The guardian
He brought the Olympic Games to Atlanta; now Billy Payne holds the reins of one of golf's most celebrated events
Billy Payne is surrounded by the past.
In his office at Augusta National Golf Club, an oil painting by former President Eisenhower hangs on the wall. It is of Bobby Jones, the club's founder and inspiration for the Masters Tournament.
On one of the side tables, a framed photograph shows Payne with Jack Stephens and Hootie Johnson, his two predecessors as chairman of the club and tournament.
A few hundred feet away, in the clubhouse, there are more reminders: busts of Jones and co-founder Clifford Roberts, not to mention many artifacts pertaining to the club's rich history.
Beyond that is the 18-hole "cathedral in the pines" - the most worshipped, envied and scrutinized layout in the world.
Payne, 59, is also surrounded by his past: star football player at the University of Georgia, successful real estate lawyer and the man who brought the Olympic Games to Atlanta.
With all he's accomplished, it would be easy for him to sit back and enjoy the moment, but it won't happen.
The chairman of Augusta National and the Masters is golf's leader, and his actions have a direct influence on the game's governing bodies. Issues facing the game include getting young people and minorities involved, reining in technology, and figuring out how to best reach new audiences through new media.
Those closest to him know that Payne, just the club's sixth chairman and the first from Georgia, will succeed.
"At first I was surprised that there was going to be a change," said Vince Dooley, his former football coach at Georgia. "But then when I started thinking about it, there was no other choice. No one has the experience he has dealing with media, nationally and internationally, and he's very articulate and a great competitor."
Andrew Young, Payne's partner in bringing the Olympics to the Deep South, agreed.
"He understands tradition, and he understands vision," Young said. "He will do his best to satisfy the needs of both sides."
BILLY PAYNE HAS ALWAYS BEEN a team player.
A highly recruited football player out of high school, Payne followed in the footsteps of his father, Porter, and played at Georgia.
In his first three years at UGA, Payne played tight end. Before his senior season in 1968, Dooley asked him to switch to defensive end, a position at which the Bulldogs were weak.
Payne made the switch, earned All-SEC honors in his one year at the position and helped Georgia reach the Sugar Bowl, Payne recounted in What It Means To Be A Bulldog.
"I said many times that I've seen some individual specialists at different skills, but I've never seen a better 60-minute man," Dooley said. "If there's one guy you want in the game playing the whole time - offense, defense and kicking - it would be Billy Payne."
Payne inherited that work ethic from his father. His dad died at age 51, but Payne still feels his influence.
"I loved and admired my father more than I could possibly describe," Payne said. "My dad was only 18 years older than me. We were like brothers and, at the same time, father-son. He was my inspiration in so many things."
Dooley and Johnson, who stepped down as chairman last spring, also have been inspirations to Payne.
Like Payne, Johnson was a college football player who sacrificed for the betterment of his team. He started out as a tailback at the University of South Carolina but switched to fullback and earned accolades for his skills as a blocker. In business, he took a small bank and expanded it regionally, and he eventually retired as the chairman of the executive committee of Bank of America.
Johnson was Augusta National's most influential leader since Clifford Roberts ran the tournament with an iron fist from its inception into the mid-1970s. Johnson oversaw sweeping alterations to the course that added 520 yards to its length. He also changed the way players qualified for the tournament, and refused to change the all-male club's membership when it was challenged by a women's group.
In typical Johnson style, he issued a brief statement when the club announced in May that Payne would be his successor.
"The tournament is successful by any measure and will continue to grow," he said. "I know I leave the chairmanship in very capable hands."
Payne became an Augusta National member in 1997, and it didn't take him long to forge a close friendship with Johnson. The former Olympic organizer became the chairman of the Masters media committee in 2000, and in that role he became one of the club's more visible members.
"I think Hootie taught me, and accelerated, my love and appreciation for Augusta National," Payne said.
Payne moderated the chairman's annual "State of the Masters" address. Although Johnson never ducked the tough questions, Payne was always there to help interpret or put the media at ease.
That relationship continued to grow as the two became "inseparable" at club parties, according to Payne.
As the first chairman who didn't know club founders Jones and Roberts, Payne relied heavily on his mentor for getting him up to speed.
