Wayne Player Banned from Augusta

[potfh]

10 hours ago, From_Parts_Unknown said:

Augusta just doesn't like to make a big fuss or anyone who does.  I bet they would eliminate all sponsorships if they it wouldn't piss off all the pros and their sponsors.  I had a buddy who played as an amateur and they made him replace his bag because it wasn't a college bag and it had a logo on the side.

 

Just think about how much money the tournament forgoes in sponsorship money just to keep the integrity of the tournament.  I heard the club leaves about $200 million on the table every year and CBS barely breaks even.  Don't get me wrong, everyone still gets paid, but it's not about the money for those people.  

 

Augusta would never stoop to self-promotion.  “Please exit through the gift shop.” Cue the theme music.

 

 

.

[Mustard_Tiger]

I read a bunch of posts in this thread before I watched the video. Based on the outrage I thought Wayne pulled a Kanye West and yanked the microphone out of Lee's hand.

 

"Yo Lee, I'm really happy for you, Imma let you finish but Vero X1 golf balls are the best golf balls of all time!! OF ALL TIME!!!!!"

 

 

 

After I watched the video I was like, well that's tacky and stupid but I don't get the outrage.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Mustard_Tiger

[Draw Driver]

The big mistake by mini Playa was not having the balls stamped with his proprietary buoyancy principle. X man would have been sneaking those in for later like Tin Cup and Augusta membership would have been slap happy cool about it. 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Draw Driver

[Naptime]

Can't think of a reason why holding a sleeve of balls that prominently in that setting is "normal".  Seems more like a photobomb to me, and thus would be considered disrespectful.  

[Ferguson]

Prior to banning Mr. Player, the Masters Committee consulted with the local wildlife representative, Frank Aylesbury.

 

 

Should Wayne Player be allowed at Augusta National? 

 

 

 

[knickerbocker]

If he was just holding the balls, I am not sure anyone would have been that upset.  But because he is an investor in the company and the company tweeted images of him holding the sleeve of balls at Augusta - then it was clear it was an organized move to take away from Lee Elder. 

[PuttCurseRepeat]

The reek of self-righteous indignation in this thread is almost legendary. I probably would never have heard of VERO X1 golf balls if it were not for the reactions to Player's unspeakable act. 😄

[JayAreOhh924]

I can't help but feel this backfired for Augusta. I'm all for product placement and contracts and such but it was done in such a cringey manor. If Gary wanted it placed there so bad why wouldnt he have put a logo on his shirt or something? Just holding it behind Lee is just...awkward. Then to say "I thought people would want to know" just seems misogynistic and egotistical. I couldn't care less what ball any of them are hitting. 

 

Now, the backfired part is I highly doubt any of us would even know this happened if it didn't become "newsworthy."

 

Lastly after all this has come to light, the conspiracy theory I'll throw out there is: knowing Gary is a sell-out, for lack of a better word, I wonder if he paid either Wayne to place the product, or- after it didn't take off- his other son to "call him out." This topic has certainly been the talk of the Masters this year and I'm sure due to it, somebody has ordered some. I'm especially curious because Gary seems to have stayed clean of the drama and it's all placed on Wayne as the fall man. 

[woodriff]

On 4/12/2021 at 2:51 PM, Phireside said:

So says his brother. For his shenanigan at the opening ceremony. If true, good for Augusta. That was pretty tasteless of him.

 

https://www.bunkered.co.uk/golf-news/gary-players-son-banned-from-masters-after-golf-ball-stunt

Quite a few logos on that first tee. PING, PXG. But even my tired eyes saw the horizontal placement of that 3 pack. So bad. The Player family at best is rather interesting. Unfortunately every time I see a PXG logo I hear that terrible, aggravating voice of the CEO. 

[dlygrisse]

42 minutes ago, woodriff said:

Quite a few logos on that first tee. PING, PXG. But even my tired eyes saw the horizontal placement of that 3 pack. So bad. The Player family at best is rather interesting. Unfortunately every time I see a PXG logo I hear that terrible, aggravating voice of the CEO. 

Don't you just love the fact they all brought staff bags and "caddies" to the first tee for a ceremonial shot for which they only needed one club?  Elder didn't even take a swing because of health reasons...at least Jack's was more of an understated Golder Bear on the bag, Player went full NASCAR. I guess a guys gotta make a buck, but it's all become a bit cringeworthy and self promoting.  

 

To me the they should go back to these guys playing a few holes or completing the round.  There really is no need to let Sandy Lyle play any longer for example, invite him and Tom Watson to tee off to start the tournament and play 18 ahead of the field.  Heck even Jack and Gary, they can still get it around from the members tees.  To me it would be good fun to watch them lead the field and whack it around a bit, they could set the pace at a 3 hour round, pick it up and move on if they get in  trouble etc.  

