Golf fans know that they run a tight ship at Augusta National Golf Course, but they might not know the scrutiny that on-air talent is under during The Masters.
Former ESPN anchor Kenny Mayne even said he’s banned from the club after making a snarky comment on the air.
“I’m banned for life from Augusta, I think,” Mayne, 66, said in an appearance on the “God Bless Football” podcast earlier this month. “I used to cover golf, I used to do the TPC Sawgrass, and I did the U.S. Open every year for, I don’t know, seven or eight years. It was me, [Scott] Van Pelt, Andy North, the whole gang.”
The first two rounds of The Masters air on ESPN’s networks before coverage switches to CBS, which has broadcasted the championship since 1956. In that time, the course has kept its broadcast teams on a short leash, requiring them to speak their own Augusta language, referring to fans only as “patrons” and saying “the second nine” instead of “the back nine.”
Mayne making what he called a “smartass” remark does not conform to their code of conduct.
“At TPC one year, I just made some smartass comment about, ‘We’ll see you at the Masters, where we bring four saucy ladies out to play!’ Or, you know, just something stupid, right? But mentioning that I’m bringing women to play golf,” Mayne recalled. “And [Augusta National] called into the ESPN truck, like we’re still on the air, and the people in Augusta are literally, they somehow have the inside number to the truck. And they were like, ‘He is not coming!’ So I was never invited to go by my lords.”
Mayne isn’t the first TV personality to catch a ban from Augusta. The practice goes back a whopping 60 years, when, in 1966, CBS’ Jack Whitaker was banned for saying “here comes the mob,” referring to the patrons.
In 1994 Gary McCord was removed from the broadcast team for saying, “I don’t think they mow these greens, I think they bikini wax them.”
Augusta National imposes strict rules on more than just the broadcast teams. Even the Masters winners, who are royalty in Augusta, are not allowed to wear their coveted Green Jacket off property. The only exception is that the current Masters winner can bring his jacket home provided he returns it the next year.
Patrons, too, must play by the rules. They must adhere to a strict dress code that includes no shorts or untucked shirts, no denim and no five-pocket pants. Cell phones and laptops are also banned, meaning if a patron wants to make a phone call, they must use one of the courtesy phones that Augusta National provides along the course.
There’s also no yelling, playing music, heckling or profanity allowed. And if a patron wants to bring a chair to sit on, it must be collapsable with no arms.
It should go without saying that guests are not allowed to steal anything from the club either, but one man found out the hard way in 2012 how strictly that rule is enforced. Patron Clayton Baker was caught trying to take a cup of sand from the course with him as a souvenir. He was arrested, sent to jail and lost his $4,500 Masters badge security deposit. Including legal fees, the ordeal cost him $20,000.