"We went through many years of sitting in the Stephens Cottage late at night after dinner, and he would tell me stories about the early years, and especially Mr. Roberts," Payne said. "I never knew him, of course, and I wanted to know all about him, and Hootie was kind enough to spend the time to tell me. Those were invaluable experiences for me, and we developed just a great friendship."
Unlike Johnson, who wasn't a well-known figure before he became Augusta National's chairman, Payne has lived much of his life in the public eye.
After his playing days at Georgia were over, he went to law school and laid the foundation for a successful career in business. That led to his Olympic dream, and a period of public visibility that Payne embraced.
Today, he is a partner with investment banking firm Gleacher Partners and the chairman of Centennial Investment Properties, an investment firm in which he is a partner with his son.
On the eve of his first Masters as chairman, it is clear that Payne is still driven to succeed.
He spent last summer motoring between Atlanta and Augusta, averaging more than two days a week at the club. When not at the club, Payne said, his time was filled with attending meetings or discussing club and tournament issues over the phone.
"I think I'm at a point in my life where I can work smarter than I used to," said Payne, who was famous for putting in extraordinarily long days during his Olympic quest.
Horace Sibley, a lawyer who worked with Payne on the Olympics bid, said Augusta National got "the best of the best" for its new chairman.
"When we were trying to win the Olympics, we had a close-knit team," he said. "He was very careful to watch each of us to make sure we did things at the highest level. He kept his hand in on everything."
As with his days as a football player, businessman and Olympic dreamer, Payne hopes he can do the same with his current staff.
"Not only are they exceedingly capable people, they have a great affection for Augusta National and the Masters, and it's apparent in everything they do," Payne said of the club's employees. "It's just been a delight sharing that enthusiasm with them and learning from them. And, to some small degree, hopefully, trying to lead and inspire them a little bit."
BILLY PAYNE HAS ALWAYS BEEN a salesman.
Who else could dream of bringing the world's biggest sporting event to the South? Who else could pull it off, raise more than $2 billion and put on the Olympics without a deficit?
Young, the former Atlanta mayor and United Nations ambassador, recalled the first time he met Payne.
"We met in 1987. When he came to my office with the crazy idea of bringing the Olympics to Atlanta," Young said, "I bought it hook, line and sinker."
Payne and Young began the Olympic chase shortly after that meeting, and it lasted until the conclusion of the 1996 Summer Games. Out of their unlikely alliance, a friendship was born.
"I think Andy Young and I embraced and chased the same dream," Payne said. "That was to bring the Olympics to Atlanta, Ga., because we had some common-denominator beliefs that the world could benefit substantially by meeting people of the American South.
"As we went around the world, we found our strategy to be well-founded because people, they didn't know the South. And what they knew about it was Civil War or civil rights - only thing they knew about the South.
"So Andy and I go around the world for three years, making all these speeches, and here we were: this black man and this white guy. Obviously sharing great affection for one another, which was very sincere, and we're out there talking about our community. It kind of rocked some heads. ... We formed an incredible bond and love for one another throughout that process."
Payne and Young suffered some setbacks along the way to their Olympic dream.
Chief among those was a plan to reintroduce golf to the Olympics - it had not been part of the Games since 1904. The venue they proposed? Augusta National, of course.
That plan quickly unraveled when Atlanta City Council members, led by Mayor Bill Campbell, openly objected to taking the event outside of their city and because Augusta National's membership was predominantly white men.
"Jack Stephens, who was then chairman, and I thought it would be a great idea," Payne said. "And yet when petty politics and others intervened, it became clear that in order for it to work would be a long, prolonged battle. And while I thought we could win, it was only about one out of 50 that we were fighting."
As is his nature, Payne didn't dwell very long on the setback.
"We canceled our plans and it was over," he said. "I honestly didn't spend another minute thinking about it because I had so much to do."
Unlike his role at the Masters, Payne had to secure funding for the Olympics. He also had to play the political game of courting the International Olympic Committee and keeping the folks back home happy.
Though the Masters has been financially stable for decades, and television partners and corporate sponsors are eager to take part, Payne thinks he can still apply some lessons he learned to his new role.
