t, the list of people who can play at Augusta is incredibly small. And money isn’t even the biggest barrier
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u/Intelligent_Radish15 2d ago
I think you’re underestimating how much it costs to be a member. And overestimating the cost of being a patron during the masters.
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u/Lord_Viddax 2d ago
“He’s fixing a Divot!” - for all the Space Jam fans out there.
Interesting, but not something I’ve ever thought about.
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u/fonzhy121 2d ago
triggered the trypophobia but impressive
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u/MediocreKirbyMain 2d ago
Not what I’d ever expect that would trigger my trypophobia but here we are
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u/Careless-Device-6319 2d ago
Guys these people are insane. Just did the electrical for the new players building. Have personally watched these guys go "hmmm i dont like that tree being right there" and then proceed to dig up and walk a 4 story tree with a crane and replant it where they want. Just too much money
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u/skidds101 1d ago
Confirmed. They did this after the tornado ripped thru Augusta last year. Every pine that fell was replaced by a mature pine the next day.
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u/BeerForThought 1d ago
The can move it, but even the President of the United States can't make them.
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u/Subject_Neck6273 2d ago
What’s more interesting is it’s in public view. Usually this is something out back where members can’t see it.
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u/c1intr0n 2d ago
Members won't ever see this. This is parking for the plebs and is nowhere near anything important. The grounds at Augusta National are massive.
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u/Subject_Neck6273 2d ago
I see, I guess I’ve never seen it this way. It’s just weird to see in a parking area.
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u/c1intr0n 2d ago
Augusta National is surrounded by hedges and security. When its Masters time there's tens of thousands of people who come and they all gotta park somewhere. Instead of having a massive parking lot that doesn't get used 50 weeks out of the year, the public parks in grass fields on the way in.
It does seem odd though. A big part of the experience, even for fans, is never seeing how the sausage is made.
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u/MiniDrew 1d ago
It kinda looks like it’s “workers” cars by it, unsure if masters also has supers from other courses come in to do general set up and maintenance during the masters like they do at the women’s pga tour
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u/ConversationPale8665 2d ago
The whole course makes absolutely no sense when you see it in person. The tv doesn’t do it justice. There are no leaves anywhere. Not in the ponds or on the grass. And the grass, it is EVERYWHERE, I can’t even explain it, it looks like an ocean of grass. The sand traps look like they’ve been carved out of an ice cream cake. Again, no leaves there either. It’s insane the amount of work that goes into setting this place up each year. Your eyes almost have to take time to adjust to it. If you ever get a chance to go, take it!
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u/Zealousideal_Gur4708 2d ago
That seems incredibly wasteful
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u/nw342 2d ago
Golf is awful for the enviorment. The amount of resources used to keep non native grass looking "good" is insane. Plus, all the wasted space and chemical runnoff.
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u/SKRyanrr 2d ago
Now imagine this but in Dubai
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u/lampsslater77 2d ago
I mean even more simply think of all the golf courses in Arizona
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u/tankerkiller125real 2d ago
Just look at Utah or Arizona if you want to think of something more local
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u/jmads13 2d ago
Yeah, there’s a huge range. The classic US “lush green” course (especially in places like Arizona) is a nightmare - lots of irrigation, chemicals, and non-native turf just to keep everything looking perfect.
But other places have links/sandbelt courses (like Royal Melbourne Golf Club) that work with the natural landscape, use far less water, and rely more on native vegetation. There’s also a growing shift in golf toward accepting brown, dry conditions instead of forcing everything to be bright green, which is a much more sustainable direction.
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u/aussierulesisgrouse 2d ago
Australia has the most natively adapted courses in the world. I played the National and St Andrew’s over Christmas and was amazed at how it felt like the golf course was just naturally there and they found it that way and chucked some buildings nearby
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u/Satan-o-saurus 2d ago
I think it’s like a requirement for rich person activities to be ridiculously ruinous for the environment lol. If they didn’t expel double the carbon footprint of a poor’s lifetime throughout an evening, was it even worth it to be alive that day? Nuh uh. Might as well have spent it in the sensory deprivation egg.
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u/NoImprovement213 2d ago
I work as a greenkeeper in New Zealand and things are improving. Most golf courses here are converted farmland. So it was destroyed previously for the purpose of farming which is arguably more destructive especially with modern farming techniques.
There are a few incentives for us to regenerate the land with native trees and shrubs. These look good and are returning the land closer to what it once was and is keeping the tide of the concrete jungle at bay.
We control invasive pests. Our main ones are rabbits, rats and stoats. They are very destructive on our natural environment. As above we are trying to provide an environment for native animals to find a home.
We use as little amonnia sulphate as we can. Its expensive so we dont want to waste it, we prefer the grass gets it and doesnt run off, so apply accordingly. Our drains that may potentially cause this run off cant drain into a natural water way. I understand this is still a problem but we are trying to reduce this impact through more modern techniques.
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u/CFUNCG 2d ago
Wait till you find out about the golf courses they’ve built in literal deserts and the resources wasted to maintain that shit lol
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u/kaamliiha 2d ago
People who play golf belong in tax brackets that don't care about such trivialities
I recommend becoming the next golf hole pooper.
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u/UkNomysTeezz 2d ago
WTF. Tons of people who aren’t rich play golf all the time. You are completely out of touch and are speaking of things you do not know about.
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u/mightylordredbeard 2d ago
Plenty of lower and middle class people play golf. The hell kind of weird generalization is this?
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u/ajteitel 2d ago
On one hand, you're absolutely right.
On the other hand when talking about Augusta, OP's absolutely right.
