‘I made a mistake’ – Golf coach KICKED OUT of Masters after breaking Augusta’s golden rule as he releases statement
A GOLF coach was “removed” from the Augusta practice range for breaking a key rule at The Masters.
Arizona State University golf trainer Matt Thurmond arrived in Georgia earlier this week to mentor Spanish amateur Josele Ballester.
However, he made a huge error while walking onto the driving range.
Thurmond appeared to forget the strict ‘no shorts’ rule – which even applies on practice days.
After making his way over to Kevin Yu, he was stopped by an Augusta official.
The coach later took to social media to share his mistake, writing: “Strolled out onto the Augusta range today with my coach badge. Got removed for wearing shorts.
“First bogey of the week. Celebrated with an egg salad sandwich. Pants tomorrow.”
He later explained: “I went out on the range without thinking, gave [Yu] a hug. After about one shot and one quick hello, they came out and said, ‘I’m sorry, sir, you can’t be on the range with your shorts.’
“My bad, it was a mistake I made. I want to follow the rules here when I’m at Augusta and do everything right. Lucky to be here and appreciate everything here. I just made a mistake.”
Augusta is famous for its strict rules – with patrons informed of a long list of dos and don’t when attending the iconic tournament.
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Prams, signs, banners, phones and cameras are just some of the prohibited items.
Sitting down on the course is a total no-no, while anything inappropriate said by fans or even the media will be punished.
Thurmond later deleted his original X post, and has since said he wasn’t ‘removed’ and instead was just reminded about the shorts rule.
His latest update read: “I did not get removed from the grounds of Augusta National for wearing shorts.
“I’ve been on the grounds the entire week.
“I was simply reminded that if wearing shorts (like thousands of other spectators) I can’t go on to the driving range tee even with the Coach badge.”
The Masters kicked off on Thursday at Augusta National Golf Club.
Justin Rose currently leads ahead of the second round.