 

I think the tribute to Elder was nice, it should have been done years ago probably, but moving forward I think they should re-think the whole deal.  Wayne promoting his product in that situation was totally classless, I get why Jack, Gary and Elder showed up in their golf gear, they have contracts etc.  and they are pros. 

 

Just my opinion.  

[Hawkeye77]

1 hour ago, JayAreOhh924 said:

I can't help but feel this backfired for Augusta. I'm all for product placement and contracts and such but it was done in such a cringey manor. If Gary wanted it placed there so bad why wouldnt he have put a logo on his shirt or something? Just holding it behind Lee is just...awkward. Then to say "I thought people would want to know" just seems misogynistic and egotistical. I couldn't care less what ball any of them are hitting. 

 

Now, the backfired part is I highly doubt any of us would even know this happened if it didn't become "newsworthy."

 

Lastly after all this has come to light, the conspiracy theory I'll throw out there is: knowing Gary is a sell-out, for lack of a better word, I wonder if he paid either Wayne to place the product, or- after it didn't take off- his other son to "call him out." This topic has certainly been the talk of the Masters this year and I'm sure due to it, somebody has ordered some. I'm especially curious because Gary seems to have stayed clean of the drama and it's all placed on Wayne as the fall man. 

Overwhelming sentiment favors the action the club took, if it did - hardly "backfired".  Now it's out there and they didn't release the info and don't and probably won't have to comment on it. Win.

 

Gary's sued the other son, so no, he isn't paying him to out the brother.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Hawkeye77

[UAdamz]

2 hours ago, PuttCurseRepeat said:

The reek of self-righteous indignation in this thread is almost legendary. I probably would never have heard of VERO X1 golf balls if it were not for the reactions to Player's unspeakable act. 😄

That's what so sad about this, the more disrespectful he is the more press the company gets.

[JayAreOhh924]

2 minutes ago, Hawkeye77 said:

Overwhelming sentiment favors the action the club took, if it did - hardly "backfired".  Now it's out there and they didn't release the info and don't and probably won't have to comment on it. Win.

 

Gary's sued the other son, so no, he isn't paying him to out the brother.

Fair take. I guess backfired as they want to preserve the image of the club by keeping unapproved advertising to a minimum, yet now this is bigger than it should be and more people have seen it after the fact. Wasnt aware of the other drama. Sounds like the whole family is out of sorts. 

[Krt22]

1 hour ago, woodriff said:

Quite a few logos on that first tee. PING, PXG. But even my tired eyes saw the horizontal placement of that 3 pack. So bad. The Player family at best is rather interesting. Unfortunately every time I see a PXG logo I hear that terrible, aggravating voice of the CEO. 

Their new commercials are just terrible. 1am infomercial level of production quality lol 

[Hawkeye77]

1 minute ago, JayAreOhh924 said:

Fair take. I guess backfired as they want to preserve the image of the club by keeping unapproved advertising to a minimum, yet now this is bigger than it should be and more people have seen it after the fact. Wasnt aware of the other drama. Sounds like the whole family is out of sorts. 

I’m amazed it seems every couple of years how much nonsense Gary seems to either have to deal with or be involved with because of his “kids”. 
 

Better not comment further, but the post about what he did with the Claret Jug engraving all those years ago says a lot. He kept playing in the Masters just to pass Arnie’s record for starts though in fairness he really was about the same age as Arnie was when he made his final start. 
 

As for my take on AN, I have no doubt they’d be happier if nothing had been reported at all, but with the brother selling out the other one I just don’t think it turned out to be a negative. Who knows, maybe Gary won’t be on the tee next year (probably will but we won’t know for sure for another 11 months).

[Pepperturbo]

On 4/12/2021 at 2:48 PM, toc said:

Even if Gary was behind the product placement decision, is anyone making purchases based off a Gary Player endorsement?

I am sure Gary Players endorsement of any product has equally, if not more value, as what might be read here in Golfwrx discussions.

 

PS: Elder had PING on his bag and Gary Player had PXG on his hat, yet Gary's son gets permanently rejected because of a sleeve of balls.  Something isn't kosher.   

Edited April 14, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[Imp]

4 hours ago, knickerbocker said:

If he was just holding the balls, I am not sure anyone would have been that upset.  But because he is an investor in the company and the company tweeted images of him holding the sleeve of balls at Augusta - then it was clear it was an organized move to take away from Lee Elder. 

If the camera didn't take a shot from that angle, or different lens, probably wouldn't have seen it. As as many other said, all those other logos, on shirts, bags, ground, hats... if the elder was playing those balls, I don't see what the harm is. If anything, the elder should stand up and say "I told him to do it, what are you gonna do now?"