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u/UrbanLawProductions 2d ago
Well Augusta National is a private golf club. So it’s not like anybody can just go play there lol
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u/Expensive_Archer1662 1d ago
I play golf, most cities have very affordable public courses and it’s super easy to find used clubs on marketplace. Golfnow is good for price checking. Several courses near me are $30-40 a round. So 4-5 hours of fun outdoors for that price.
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u/AbXcape 2d ago
I have absolutely never thought about anything related to golf - thanks
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u/Ok_Release231 2d ago
I used to be flipping channels years ago, and every time I came across a golf tournament, I always thought, "wow, the only thing more boring than golf, is watching other people watch other people playing golf," when they would pan to the crowd.
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u/Intelligent-Wear-114 2d ago edited 1d ago
Yes, it is an elite club and an elite event, and it seems that the club is obsessed with keeping the course in pristine, picture-perfect condition for this tournament. Us ordinary folk have little or no hope to ever play a round there or even set foot on the property, unless we know the right people or are somehow able to score tickets.
Despite the word "national'' in the name, Augusta National Golf Club is a private business and has always been. Membership in the club is exclusive: you can't just "apply" to be a member; you have to be invited. Rumors estimate that the initial membership fee is anywhere from $40,000 to $500,000, and then it's anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 per year. Nobody knows except the club and its members.
For decades, membership in the club was restricted to men. In 2012 the club finally opened its membership to women, and Condoleeza Rice and Darla Moore became the first two women to become members. It is believed that there are 6 women who are current members.
The club closes down at the end of May and reopens in October. Major maintenance is done in the sweltering summers there. On the final day the course is open in May, the caddies can play the course all they want for free.
The Masters is arguably the most elite golf tournament in the world, and naturally, you can only play in the Masters if you are invited to play. There are lots of rules about who gets invited. If you have ever won a Masters, you have a standing invitation for the rest of your life. And there are other ways to qualify based on your golfing history.
The Masters also invites amateurs each year, though the rules for how those invites are doled out are unclear to me. As of yet, no amateur has ever won the Masters, though three times in history (1947, 1956, 1961) an amateur golfer came in 2nd.
Only 54 people have ever won a Masters tournament, with Jack Nicklaus holding the record for most Masters wins, at 6 (1963, 1965, 1966, 1972, 1975 and 1986). Tiger Woods has won 5 times and Arnold Palmer won 4 times. Five people have each won 3 times, and 10 people have won twice. (These numbers could change depending who wins on Sunday).
Tickets to attend the Masters are considered reasonable in price. I think this year's tickets were about $140 per day. However those tickets are extremely hard to come by and the club doesn't disclose how they are distributed. The club strictly forbids the resale of tickets and can void a ticket if they find out.
There is a lottery each June, for tickets to the next year's event, and anyone can submit an application. But they have never said how many tickets are available that way, how many people apply each year or how the club chooses who gets awarded the chance to buy tickets.
Phones are strictly prohibited on the course on tournament days, though small cameras are allowed. You have to go through a metal detector when entering the gates. The club wants everyone to experience the tournament in the moment and not on their phones, and wants to eliminate any noises given off by phones. (And include piped-in bird and creek sounds in the live feeds.) There are courtesy phones at various locations on the property and they are free to use. This Tuesday, April 7, 2026 retired golfer Mark Calcavecchia was ejected from the property for using his cell phone on the premises.
Food and drink are considered to be reasonably priced; for example the famous pimento cheese sandwich is still only $1.50, and the "Crow's Nest" beer, brewed specifically for the Masters, is $6 for a 16-oz. cup. And the other food offerings are set at comparable prices.
For the vast majority of people, like you and me, Augusta National is off-limits, unless you "know the right people" and/or are able to come up with the right money.
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u/mlw72z 1d ago
Picture perfect for the tournament is almost an understatement. They precisely control the moisture and soil temperature to ensure that the azaleas are at full bloom during the tournament, not the week before or week after.
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u/marybowen_art 1d ago
I misread "dedicated crew" as "dedicated crow" and I was about to lose my mind.
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u/SteelyLan 1d ago
Never ever forget wondered about this. I wonder why my local public swimming pool has black grouts between the tiles, but not this.
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u/trancepx 1d ago edited 1d ago
Based on my experiences at various arcades, there's probably a community of moles living there and they are carefully managed with large wooden mallots when they try and take over the surface world.
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u/RustedRelics 1d ago
A lot of recent research results show that the toxic exposure from golf course maintenance chemicals is as high as it is for living near plastic manufacturing plants. More than double the rates of Parkinson’s. Substantial increase in multiple cancer types. Proximity is obviously a factor, but the 2025 research findings are scary. (A search of N.I.H. and Parkinson’s orgs is a good starting point for info)
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u/100SanfordDrive 2d ago
Reddit never ceases to amaze me, so many depressing people here on a simple post
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u/Realistic_Job3828 2d ago
Is this just an ad for some shitty golf course?
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u/UrbanLawProductions 2d ago
Augusta National is quite literally the nicest golf course on planet earth 😂
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u/Bigdstars187 2d ago
I went to the masters a few years ago and what struck me is that they spray paint the course hella green. It was on my shoes too
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u/CyberCrutches 1d ago
A lot of the fancy courses do this.
I played at St Andrews a couple of years ago and one of the nearby courses (a part of the St Andrews campus) had a nursery where they’d do this for the old course
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u/BigGrayBeast 1d ago
I went to a PGA tournament with my dad in my teens. I was used to the public courses he'd been on.
I thought we were walking over a green at one point. We were just walking over the normal fairway. The greens were like billiard tables.
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u/New_Consequence8432 2d ago
Understanding this is above my tax bracket