Patrons relish in the present as no phones allowed at The Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. (WTOC) - The eyes of the sports world have cast their attention on Augusta, Ga. where the Masters Tournament teed off Thursday morning.

At Augusta National, all the attention of the fans is also focused on the course right in front of them.

Time is an interesting thing here at Augusta National. There are tee times for the world’s best golfers, lunch time with one of those pimento cheese sandwiches but there’s one kind of time you simply won’t get: screen time.

Augusta National has famously banned cell phones from the course. Patrons aren’t allowed to bring cameras once tournament play begins on Thursday.

But there aren’t a lot of complaints about those rules. Many patrons say especially after two years of Zoom meetings, Netflix binges, and other virtual communication, a day at The Masters offers a perfect chance to take their eyes off the screen and be present in the present.

“Unplugging for the day, it feels great. And I was thinking I’m going to do that tomorrow and it’s going to be really good,” Mary Paige Boyce said.

“You got to live the moment. Being out here is everything. It’s just so different being here in person rather than watching it on TV. Everything is so lush and green. What a perfect day. What a perfect day,” John Kuehn said.

Thursday was an excellent day to take in the picturesque course. After overnight storms, Thursday bloomed into a perfect weather day. It appears we’ll have three more nice days through the rest of the tournament.