[Krt22]

Just now, Imp said:

If the camera didn't take a shot from that angle, or different lens, probably wouldn't have seen it. As as many other said, all those other logos, on shirts, bags, ground, hats... if the elder was playing those balls, I don't see what the harm is. If anything, the elder should stand up and say "I told him to do it, what are you gonna do now?"

I would not be surprised if they booted him as well, hence Gary not falling on his own sword (I would agree with others, 99% chance he put his son up to it). There are plenty of stories of ANGC no giving membership to high profile folks or rescinding membership if they deem your actions inappropriate. 

[Cpr3584]

Not a fan of the move but I think a lifetime ban here is a little much- even for augusta 

[GreatStrike]

The confounding problem is - if Gary Player had VERO X1 Golf Balls advertising prominently displayed on his golf bag, his shirt and his cap to purposely support and advertise a particular product to the public there would clearly not have been a problem with it. The problem came about because Gary's caddie, son Wayne Player (a non-tour professional), was displaying a product for the express purpose of advertising, which clearly was not allowed. You will note in the photo-op picture that all three caddies wore matching green Masters caps with absolutely no advertising. Clearly, all three caddies were not allowed to advertise or promote any product - even though the tour player professionals they were caddying for support products. I'm quite sure the caddies could not have had a soft drink in-hand either. Shoes, wristwatches okay, but even those are out of view.  

 

Wayne Player, being the cagey, underhanded, rogue, swindler he has proven to be just took advantage of the photo-op and thought he could get away with displaying the sleeve of Vero X1 golf balls. Gary may have been fully aware of what his son planned to do - we'll never know!. I think with Wayne Player's previous episode at the Masters the directors felt it was time to make sure Wayne Player never has another opportunity to do anything sinister again to bring anything negative that might embarrass or tarnish the exceptional reputation of the Masters. I hope it was embarrassing to Gary Player. I strongly suspect that Gary was informed ahead of time that Wayne was going to be permanently banned from the Masters, but I rather doubt that Gary was specifically asked by anyone with authority if he was aware what Wayne planned to do ahead of time to ensure there would not be any long-lasting ill-feelings with the Masters champion.        

[smashdn]

2 hours ago, JayAreOhh924 said:

I can't help but feel this backfired for Augusta. I'm all for product placement and contracts and such but it was done in such a cringey manor. If Gary wanted it placed there so bad why wouldnt he have put a logo on his shirt or something? Just holding it behind Lee is just...awkward. Then to say "I thought people would want to know" just seems misogynistic and egotistical. I couldn't care less what ball any of them are hitting. 

 

Now, the backfired part is I highly doubt any of us would even know this happened if it didn't become "newsworthy."

 

Lastly after all this has come to light, the conspiracy theory I'll throw out there is: knowing Gary is a sell-out, for lack of a better word, I wonder if he paid either Wayne to place the product, or- after it didn't take off- his other son to "call him out." This topic has certainly been the talk of the Masters this year and I'm sure due to it, somebody has ordered some. I'm especially curious because Gary seems to have stayed clean of the drama and it's all placed on Wayne as the fall man. 

 

Augusta didn't want him back.  They made it so he didn't come back.

 

The fact we are still talking about it and even know about it is all due to the Players.  They played it well I suppose and used ANGC in a way.

 

I guess what I am trying to say is no matter the outcome Augusta had only one recourse to keep him from coming back if that was their prerogative.  The rest is incidental to that.  I doubt they care if it sells a few extra sleeves of some obscure golf ball.

[The Pearl]

There is little doubt that Wayne is exactly who we think he is.  Certainly, holding up a sleeve of golf balls as if the entire ceremony is nothing but an infomercial is elite level bush league, but I got it give to him, you have to be a borderline nut job to even think about hatching such a scheme, let alone attempt to pull the trigger. 

 

Heck, he might as well unzipped the overalls and taken a big ole dump on the 1st tee. 

 

With that said, if one were to pull back a bit, the entire "Honorary Starter" ceremony is really almost a SNL skit or a CPG spoof.  Bring out 3 dinosaurs at the crack of dawn, in full golfing regalia, complete with tour bags and adult caddies dressed in the "required caddy costume".  Elder, bless him, is in a lawn chair hooked up to his oxygen and Jack could barely tee is ball up as he teetered to find his balance to offset his gut.

 

Gary Player is probably a giant ******, but by golly he is a Boss in terms of health and physical fitness.  He could still bounce around Augusta in 4 hours and knock out a quick workout before lunch. 99% of 84 years old can barely change the TV channel without following it up with a nap.   I would be strutting around like a bad a** too.

