Pinkerton security guards working at the Masters Tournament are so conscious of possible misuse of admission badges that they almost escorted 1969 Masters champion George Archer off the course one year.
It happened at the 1979 Masters. Mr. Archer, who started playing in the Masters in 1967 and stands 6 feet 5 inches tall, was sporting a full beard for the first time at Augusta National Golf Club. On his coat, he wore a badge that former champions receive when they register for the tournament each year.
``One of the guards came up to me and saw the badge and said, `Where'd you get that?''' Mr. Archer recalled recently. ``I told him I got it down at tournament headquarters.
``He said, `You won the tournament?' I said, `Yeah, I won the tournament.' He said, `What year?' I said `1969.' He said, `No, you didn't. George Archer won in 1969.' He didn't recognize me and was going to throw me out of the place. Ten years after I won it, this guy wanted to kick me out.''
This year, the crackdown on improper use of admission badges also is coming from Augusta National and Richmond County sheriff's deputies.
Many ticket brokers ask for a deposit on the badges they sell, ranging from $500 to $1,000 to ensure they will be returned to the Augusta National patrons who initially bought the badges from the club. But many patrons aren't willing to wait the couple of weeks it may take for the badges to be mailed back.
``Locals are wanting their tickets back Sunday night,'' creating a headache for the scalpers, said Jim, a scalper from Florida who
asked that his full name not be published. Augusta National is doing a ``fax check'' of patrons, calling them and asking them to fax copies of their badges after the tournament, then revoking the badge privileges of those who can't comply.
Police officers also were targeting stolen tickets, which the scalpers were apparently selling, said sheriff's Chief Deputy Ronald Strength.
``They steal them out of mailboxes. They steal them out of automobiles,'' he said, though he would not say where the badges were being stolen from.
If a badge scanned at the tournament gate turns up stolen, the person with the badge is stopped and questioned by officers, though they usually are not arrested, Chief Deputy Strength said. So far, 26 stolen badges had been detected at the gate during Masters Week, he said.
That information may bear fruit later, Chief Deputy Strength said.
``It will be a long, drawn-out investigation well into months after the tournament is over,'' he said.
Still, scalping is not a major issue for Jack Stephens, chairman of Augusta National.
``The people who scalp, we're not concerned about them,'' Mr. Stephens said. ``That's an infinitesimal concern.''
Mr. Archer said he can't believe the public interest in the Masters Tournament these days. The result is some four-day admission badges sold for $10,000 on the black market in 1997. Prices this year have ranged from about $6,000 in January to $1,500 last Wednesday, the day before the start of the tournament.
``I don't know who's going to pay $10,000 to go to a sporting event,'' Mr. Archer said. ``Maybe somebody else.''
Reports from Staff Writers Tom Corwin and Alisa DeMao and The Associated Press were used in this article.
Security tight for Masters