"I think I have a pretty good education in the economic elements of running a major golf tournament: sponsorships, television, ticketing," he said. "I spent years and years studying that, trying to learn that, during the Olympics. I believe that is beneficial."
Exposing more fans to the Masters via the Internet and introducing children to golf in general are two of his goals, he said.
"What it allows me to do, perhaps as we move forward into the new media, it allows me to raise some questions and issues and hopefully be a bit helpful as we explore what is truly one of our great mandates, and that is how do we improve the interest and support of great golf by exposing people to golf at its finest, which is the Masters," Payne said. "I would maintain the more we can effectively introduce people, especially kids, to golf, the greater service we're doing to the game.
"Recent history has told us that there is no better way to do that than the utilization of various aspects of the new media. We are studying hard and will, for the next couple of years, (decide) what additional steps in that direction would be appropriate for us to take."
BILLY PAYNE HAS ALWAYS BEEN a visionary.
He dreamed of playing college football and made that come true. He believed he could bring the Olympics to Georgia and, despite the naysayers, accomplished that.
But becoming a member at Augusta National and rising to chairman of the Masters? He never saw those coming.
His first visit to Augusta National came in the 1960s, when he was still in college. The tickets were compliments of a fraternity brother, and he was accompanied by his wife, Martha.
"I remember the beauty, the richness of the colors. It was unlike any place we had ever been before," Payne said. "Of course, the furthest thing from my mind was that I would ever have an opportunity to be a member, and certainly not the chairman. I was 19 or 20 years old, but I remember we were always actively searching for friends who would give us tickets. And we did come back, many times."
Now he sits in the most influential chair in golf, surrounded by the past, yet looking forward.
"In many respects as chairman of Augusta, you become a custodian of one of the great sporting events of the world. And so change does and should come slowly," Payne said. "But having said that, the ultimate objective for us is that every patron who comes here, in most cases expecting such wonderful views and drama, is that we continue to enhance that experience. What is highlighted and been responsible for much of the success of the Masters during the years is that whoever has sat in my chair has looked 10 years down the road, and so, in large measure, the tournament has been the beneficiary of that forward thinking."
With a tournament that has provided so many firsts, Payne is hard-pressed to provide specifics on what those changes will be.
The most pressing issue is how to combat advances in technology that have made some championship layouts nearly obsolete. Johnson took an aggressive route as chairman, overseeing changes to 14 of Augusta National's 18 holes and stretching the length to 7,445 yards.
Payne did announce some minor, mostly cosmetic changes to this year's layout, but he is keeping a keen eye on advancements made in golf ball and club technology.
"I think the issue over which we all hope for closure is that the game of golf will have reached a plateau and settle down regarding the distances these guys are hitting it using new equipment," Payne said. "Because it has and continues to threaten some of the great courses in the world, Augusta included. I commend the changes Hootie made in trying to keep us current and continuously demand and require shot values for the second shots."
Johnson threatened to introduce a "Masters ball" that would be restricted in its distance and required to be used by all participants, but so far that hasn't been necessary.
"As I said, at the end of the day, we'll do whatever is required to ensure the competitiveness of our golf course," Payne said. "And so, while we do not believe the focus is now singularly on the ball, it is not an option that we would rule out unequivocally forever. It's not a burning issue now, I don't think."
Attention to the technology issue by the U.S. Golf Association and the PGA Tour has encouraged Payne and Masters officials, but more changes to Alister Mackenzie and Bobby Jones' masterpiece might be necessary.
"Well, we never know what the future holds. And of course, we want to see this current configuration played under several more tournaments, with variations in weather," Payne said. "We are always vigilant as we're watching, and I think at the end of the day, we're going to do whatever is required to ensure that this wonderful golf course remains up to the competition level required to host a major golf tournament."
Changes to the way players qualify for the Masters also are likely. Payne has strongly hinted at bringing back PGA Tour winners as instant qualifiers. But the Tour's abbreviated schedule under the FedEx Cup system, which includes several opposite-field events and a fall series that won't draw the top players, makes the issue complex.