 

We really secretly like The Masters because it is a big middle-finger to not only the golfing world, but to the entire world at large.  They do exactly what they want to do, how they want to do it, and when they want to do it, and answer to nobody. 

 

That is real wealth and power.

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by The Pearl

[BlackDiamondPar5]

1 hour ago, Pepperturbo said:

I am sure Gary Players endorsement of any product has equally, if not more value, as what might be read here in Golfwrx discussions.

 

PS: Elder had PING on his bag and Gary Player had PXG on his hat, yet Gary's son gets permanently rejected because of a sleeve of balls.  Something isn't kosher.   

Wearing a brand and having a branded bag or hat  is pretty much normal sight. Having a guy holding a box angled for the camera is a different matter. 

 

My wife knows nothing of this incident. I had her watch the video. Prior to her watching I said something controversial happened, can you spot it? She said, was it the guy trying to get his box of golf balls noticed?

 

Really finding what's out of place isn't that difficult here. 

 

They have some pretty strict rules at Augusta. Being there is a privilege and they get to make the rules. 

 

 

 

 

[smashdn]

1 hour ago, Cpr3584 said:

Not a fan of the move but I think a lifetime ban here is a little much- even for augusta 

 

When Gary is gone there will be no reason for the son to be there right?

 

Also, "lifetime ban" was the verbiage used by the other brother.  Could have been as low key as pulling Gary aside and letting him know his son is not welcome back, ever.

[Pepperturbo]

15 minutes ago, BlackDiamondPar5 said:

Wearing a brand and having a branded bag or hat  is pretty much normal sight. Having a guy holding a box angled for the camera is a different matter. 

 

My wife knows nothing of this incident. I had her watch the video. Prior to her watching I said something controversial happened, can you spot it? She said, was it the guy trying to get his box of golf balls noticed?

 

Really finding what's out of place isn't that difficult here. 

 

They have some pretty strict rules at Augusta. Being there is a privilege and they get to make the rules. 

 

 

 

 

I am aware of the strict rules, reason Nicklaus' hat and sweater has NO logos and nobody behind shows logos.  Why?  Everybody knows the rule about logos.  That rule has been in place for a long time too.

 

But 3 logos show up, Players PXG hat, and bag - Elders PING bag logo, and shirt logos, and Players son holding the sleeve of balls.  Couldn't see the golden bear on Nicklaus' bag, it was purposely blocked by JN.  The most unnatural is WP holding the sleeve of balls during the announcement.  Watch it on the Twitter feed.

 

Gary Player knows the rules, as does his son, and Elder knows the rule as well, yet only one person receives consequences??????

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by Pepperturbo

[ScoPro]

24 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

Gary Player knows the rules, as does his son, and Elder knows the rule as well, yet only one person receives consequences?????

 

 

Jack had his Golden Bear  Enterprises company hat on as usual, and on his bag 

 

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by ScoPro

[Pepperturbo]

1 minute ago, ScoPro said:

 

Jack had his Golden Bear company hat on as usual, and on his bag 

 

 

Yes, I know.  JN blocked the logo from view in the OP's link shot, and was turned away, so logos were not seen, but not Twitter feed of the event. 

[ScoPro]

30 minutes ago, Pepperturbo said:

Yes, I know.  JN blocked the logo from view in the OP's link shot, and was turned away, so logos were not seen, but not Twitter feed of the event. 

 

He did not 'purposefully' block it, what nonsense. Just different camera angles. When he hit the tee shot on tv can clearly see the bag logo the logo on his hat AND on his glove as he stretches out his arm

 

They are all astute businessman, they are always looking for way to make a buck.

 

Edited April 14, 2021 by ScoPro

[Barfolomew]

Gary shoulda just put the logo on his shirt or hat like everyone else.....

 

I could see super touchy Augusta ban those balls at the course now too lol....

 

OnCore balls must be bomb to risk that...

[Pepperturbo]

14 minutes ago, ScoPro said:

 

He did not 'purposefully' block it, what nonsense. Just different camera angles. When he hit the tee shot on tv can clearly see the bag logo the logo on his hat AND on his glove as he stretches out his arm

 

They are business focused people always trying to gain a buck. Arnold Palmers favourite daughter done an interview that examines the brand and the human being that can get lost in it. Quite illuminating 

 

https://golf.com/news/the-other-arnold-palmers-daughter-reflects-on-the-chasm-between-the-brand-and-the-man/

 

 

I didn't say he did... Stop ASSUMING.  You want to argue find someone else.  In case you don't know I am founder and CEO of a North American Company that's forty plus years old, and have multiple business interests.

Edited April 14, 2021 by Pepperturbo