Why The Masters Gnome Has Proven To Be The Most Exclusive Purchase Of 2024

We're all aware that the gift shops at Augusta National make the club an obscene amount of money - rumored to be millions of dollars per day. We know the usual pieces that are popular like apparel, caps, flags, coffee mugs, and the Masters chairs fly out of the door at a decent rate; but that's par for the course. 

However, this year, there is one souvenir in particular that is taking the Masters by storm and is selling out within an hour of the 7am opening time - a garden gnome. 

The garden gnome was first sold in 2016 and each year it arrives with a new outfit, making each year's iteration totally unique. That has made it something of a collectible and already some have been seen on eBay for over five times the price one costs in the shop. Gnomes is pristine condition from the debut 2016 sale have been spotted being sold for thousands of dollars online too.

Standing at just under one foot tall, the garden gnome sets patrons back $49.50 while a smaller gnome is available for $39.  The gnome is also the only item in the Masters shop with a purchase limit of one gnome per customer, proof that the powers that be at Augusta National are aware of its collectible status. 

In a nod to the new arrival on Instagram earlier this week, the official Masters account announced the 2024 gnome saying 'a special guest has arrived'. This can only have driven up demand for what is the hottest product in the shop this year, 

For those who fail to grab the gnome, there is no need to fear as the cult figure has made it onto a couple of t-shirts available in the Masters shop. Printed onto the back of a green or white t-shirt, these have been selling very well to by all accounts. 

I've been on site since Monday and haven't been able to pick one up yet. I wasn't that keen until I kept sawing gnome after gnome in the hands of fellow members of the media every morning. Now it's taken on something of a cult status, I'll have to get to the gift shop bright and early tomorrow to see if I can pick one up and grab myself a piece of new Masters folklore.