Daily Masters tickets will be made available

The odds of obtaining one of the toughest tickets in sports -- a Masters Tournament badge -- have improved.

Tournament patrons have had the chance to win practice-round tickets through a lottery system since 1995. Augusta National Golf Club announced Monday that, beginning in June, fans also will have a chance to win daily tournament tickets to the 2012 Masters.

All of the applications must be submitted through www.masters.com. Previously, applications were taken through the mail.

For first-time patrons Susan and Art LaFountain, who have waited for years to obtain practice-round tickets, the announcement was welcome news.

"We'll make it an annual event if we can get tickets," Susan LaFountain said.

The unprecedented move means that those who were left off the waiting list for series badges will get another chance. The waiting list was established in 1972 and closed in 1978 when demand far exceeded the club's supply. The waiting list briefly reopened in 2000, and people who applied for practice-round tickets from 1998-2000 were added by random selection.

"We are also pleased to provide a limited number of tickets for the individual tournament round days, which, up until now, have only been allocated to our series badge holders," Augusta National and Masters Chairman Billy Payne said in a statement.

Here are the rules:

- Daily tournament ticket applications must be submitted by June 30. The maximum allocation is two tickets for any day. Those who already receive series badges are not eligible to apply for the tournament tickets.

- The deadline for practice-round ticket applications is July 30. The maximum allocation remains at four for any one day. Anyone can apply.

- Each allocation will have its own random selection process. Applicants will be notified by e-mail.

- The yearly application process for existing series badge holders will also move to the Internet. More details will be announced later this year. With the new system comes an increase in cost. Ticket prices for Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday practice rounds will cost $50 each, up from $36 for Monday and Tuesday and $41 for Wednesday. Tournament round tickets are $75 each; currently, a series badge good for all four days costs $200.

Sam Durham, a fan from South Pittsburg, Tenn., said he would submit an application after he returned home.

"They've got a good crowd here today, and it would make tickets a bit easier to get, I guess," he said.

For the LaFountains, who are from Hudson, Ohio, Monday's visit was a dream come true.

"We've been asking friends and neighbors if they have extra tickets for years and years," Art LaFountain said. "Finally someone called and said, 'Hey, I've got two extra. Do you want them?' I said, 'Yes.' We dropped everything to come."

LaFountain said he could check a trip to the Masters off his list of things to do.

"It was a Bucket List item," he said. "I had some health issues last year, so you start looking at some of the things you want to do."

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 orjohn.boyette@augustachronicle.com.