Editor’s Note: Joe Mullins is known locally mostly for his bid for elective office and his connection with the distribution and resale of Masters badges from a previous lawsuit, which was settled out of court. That suit made this new one of particular interest for coverage. Mullins’ counsel’s attempt to seal the depositions in the case was an indication that it deserved the public’s further scrutiny. The content of this article deals less with the case against Mullins and the plaintiff’s complaint than with an allegation both made regarding a member of Augusta National. In no way is this an attempt to disparage the Augusta National Golf Club, its members or its practices. Further, it should not be assumed that Mullins’s or the plaintiff’s statements offer proof of any unethical behavior by the Augusta National Golf Club or its members.
Both the defendant and the plaintiff in a lawsuit for racketeering and corruption have claimed in depositions that Augusta National member Turner Simkins swapped tee times to secure large donations to a well-known children’s hospital.
Simkins is not a party to the lawsuit and has vehemently denied the accusations made in depositions by the two men.
Defendant Joe Mullins is accused of racketeering and corruption in the lawsuit filed in 2021 by plaintiff Ian Jack of Golf Travel, LLC. The allegations are grounded in Mullins’ failure to provide Masters badges to clients in 2018 and 2019.
Mullins attempted to have the records in the case sealed in January 2023. The Augusta Press intervened and was able to obtain the records that contain the information about the tee-times-for-donations swap.
Both Mullins and Jack stated under oath that Simpkins arranged for out-of-town guests to play at the Augusta National Golf Course in exchange for $20,000 charitable donations. Mullins said the donations went to St. Jude Children’s Hospital in Memphis, Tenn.
Simkins vehemently denied in a statement released May 7 that he personally profited in any way from hosting guests at the Augusta National or in collaboration with Mullins. In the statement, issued in collaboration with the Augusta National, Simkins said that the statements in the deposition were “categorically false.”
In an interview on Friday, May 5, when Simkins first learned of the allegations, he responded, “This is the most offensive thing I have ever heard. I respect that place. It is everything to me,” Simkins said.
Details from the deposition do not indicate that Simkins profited from the arrangement, only that he hosted guests in return for charitable donations.
“They were 40,000 [dollars] a piece for two people,” according to a transcript of Mullins’s deposition. “It was done through a donation to charity, and it was about 30 to 35 thousand [dollars]. It varied.”
Simkins countered, “They may have paid $20,000 a piece to Joe Mullins, but they didn’t pay anything to me.”
Simkins did acknowledge that he took one local family to play as a thank you for donating at the Snowfest event, but that’s the only time he ever interacted with Mullins, he said. In his statement, Simkins indicated Mullins had represented himself as being involved in supporting fundraising for “pediatric cancer causes.” Simkins and his wife were also active in supporting pediatric cancer causes, particularly St. Jude Children’s Hospital where one of their sons had been treated for cancer.
“As a gesture of appreciation for some of the larger donors, I offered to host people, introduced to me by Joe as such, for golf,” Simkins said in his statement. “It was my understanding that that this handful of people had gone above and beyond in supporting a charity that had saved the life of my son, and I was happy to oblige.”
The depositions claim that the tee times arrangement was in 2018 and 2019. A 2017 Columbia County News Times article shows Simkins receiving a check from Snowfest, an event put on by Mullins, for $20,000 to the Press on Fund. Simkins said Mullins continued hosting such events through his marketing firm, and he anticipated the collaboration “would turn into a long-term partnership.”
Simkins said he hosted “two or three such groups” across “a year or two” and was reimbursed for “expenses associated with playing and any meal or beverages; but other than reimbursements, I received no compensation for these efforts.”
Mullins stated the process of arranging the tee times in previous years was originally handled by Bobby Walker of Walker Sports Management. Once involved, Mullins arranged for $35,000 of the $40,000 to go to St. Judes while retaining $5,000 out of which he would pay for transportation and drinks for the guests.
Walker said he has known Simkins for years but denied ever arranging any tee times for any client for pay.
“I wouldn’t be surprised if it happens, though,” Walker said.
“I’ve never done anything for Bobby Walker, either,” Simkins said.
In addition to arranging the tee times, Mullins alleges that he handled transportation between the airport and hotel as well as charges for drinks at the Augusta National.
“And then we’d receive a letter from the member – and this was something we’d handle. We’d get a thing from the member where if they got drinks or something out there, they pay and the member has to put it on their account, and they bill us for it. So, it covers a lot of that stuff. And I can tell you, those guys love to drink beer out there,” Mullins said.
In his deposition, Jack, owner of Golf Travel, LLC, also spoke about the arrangement with Simkins as well as Mullins’ involvement in the process. Jack said that he had arranged similar payments to an undisclosed member for the eight to 10 years prior to Mullins arranging them with Simkins.
Jack said in the deposition that he finally stopped selling the tee times due to them being “a hassle to arrange.”
The majority of the people Jack brought to play were from the UK, and arranging for them to meet the member, have dinner and play was constantly challenging, according to the deposition transcript.
When pushed during the deposition to identity the name of the member who previously arranged tee times, Jack questioned, “You really – you really want this on the record?”
After being told he must answer the question, Jack stated the member was Turner Simkins.
“It wasn’t worth doing. I mean, we didn’t make money out of it. Basically, whatever – whatever the guests paid us went to the member,” Jack stated.
“I met him [Turner Simkins] one time. I think it was in Tbonz, and he was in talking to Mark Cummins, who’s a close friend of mine,” Jack said.
Simkins stated he hasn’t been to Tbonz in 20 years.
Jack claimed Simpkins arranged tee times three or four times over a three-year period using Mullins as the conduit.
“We paid Joe [Mullins] 60 grand for two players, so $30,000 per person,” Jack stated. “And from that, Joe made the arrangement. I would get the clients into town, usually a day ahead of time or a couple of days ahead of time. They’d play, maybe golf up at Sage and then Turner would call the night before – call Joe the night before and say, okay, we’re teeing off at 9:30, have them at the front gate by 8:30.”
According to Jack’s transcript, the cost used to be $20,000 for two or three players until Mullins got in the middle of the arrangement.
Jack stated he had no knowledge of which charity the money was going to and said that was between Mullins and Simkins.
Jack also claimed in the transcript that he had a previous relationship with Walker. He said that the two had built and owned a building together on Magnolia Drive. Walker indicated that Jack had to be bought out after losing a lawsuit with the PGA over copyright infringement.
