One of the arts of attending Augusta National is to comply with the strict prohibitions that the Masters has. It is forbidden to run, wear a cap with the visor backwards, remove any object from the field and, above all, talk on a mobile phone. In fact, tournament security is empowered to remove any electronic device such as a tablet, pager or cell phone if they detect that you are carrying it.
The rule is inflexible for anyone, and this was demonstrated by the expulsion of Mark Calcavecchia, winner of the Open Championship in 1989 and a legend in the United States, who was caught talking on the phone. It did not matter that he has played this tournament 18 times and finished fourth in 2001. When he was caught, he was invited to leave the premises. The 65-year-old veteran golfer was an amateur.
The Masters has two rows of phones on holes 6 and 18 so that tournament attendees can call anywhere in the country for free from the fixed booths, but is adamant in its policy of preserving the purity of the tournament. They boast that they are the only sporting event in the world where their photographs do not show the stands full of fans immortalizing the moment with their cell phones. And they intend to continue this way even as technology advances. In fact, the most closely monitored at the moment are smart sunglasses that record.
Calcavecchia is not the first prominent former professional to be kicked off the premises. According to ‘Golfweek’, former Golf Channel announcer Charlie Rymer, who was accredited by Westwood One radio to cover the tournament, lost his accreditation and was asked to leave in 2011 after he left the press center to talk on his cell phone and was seen by a security guard. “We explained our policy, how seriously we take this matter, and sent him home,” an Augusta National spokesman said at the time.
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