A four-day pass to the 1934 Masters tournament sold for $470,857.49 on Sunday night at The Golf Auction, marking a new high-water mark for any public auction of a golf ticket and the second-highest result for any ticket at public auction, behind only the $480,000 sale of a Jackie Robinson debut ticket in 2022.
The all-time record for any ticket sold publicly or privately belongs to another 1934 Masters Badge, which was purchased for $600,000 in a private sale brokered by Golden Age Auctions in 2022.
Just four of these tickets to the first Masters are known to exist, with the one from The Golf Auction only uncovered recently. The ticket was signed by Horton Smith, Bobby Jones and other participants of the inaugural tournament.
Of the four examples extant, one is owned by the Augusta National Golf Club and the other two are owned by private collectors.
This newly uncovered ticket was passed through generations of the same family from the time of the event to its sale Sunday night.
The auction, which closed just hours after the 2024 Masters concluded, also featured a Tiger Woods junior golf club driver ($6,408.79), Bobby Jones' "Only Winner's Trophy Ever Offered" ($109,650.81), and a Woods-signed golf ball from his first hole of his first round during his first win at the Las Vegas Invitational ($27,235.25).
Will Stern is a reporter and editor for cllct. You can follow him on X at @Will__Stern.