Masters Uphold Mobile Phone Ban

When you walk through the gates of Augusta National, it’s a step back to a different era.

AP Photo/David Goldman – Masters

Welcome to one of the few remaining places in the world where cellphones are strictly prohibited.

More than a decade ago, Scott Feight got one of those coveted chances to purchase badges for a practice round. He brought along his father, who forgot he had a mobile phone in the bottom of his bag, as he had just returned from a two-week trip to Asia. Security officers spotted it at the gate.

He and his father were still allowed to attend the practice round, only after checking the phone. A few months later, Feight got a note from the club saying his badge-buying privileges had been revoked for good.

The ban on mobile devices is earth-shaking to just about everyone who walks through the gates, especially in an era when people use them as a means of communicating, to take pictures and videos, stay connected to the Internet, maintain their contacts and schedules and just check the time.

The tradition-rich Masters may have opened up its membership to women and spent tens of millions of dollars to keep up with the times, but there’s no sign that the cellphone ban will be lifted anytime soon.

When Billy Payne, Augusta National’s chairman, was asked about it before the start of the tournament, he said: “You’ll have to ask the next chairman. That’s not going to change while I’m chairman.”

As for why the club unlike other major tour avails continues to ban mobile devices, Payne said: “I just don’t think it’s appropriate. The noise is an irritation to not only the players – the dialing, the conversation. It’s a distraction and that’s the way we’ve chosen to deal with it.”