By Steve Reed
Augusta, Ga. (AP) – Attending the Masters for the first time was a new experience for Thomas Abraham, and it was not only golf.
Houston’s 16 -year -old has had the rare opportunity to use a public phone for the first time.
“It was a bit cool,” said Abraham, who called a friend when he attended the Masters competition by 3 Wednesday with his father, Sid. “I have never used it before. I understood it. If I had to use one of these phones (rotating), I should probably have asked my father. ”
Augusta National demands that its customers leave their mobile phones and other electronic devices. Instead of these security covers, there are several public telephone banks from these return devices from past days. They are a foreign show for many in the young generation that has never seen a phone with a attached cord.
Abraham is no different from most adolescents – or adults, moreover – who are very attached to the world through their mobile phones.
At some point, there is a good chance that customers check their phone – by tapping their pockets, reaching the clip on their belts, wherever it is usually.
And when they can’t find it, well …
“It’s a kind of panic mode,” said Abraham. “We were in the 18th (hole) and I went to reach my pocket and it was not there. Then I remembered that it was in the car. ”
He was not alone.
“I checked my pockets for my phone no less than 10 times today,” said Ryan O’Connor de Little Rock, Arkansas. “I was sitting in the stands on the 16th green and someone dropped a bottle of water and it made a loud noise and I instinctively reached my phone. Not there. “
-
A boss uses courtesy phones during training at the Masters golf tournament, Wednesday April 9, 2025, in Augusta, Georgia (APTO / Julia Demaoree Nikhinson)
1 of 3
A boss uses courtesy phones during training at the Masters golf tournament, Wednesday April 9, 2025, in Augusta, Georgia (APTO / Julia Demaoree Nikhinson)
Develop
The line of the public telephone bank can extend up to 10 people deep at the height of the masters. And although they provide an outlet to those who seek to touch the base with the world outside the doors of Augusta National, there are problems that have come to them.
Like, remember the phone numbers.
Bill Kehoe, 50, from Raleigh, in North Carolina, prepared.
As he approached public phones, Kehoe released a sheet of paper with a handful of names and figures written to them with a black Sharpie. He picked up the receiver on the phone, struck the number “1” to start the call, then watched the paper and entered the remaining numbers to finish the free call.
“I don’t even remember my own phone number, not to mention someone else’s number,” joked Kehoe. “They are all saved on my phone.”
One of the calls he made was at his 14 -year -old son, Connor, who was on a school in Washington. Dc
Connor had asked his father to call at a pre-animated moment when he was on a bus, and his 8th year classmates were shocked when his caller identifier appeared as “Augusta National Golf Club”.
“You could hear all the children like:” Oh, it’s so cool! “Said Kehoe laughing.” But then they all started asking for goods, so I had to hang up. “
The reasons why customers disrupt their tour to look at professional golf course to make a call.
A person called to hear about the dramatic movement of the day on the stock market. Another said he was checking the work. And many others simply touched the base with the family or loved ones.
Tyler Johnson and his wife Lauren called Roswell, Georgia, to check their 5-year-old son, who stays with his grandparents, “just to make sure there is no blood,” said Tyler laughing. While mom and dad alternated by speaking to their son, they took photos speaking on the strange black public phone.
“I think the last time I used one was in 1999, before Y2K, I think,” joked Tyler.
Although not having a mobile phone is a drawback for some, others have come to savor the liberating feeling of being disconnected from the world for a little while.
Fletcher Lord de Little Rock sent an SMS to his wife after arriving at around 6 a.m. and reminded him of not expecting to hear from him all day. He then began to take advantage of a few refreshments on a sunny day of 70 degrees in the middle of the serene backdrop of the Azalea in flowers and high pines.
“Once you have overcome the anxiety of not having your phone, it is a very liberating feeling because that forces you to be here in the moment,” said Lord.
O’Connor accepted.
He phoned one of his former friends from the school just to see if he would pick up. He did it.
“He obviously did not recognize the number, but when he saw Augusta National Pop Up, he said that I would better collect it,” said O’Connor.
Then it was gone to enjoy the day.
“Doesn’t he have to hurt a phone?” Said O’Connor. “No, I think it’s really good for me. These emails will be there when I go home.”
AP Golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
Originally published:
California Daily Newspapers
