Masters plans on limited attendance for April’s golf major

The Masters Tournament announced Tuesday that it intends to limit attendance at April’s tournament and institute similar health and safety standards to those in place when the event was won by Dustin Johnson in November without spectators because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Augusta National said that efforts are being made to include a “limited number of patrons, provided it can be done safely.” The tournament dates are April 8-11.

The club also announced that it intends to conduct the Augusta National Women’s Amateur on April 3 and the Drive, Chip & Putt National Finals on April 4. Both of those events were canceled in 2020.

“Following the successful conduct of the Masters Tournament last November with only essential personnel, we are confident in our ability to responsibly invite a limited number of patrons to Augusta National in April,” chairman Fred Ridley said. “As with the November Masters, we will implement practices and policies that will protect the health and safety of everyone in attendance.

“Nothing is, or will be more important than the well-being of all involved. While we are disappointed that we will be unable to accommodate a full complement of patrons this year, we will continue our efforts to ensure that all who purchased tickets from Augusta National will have access in 2022, provided conditions improve.”

The club said it was in the process of contacting all ticket holders of record, and that refunds would be issued to those selected not to attend.

According to a club spokesman, the limited availability of tickets also applies to the practice rounds.

The Masters has a patron list for the four tournament rounds; a badge for the entire tournament was priced at $375 for 2020. When the club announced in August it would play without spectators, it rolled over those badges to 2021. It did the same for the practice rounds. It is unclear whether it will offer the option to get a refund or simply roll over the tickets for 2022, although the refund possibility was noted.

For the November Masters, all who were permitted on site were required to have one negative COVID-19 test prior to entry for the week. The club conducted those tests in conjunction with a local pharmacy.