Chairman Payne: I Don't Get Much Pushback

There are fables of member consternation over the speed with which Billy Payne has attempted to move Augusta National into the 21st Century while staying true to the origins of the club, but in an ESPN.com profile by Bob Harig, the Chairman refutes that he gets much pushback. Or funny looks.

Harig writes:

None of his efforts have necessarily been required. There are likely those inside the Augusta National gates who were satisfied with that status quo -- showcasing their beautiful golf course to the world one week a year and then going about their business while practicing the club's intense desire to reveal little.

So perhaps it is fair to wonder: Have the decisions Payne has made over the past eight years produced any pushback among the powers-that-be? 


"That's not really the way Augusta works," Payne said with a sly smile, as if to suggest one should know better. "You don't get many quizzical looks."

And moving forward, Payne feels he's upholding the tradition of the club with his approach.

"That's always been the attitude of Augusta National; that's not me," Payne said. "I inherited that. You go back and read a lot of what Mr. Roberts said. I've mentioned this in a lot of the member meetings. There is a complete, absolute driving mandate to do better every year. That may be the one overwhelming objective of everything we do.

"Now people can measure whether we attain that. That's a different question than what we are trying to do."