By Damon Cline
Staff Writer

Melody Rink came all the way from Ohio to hawk golf memorabilia on the streets outside the Augusta National Golf Club because she heard it was good business.

So she found it odd her tent was one of only a dozen set up along Washington Road.

``I was a little surprised,'' she said.

Patrons to this year's Masters Tournament also probably have noticed the sharp drop in vendors compared to previous years.

Washington Road looks less like a street bazaar, and that's the way people who run the prestigious golf tournament want it, vendors say.

``You can thank the Augusta National,'' said Scott Maurer, co-owner of Gotta Have It Golf Collectibles, which has sold framed prints and autographed memorabilia in the front parking lot of The Masters Plaza shopping center for the past six years.

But this year the owner would not lease to him, nor any other vendor, space to pitch a tent. He suspects meddling from members of the Augusta National, some of whom are Augusta residents with business and political connections.

Representatives of Whole Life Ministries, owner of Masters Plaza, said they leased the lot this year to a party who ``chose not to allow vendors.''

The Augusta National, as a matter of policy, never comments on matters outside its gates, but there is some evidence it may be attempting to control the atmosphere around the tournament.

Boone Knox, an Augusta National member and prominent area businessman, has purchased more than $6 million worth of real estate adjacent to the club's property lines, including the Big Tree Center retail complex.

Knox has said in previous interviews his goal is to ensure the land use is ``compatible with the community and the Augusta National.''

Some vendors say city ordinances governing mobile businesses are being more strictly enforced.

``I want to make sure everything is done right. I heard they're cracking down on the permits,'' said Dennis Cone, president of the Professional Caddies Association, which set up a fund-raising tent in front of Jay's Music and Sound at the corner of Washington and Berckmans roads.

Some Washington Road business owners, including caterer Terry Wick, operator of The Clubhouse, said they applaud attempts to tone down street vending.

``The Augusta National doesn't want a circus, and that's what it was becoming,'' Wick said.