Hi Bryan,
When you park, even though it says gates open at 8:00am, most people get to the parking lot quite a bit earlier. Bring layers of clothes. If you plan to sit at the range in the early morning, it can be quite chilly. You can go in and out twice on your ticket so if you do more shopping than anticipated (and who doesn't), you may want to run everything back to the car so that you don't have to check it or carry it. Although checking is free, at the end of the day, the line can be quite long. The green chairs are in the shop and you can place them anywhere, along with your name on the back - think of it like luggage coming down the carousel - the bigger and bolder it is, the easier it is to find when there is a crowd around the tee or green. Find a good place and put your chair down and go see the course. You will be shocked at all the seats already there, but as long as putting a chair down is one of your first moves after you get it, it won't be too bad. You can take your camera for the practice round, but no phones.
On the course food- try everything. The prices are very reasonable and Moon pies and Georgia peach ice cream sandwiches are good treats after you've eaten the pimento cheese, BBQ, egg salad, ham, etc.
Restaurants - many Masters veterans make reservations the year before. If you haven't eaten too much on the course, go have an early dinner, lots of places will seat you in anticipation of you leaving before their reservations start.
The Masters is a treat - take it in and enjoy it!!

Stretch out your calves! The elevation change is just something you won't believe until you see it! Have a good time, we are all jealous!!

Keep the tips coming Cathi! Myself and another Masters virgin will be heading down Wednesday with a couple of vets. I simply cannot wait!!!

We went for 3 days last year. Tuesday was the best for getting in the merchandise building. They have it set up like Disneyland with the maze of ropes and when you get in, they hand you a huge bag. Be careful. It is so tempting to just toss things into your bag and justify it with "I might not come back for years". The chairs are a must, if nothing else, they give you a place to sit down because you will be tired. Imagine walking 18 on a hilly course and then going around again. If you want to watch the Par 3 contest, get your chair and head straight down there to put it around a tee or green. We sat on the 6th green and had a view of 4, 5 and 6.
On Thursday, we put our chairs in the first 4-5 rows of a hole and went to wander around. Just make sure you either know exactly where your chair is or have it marked visually. When we got back, the crowd was so big, we literally could not find our chairs and of course we had business cards in the back pocket - like hundreds of others. Also, these days, some rookies will sit in vacant chairs until someone shows up so you won't be able to look for the empty chair either.
If you are going for one day, it is tough because there is so much that you want to see. Maybe just get your chairs and save the shopping for the end of the day. Go early and watch the practice round before the Par 3. If you can get the tee times for the par 3, you can plan on watching the practice rounds, part of par 3 and go back out to watch more practice and then shop. The food line may be long, but it goes really fast. Augusta has it down to a science - to the people picking up leaves on the course, to the amenities and the experience. Take your camera and enjoy!

Sounds like you everything covered. Enjoy and cherish your first trip down Magnolia Drive.

We made sure to get our group's picture taken by the staff in front of the iconic flag/logo. A line may be there but they have multiple photogs but it goes quickly. You are given a card to download your pic.
Enjoy the day and walk the whole course. Hopefully your weather works out and remember to keep your phone in the car!

Hope you enjoyed Monday. A great day to take pictures and see some of the pros.

So Bryan, now that the Masters has concluded and you've attended one of the great sports events in golf, how about your assessment?