Masters puts new twist on its hottest collectible

Whereas seemingly every part bought within the Masters Golf Shop is a coveted merchandise, there’s one collectible that has been producing intense fervor in recent times: the Masters garden gnome.

First launched in 2016, the backyard gnome has been supplied in barely totally different iterations yearly since. Most have been dressed like Masters patrons, full with full with logoed regalia, whereas others have worn Augusta’s well-known white caddie uniforms or a holiday-themed outfit, the latter of which was on sale for the November Masters of 2020. All the gnomes put on white sneakers with a inexperienced saddle and are carrying a foldable chair on the correct shoulder.

Final 12 months’s model featured the gnome in a printed polo and flat-brim rope hat. The complete-size gnomes are a couple of foot tall and retail for $49.50. They’re the one merchandise within the Masters Golf Store with a purchase order restrict: one gnome per customer. Even with such restrictions in place, the gnomes are recognized to promote out rapidly — one 12 months, in an estimated 10 minutes.

It’s simple to see why. Have a look by means of resale web sites like eBay, and also you’ll discover aftermarket gnomes promoting for a whole lot of {dollars}. Eager about shopping for the entire assortment? That’ll set you back a cool $15,000 — plus transport.

For sure, the 2024 gnome is a hotly anticipated merchandise, and on Friday, followers had been handled to a sneak peek of this 12 months’s iteration.

Clad in a logoed button-up cardigan and plaid pants, this 12 months’s gnome can also be sporting a classy white bucket hat and a nifty green-and-white striped tie.

No phrase on whether or not the Masters Golf Store has elevated the amount of those in style objects to fulfill hovering demand, however when you plan to be onsite at Augusta on Monday of Masters week, a phrase of recommendation: store early!

Golf.com Editor

As a four-year member of Columbia’s inaugural class of feminine varsity golfers, Jessica can out-birdie everybody on the masthead. She will be able to out-hustle them within the workplace, too, the place she’s primarily answerable for producing each print and on-line options, and overseeing main particular initiatives, akin to GOLF’s inaugural Fashion Is­sue, which debuted in February 2018. Her origi­nal interview sequence, “A Spherical With,” debuted in November of 2015, and appeared in each within the journal and in video type on GOLF.com.