Trip to the 2019 Masters @ Augusta National

[PPSFlyer]

For anyone who's into golf, this event is one of the biggest events in the golf calendar and Augusta National is probably one of the most famous golf clubs in the world. I took part in the ballot for the 2019 Masters and was lucky to secure 2 tickets to this event. Since this is my first time traveling there for this event, I would like to know if anyone has traveled to Augusta, Georgia for the Masters before.

I have gone through various websites and some recommend flying in directly to Augusta (from my check, no *A websites fly to that airport), while others recommend flying into nearby cities and drive in to Augusta from there.

Some of the places recommended to fly into:

Atlanta: 145 miles via I-20
Macon, Ga: 120 miles via US-1
Columbia, S.C.: 75 miles via I-20
Charleston, S.C.: 169 miles via I-26
Savannah, Ga.: 128 miles via US 321 and 301
Greenville, S.C.: 114 miles via US-25
Charlotte, N.C.: 164 miles via I-77 and I-20

Any suggestions if I should fly direct? If no, which airport should I consider flying into?

My current plan is leaning towards SIN-EWR-CAE, with SIN-EWR being on SQ and EWR-CAE on UA. Would appreciate if anyone has some suggestions/ tips to share!

Thanks in advance.

[yflyer]

Hi PPSFlyer, congrats on the successful ballot! Sounds like a great tournament to attend!

If you set on flying Star Alliance and SQ, Columbia (CAE) looks like a good bet, since there are UA connections from different cities.

On the other hand, Atlanta (ATL) is not a difficult airport to transit through, so if schedules work out, it might even be feasible to head to the USA on SQ or another Star Alliance carrier (Say, to SFO, LAX, EWR) and then catch a Delta or AA flight to Augusta via ATL.

The latter approach would be on two separate tickets, though, so I would either plan plenty of buffer time, or make a brief stopover at your first point of entry into the USA.

[PPSFlyer]

Thanks for the reply yflyer. Have you ever flown into ATL or CAE? Any comments on the airport and passenger traffic at these 2 airports? I am highly unlikely to fly to Augusta since I have read that there are not many flights out of there, thus limiting my connections at ATL and EWR/ JFK.

[9V-JKL]

I've flown in and out of CAE some 10+ years ago.
Its a very small airport (think the old Budget Terminal at Changi) so very easy to navigate.

If you drive, do watch the speed limit. Its the only place in the whole US that I've been stopped by the police for speeding. (30mph in a 20mph zone). I don't know if that has changed.

Enjoy your trip! Perhaps do write a TR

[yflyer]

Thanks for the reply yflyer. Have you ever flown into ATL or CAE? Any comments on the airport and passenger traffic at these 2 airports? I am highly unlikely to fly to Augusta since I have read that there are not many flights out of there, thus limiting my connections at ATL and EWR/ JFK.

I have flown through ATL a couple of times, on domestic US flights, as well as a domestic-to-international connection (But not an international arrival/connection).

It is a very large and busy airport, but quite well optimised for heavy passenger traffic. The long terminals are arranged parallel to each other and connected by Peoplemover. A TR with some ATL coverage here. By coincidence, in the TR I happened to have the DL inflight magazine open to the route map page, which shows ATL as one of their main hubs.

I personally think ATL is a decent airport for domestic to domestic transit, even across multiple airlines. The airport layout is very easy to understand, and the Peoplemover, running perpendicular to the terminals, gets you from one end to the other of the airport very efficiently.

I've not been to CAE.