That’s what 87-year-old golf veteran Gary Player, who will be an honorary starter at the Masters next week, is finding out. He’s understandably not happy about it.
“After all I’ve contributed to the tournament and been an ambassador for them, I can’t go and have a practice round there with my three grandchildren without having to beg a member to play with us, and there’s always some excuse. It’s terribly, terribly sad,” Player said.
“I’ve played my role. I’ve won it three times, I was in the top ten 15 times, I made the most number of cuts in a row ever, yet here we are struggling to get around.”
“If it wasn’t for the players, [Augusta National] would just be another golf course in Georgia.”
“It’s just sad — and I put great emphasis on the word ‘sad’ — that Augusta [doesn’t] make you feel welcome in that regard because I helped make this tournament what it is.”
Player will still be making an appearance at the Masters next week though as he is an honorary starter alongside Tom Watson and Jack Nicklaus.
Someone who doesn’t have Player’s issues with getting a tee time at Augusta National is Nicklaus since he is a full member and Player is just an honorary member.
Although it is not that serious of an issue, it still doesn’t sit well with Player who said:
“It makes you wonder, how welcome are we really as past Masters champions?”
In his career, he got 24 wins on the PGA Tour and he also won 118 times internationally.