The days of walking into the Masters Tournament off Washington Road are over for good, according to Augusta National Golf Club and the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

All ticket holders will enter the course from Berckmans Road, starting with the 2009 tournament, said Buzzy Johnson, the senior director of the Masters Tournament.

The move was confirmed by Col. Gary Powell, of the Richmond County Sheriff's Office.

"There will be no patron access off Washington Road. Zero," Col. Powell said Wednesday.

"Their plan is to have everyone come in off Berckmans Road," said Col. Powell, referring to Augusta National. "They make the changes and we carry it out."

Col. Powell said the plan was finalized in an October meeting with the sheriff's office and Augusta National.

It will be the first time since the tournament's inception in 1934 that patrons won't be able to enter the course from Washington Road.

The reason has to do with a practice area. The so-called "big lot" used in the past for parking on Augusta National grounds, at Washington and Berckmans roads, is already being converted to a practice area scheduled to open for the 2010 Masters. Part of that lot was a walkway from the walk-in gate to the course.

Three gates on Berckmans Road will be used, Mr. Johnson said. Gates 6 and 9 are for walk-ins and Gate 10 is a parking-only gate.

The rest of the patron parking will be in the 70 acres that the club has bought and cleared along Berckmans Road in the past few years.

"Some of the gates are changing because of the development of our practice range and new parking facility," Mr. Johnson said.

Col. Powell said the area is larger than the old Washington Road lot on Augusta National's grounds.

"It's huge; it goes down behind Publix," he said, referring to the grocery store off Stanley Drive.

Col. Powell said the change will ease traffic congestion in front of the club on Washington Road. Last year, some traffic from the Interstate 20 side of the club was diverted from Washington Road to Stanley Drive and an auxiliary road just past Stanley Drive.

All patron traffic coming from Interstate 20 will stop there now.

"This is kind of like the last year of training," Col. Powell said. "We've got to get the old hats (longtime out-of-town patrons) used to it. People know to drive to the water tower. That's no longer the case."

The change to all-Berckmans access won't be a popular one for residents on Washington Road because it will make for a longer walk to the course. Also, businesses and homes that charged for parking will feel the impact.