AUGUSTA, GEORGIA | No place on earth cares more about tradition than Augusta National Golf Club. One might even say it cares about tradition unlike any other.
So it comes as some shock that one particular Masters Tournament tradition might be coming to an end – its treasured gnomes.
The first Masters gnome debuted in 2016, and it was just a curious curio that didn’t stoke much of a fuss. Augusta National didn’t even create one for the 2017 Masters.
But in 2018, the gnome returned wearing a caddie jumpsuit and looking a lot like Shane Lowry’s former looper Bo Martin. Reaction was relatively viral, and gnome mania officially became a thing. Each year since, a unique gnome has shown up in limited quantities every morning in the Masters merchandise shops and they’ve sold out in a frenzy within 15 to 30 minutes to those who speed walked to the front of the 90-minute lines after the gates opened.
Full sets of all 10 gnomes could go a long way toward your kids’ college funds.
Minutes later, those gnomes have been known to show up in online secondary marketplaces for hundreds of dollars. That original gnome from 2016 – the one I can distinctly remember picking up in the merchandise shop and declaring it “stupid” before putting it down without purchasing – goes for $10,000 or more on auction sites. Full sets of all 10 gnomes could go a long way toward your kids’ college funds.
This year’s gnome has a working Masters umbrella, which led to a $10 price increase to $64.50 after taxes. Past gnomes have featured Masters chairs, pimento cheese or peach ice cream sandwiches and various other traditional fare for the tournament patrons. There are also other gnome-adorned items in the merch shop including salt and pepper shakers, polos, coffee mugs, Christmas ornaments and a green T-shirt with drawings of all 10 gnomes.
Augusta National’s pro shop is even selling an ornate collectibles set with miniature versions of all 10 gnomes for $1,500. Its existence only fuels the theory that the gnome era may have reached its conclusion.
Masters chairman Fred Ridley was even asked what was apologetically prefaced as a “trivial” question about the gnomes. “There’s a rumor circulating this could be the final year of the now iconic Masters gnome. Are you able to quash that rumor and allay fears?”
The chairman was in no way offended by the query.
“Number one, the question is not trivial,” Ridley said. “Number two, I’ve been asking that question for several years, and they won’t tell me the answer. So I can’t help you.”
We’ll all just have to wait until next April to find out if the gnome tradition will live on.
Scott Michaux
Top: 2026 Masters gnome
Andrew Redington, Getty Images