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Masters rumors spike October hotel prices in Augusta

Peter Dazeley / Getty Images Sport / Getty

PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) The Masters was postponed, and it didn't take long for speculation to begin on when it would be played.

Augusta National closes in mid-May for the summer. The grass effectively turns brown before it gets back into shape for the reopening for its members in October.

May seemed like a stretch, especially with the Centers for Disease and Prevention recommending no events for 50 or more people through at least May 10. That shifted attention to the fall, with reports out of Augusta focusing on the school system's fall break the first full weekend of October.

Spring break in the Augusta area typically falls the same week as the Masters, mainly to allow residents to rent out their homes if they want to go on a holiday.

Evidence of the power of rumors and reports can be found at hotel websites.

Nearly all of the Hilton properties for the month of October are sold out. On the Marriott website, one popular week had a Fairfield Inn available for $883 a night - typical for April, not so much for the weeks leading to Halloween.

And then came a tweet from Marina Alex on the LPGA Tour, sharing news that the room she had booked had been canceled, with the hotel saying they were ''sorry to see you go.''

''Actually ... I didn't cancel my room YOU did,'' Alex replied.

She had booked it for Oct. 5-12 - the fall break for schools is Oct. 9. Then again, that's an open date on the LPGA Tour schedule, right before it is scheduled to leave for the fall version of its Asia swing.

That might be ideal for the ANA Inspiration at Rancho Mirage, California, the first major of the year that was postponed. If golf ever gets started again, it might not matter.

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