Everyone knows that ticket scalping or crashing a pickup through the front gates will get one banned for life from the hallowed grounds of Augusta National, but some people have been ousted from the course and banned for far less infractions.
In fact, a few grains of sand have landed folks in hot water with the famous golf club.
An Ohio man learned his lesson when, in 2012, he crossed under a rope line at the 10th hole to grab a handful of sand from a bunker during the final round to add to his collection of soil from famous sports venues.
Clayton Baker was arrested and hauled off to jail for the offense and he was banned for life from the course. When the case came before the late Augusta Magistrate Judge William Jennings III, the judge agreed with the solicitor at the time to drop the charges, citing the fact that Baker had set an example as a warning to others not to pull such a stunt in the future.
Jennings, according to the Augusta Chronicle, who was known for his clever use of Latin while rendering verdicts, told Baker: “Dictum sapienti sat est,” or “a word to the wise is enough.”
One might think that media folks covering the event would know to be on their best behavior at all times, but loose lips have sunk the media’s ships on more than one occasion.
According to Golf Digest, in 1965, famed CBS broadcaster Jack Whitaker ran afoul of Masters co-founder Clifford Roberts by describing the gallery watching Jack Nicklaus sink his final putt to win that year as a “mob.” As if that wasn’t bad enough, Whitaker didn’t promote the “green jacket ceremony” that happened shortly after the win, enraging Roberts further.
Whitaker would learn that Roberts was not to be trifled with.
Many years later, in 1994, Gary McCord’s mouth got him into trouble when he commented that groundskeepers must have used bikini wax to keep the greens’ surface so smooth. McCord’s not-so-subtle reference to female genitalia on national television did not sit well with the club’s more high-minded higher-ups.
Both Whitaker and McCord lost their coveted press badges, which is pretty much the same thing as a lifetime ban.
A running gag throughout the Adam Sandler movie “Happy Gilmore” has the title character shamelessly plugging Subway sandwiches, but trying to hawk merchandise by using the Augusta National as a backdrop is a big no-no and the son of one famous “player” learned that lesson the hard way.
Wayne Player, son of golf great Gary Player, was invited to participate in a photo op with legendary golfer Lee Elder and he thought it would be cute if he plugged his company’s OnCore golf balls by holding up a box of the product in the photo.
Player admitted to Golf Digest that his father’s nine tournament wins did not carry enough weight with the club to keep him from being banned from the course for life.
Throughout his career, golf champion and later, TV sports analyst, Johnny Miller’s comments sometimes created controversy, but it was not his big mouth that almost rendered him persona non-grata at the course. Rather, it was a large-mouth bass.
During his tenure as a board member of Augusta National, President Dwight D. Eisenhower suggested creating more ponds on the property and stocking the ponds with bass fish, according to Golf Magazine. The pond at the par-3 course bears his name, and fishing during tournament week was allowed on the property.
Golf greats Sam Sneed and Fuzzy Zoeller were known to spend time fishing Ike’s Pond, but the practice apparently came to an end in 1976.
According to Golf Magazine, while hanging out on the course, Miller angled a nine-pound bass out of the pond, and in his zeal to show off his catch, he burst into the clubhouse, muddy shoes and all, and interrupted a dinner honoring international players.
Miller’s hijinx did not get him banned from the golf course, but fishing on the course during Masters Week became verboten.
…And that is something you may not have known.
Scott Hudson is the Senior Investigative Reporter, Editorial Page Editor and weekly columnist for The Augusta Press. Reach him at scott@theaugustapress.com
