Augusta, Ga. — At the Masters Tournament this week, fans are once again lining up for the pimento cheese sandwich that has barely changed in price or recipe for decades.
The simple sandwich — pimento cheese spread on white bread and wrapped in green paper — costs just $1.50 at Augusta National Golf Club, the same price it has carried since 2002. That makes it one of the most affordable concessions in all of sports, even as the 2026 Masters unfolds amid record crowds and national attention.
The sandwich’s story dates back to the late 1940s. Local couple Hodges and Ola Herndon prepared egg salad and pimento cheese sandwiches in their Augusta kitchen and sold them for 25 cents each. Tournament co-founders Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts praised the quality in a personal letter to the family. As demand grew, a South Carolina caterer named Nick Rangos took over production for nearly 50 years. A local restaurant chain, Wife Saver, handled concessions starting in 1998 before Augusta National brought food service fully in-house in 2013.
Pimento cheese sandwich, $1.50. #themasters pic.twitter.com/ffT6eQPDRa
— The Masters (@TheMasters) April 8, 2022
Today the club prepares the sandwiches on site, keeping the menu deliberately simple and prices low. Most items still top out at $3. The pimento cheese and egg salad sandwiches remain the biggest sellers, alongside pork barbecue, chicken salad and a few other classics. Fans often carry the green-wrapped sandwiches around the course, turning them into one of the tournament’s most photographed and talked-about traditions.
The rock-bottom pricing is intentional. Augusta National has long viewed affordable concessions as part of the fan experience, setting the Masters apart from other major sporting events where a single item can cost double-digit dollars. The approach has held steady even as costs for ingredients, labor and operations have risen elsewhere.
The sandwich has become as much a symbol of the tournament as the azaleas and green jackets — a reminder that some traditions at Augusta National are measured not in dollars but in consistency.
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The sandwich’s story dates back to the late 1940s.
The sandwich’s story dates back to the late 1940s.
