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‘Peaceful.’ The Masters at Augusta bans cell phones, and everyone loves it

StaffBy No Comments12 Mins Read

AUGUSTA, GA – I’m midway down the first fairway at Augusta National when panic sets in. I slap my front pockets and feel no cell phone in its familiar place against my thigh. My wallet is there, but no phone.

So, I slap my back pockets. No phone.

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This isn’t unusual. At least once per day, I lose my phone, wallet or keys — or, all of the above — around my house. Except, I’m not at my house, and my panic is heightening, and that’s when it hits me.

I’m not at my house.

I’m standing in the sunshine on the first hole of America’s most famous golf course. My phone isn’t in my pocket, because it’s not allowed to be in my pocket.

Exhale. Everything’s good.

My phone was safe and secure, sitting on my desk inside the press building.

Augusta doesn’t allow phones on the course, no matter whether you’re a media member or a fan — oops, excuse me, a patron. No fans here. Only patrons. That’s Masters lingo, just as it’s the second nine, not the back nine.

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I’ve attended other golf tournaments, but I’m a Masters first-timer, and while out on the course for Tuesday’s practice round, I slapped my pockets multiple times wondering where my phone had gone. My panic decreased a little each time this happened. By Wednesday, I’d stopped slapping my pockets.

My phone was safe, just far away from me.

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Masters without phones ‘very peaceful’ for golfers

What’s a gallery with no phones like? Well, for the world’s best golfer, it’s pretty great.

“Very peaceful,” Scottie Scheffler said. “… There’s no people asking for selfies in the middle of the round. It’s very calm out there, and people follow the rules here. For us as players, it’s really an enjoyable experience.”

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It is, as Ludvig Aberg put it, “very different.”

For golfers. For patrons. For everyone on the course.

“It feels like the fans are a little bit more engaged in the golf,” Aberg said. “They’re a little bit more attuned to what’s going on. It’s a cool environment to play. It feels like good golf shots are being appreciated, in a different way.”

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So, good for golfers, but what about for everyone else?

I’d describe the phone-free experience as eerie but awesome.

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A tad frustrating, at times, but also intoxicatingly freeing. No texts or emails to answer. No spam calls to ignore. No ability to check on what the boss might be chatting you on Microsoft Teams. No distractions at your fingertips that otherwise would persistently threaten to pull your eyes away from what you’re actually here to see.

Go to a beach nowadays, and you’re sure to see a bunch of phone zombies in Tommy Bahama chairs, heads buried in screens instead of reading a book or watching the waves. Head to a sports bar and peek at the counter, and you’ll see men on barstools staring at gambling apps, betting on games they barely bother looking up to watch on the bar TVs.

Here, it’s eyes up.

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One photo from every hole at iconic Augusta National, home of Masters

Azaleas are blooming, pine trees are standing tall and the dogwoods are flowering. The 90th Masters Tournament is set to begin at the Augusta National Golf Club. See one image from each hole of the fabled course. Tiger Woods watches his approach shot on the first hole, named Tea Olive, during the third round of the 2022 Masters at Augusta National Golf Club. The par-4, 445-yard hole has a slight dogleg right that plays uphill.

No cell phones at Augusta revives old-school cameras

While out on the course, you realize how many functions your phone performs.

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I wondered how many miles I walked on the course. Using scorecard yardage, I came up with a guess, but I couldn’t fact-check myself, because I normally track my mileage with a phone app.

I wear a watch, but, naturally, my watch battery is dead, the one time a year I needed it to tell time. On Tuesday, my watch just served as a fashion piece on my wrist.

One thing you quickly learn about Augusta, though, is everyone is in a good mood and happy to be here, so just ask a patron who’s wearing a watch with a working battery, and you’ll get the time. I bought a cheap watch at Walmart (the battery works!) after Tuesday’s practice round, so I’m set on time for the rest of the week.

Perhaps the biggest thing you miss about not having your phone: No phone camera. For most of us, phones replaced digital cameras as our primary pic-snapper years ago. Our phones became our photo albums, too.

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Here on the course, it’s like turning the clock back to 2006, as small digital cameras and disposable cameras enjoy a renaissance. Patrons aren’t allowed to take photos once the tournament starts, but small cameras are allowed during practice rounds earlier in the week — so long as you’re not snapping the pics on your phone. One $30 Vivitar later, and you’re in business. You just might need a YouTube tutorial to learn how to use it and how to get the photos off of it.

Patrons didn’t seem to mind. For some, the old-school cameras took them back to their youth, when phones were phones, and cameras were cameras.

Sean Ubinger, who attended Wednesday’s practice round, bought a $28 disposable Kodak camera from Walgreens to document his first trip to the Masters. All of the guys in Ubinger’s crew had either disposable or small digital cameras.

“It takes us back in time and makes us enjoy the course and camaraderie,” said Ubinger, 33, from Orlando.

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“You kind of get used to it,” one camera-carrying patron, Chandler Fields, told the Augusta Chronicle during a practice round earlier in the week. The 2026 Masters is her fourth. “It makes Augusta, Augusta.”

Amen.

Or, excuse me, Amen Corner.

Humanity shows its best side, too, as people graciously take turns taking each other’s photos.

‘It’s so special’: Place a phone call from Augusta National with a landline

If you really need to get in touch with someone, head to one of the banks of landline phones stationed around the course.

Wednesday morning, the 10 landlines near No. 18 were all occupied with callers. A small line formed as people waited for their turn.

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Anna and Jon Handy called to check on their kiddos. The grandparents were watching the children, while Mom and Dad enjoyed another trip to the Masters. Their phone check-in was a case of good parenting. Other patrons made social calls. The best part, all calls are free. No charge.

“If it’s your first Masters,” Jon Handy advised, “everyone should take a chance to make a phone call.”

Nine years ago, Hayley Trimmer’s trip to Augusta National with her dad, John, got cut short because of weather. Back at Augusta this week, Trimmer made sure her dad received her first phone call.

“I love to hear his voice when I call, and he gets to see the caller ID from Augusta National,” Trimmer said. “It’s so special.”

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Just remember not to panic if your pants pocket feels lighter than usual. Your phone is safe somewhere else, your mind is free, and there’s not a phone zombie in sight.

Blake Toppmeyer is a columnist for the USA TODAY Network. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Masters bans phones at Augusta. Here’s why that’s a huge win



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