"We are getting close, I think, to being able to make a decision when it would be appropriate to invite back the winners," Payne said. "I can't give you a specific timetable, because there's still a little bit up in the air and we want to be sure we get it right."
An issue that is sure to resurface is the club's lack of female members. Augusta National admitted its first black member in 1990 but has never had a female member.
The new chairman has said repeatedly that any public dialogue on the club's lack of female members would not be meaningful or helpful.
"We're going to continue our membership deliberations in a private manner, and we're just not going to talk about it," he said.
Payne's track record might suggest that he is the chairman who will open the door to women at Augusta National.
"We had mostly women in leadership of the Olympics," said Young, his Olympic partner. "He worked with that group very well."
His former football coach thinks Payne will take an analytical approach.
"What he has already done is what I expected him to do," Dooley said. "I thought he would listen, form opinions and thoughts on things as he goes along, and make the right decision at the right time."
BILLY PAYNE CAN SEE the possibilities.
Allowing fans to watch the Masters online. Keeping Augusta National's layout current with technology. Taking golf to untapped markets.
Clifford Roberts and the chairmen who followed him all had absolute power, but they never put the Masters ahead of the game itself. Serving the patrons, and golf in general, has always been the mission.
"Golf is used, and rightly so, to serve many purposes. The sale of merchandise and real estate, the raising of charitable funds, and the promotion of various projects," Roberts wrote in The Story of the Augusta National Golf Club. "The Masters is operated for the single purpose of benefiting the game itself."
Roberts was right: No other tournament has been responsible for as many innovations as the Masters.
An oft-repeated story tells of a patron coming up to Roberts after the Masters and complimenting him on how great the tournament was. Roberts' reply was, "Thank you, but we really never get it right."
That is the mantra embraced by all of the chairmen, Payne included.
"We have inspired others to do it better, and as they do it better then you can make an argument that they are narrowing the differential," Payne said. "And so what we need to think of and what all previous chairmen have thought of are what additional ways we continue to distinguish the Masters. We've done it in so many ways: the first color television, the first high definition, the first on-course scoreboards, the first totally subterranean cabling system - always something like that. We spend a lot of time thinking about those kinds of things."
The Masters has long been one of the toughest tickets in sports, if not the toughest. A link to the Internet, though, was all it took in 2006 to get a taste of the action at Amen Corner during tournament rounds. This year, the club will show live coverage of the tournament via the Internet for an hour each day leading into the television broadcast. Expect more of that type of access in the future.
"I think perhaps the next step to allowing greater access to the Masters is through some as yet undecided form of new media," Payne said. "Like the little teaser we did at Amen Corner. It was received overwhelmingly positively. In terms of getting more people to have the experience, that's probably the direction we'll head over the next couple of years."
So Payne sits in his office, and the cabin at night, soaking up all he can on the club's history and founding fathers.
He knows that change is slow to come at Augusta but that it is steady.
"I am humbled by the thought of following in the footsteps of the great men who have preceded me, and I am well aware of the customs and traditions they held so dearly," Payne told reporters after taking over as chairman. "I will do the very best that I can do to perform my responsibilities, to reflect proudly on those traditions, and to demonstrate time and time again my love and affection for Augusta National Golf Club and the Masters."
Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or john.boyette@augustachronicle.com.
PREVIOUS CHAIRMEN AT AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB
CLIFFORD ROBERTS (1931-76): He was the brains behind most of what is the Masters Tournament today. He joined with golfer Bobby Jones to organize the club and start the invitational tournament. Innovations included mounds for spectators to view play and bringing television to the tournament in 1956. Roberts died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the grounds of Augusta National in 1977.
BILL LANE (1977-78): He served a very short period of time as chairman. Lane succeeded Roberts in 1977 but soon became ill and was hospitalized. Notable occurrences during his tenure were the Par 3 Course being converted to bentgrass in preparation for installation on the main course and the patron badge waiting list being closed in 1978. Hord Hardin became acting chairman in 1979, and Lane died in 1980.
HORD HARDIN (1980-91): Changes during his tenure included the acceptance of Ron Townsend, the club's first black member, in 1990; the change from bermuda to slick bentgrass greens in 1981; allowing non-Augusta National caddies to work the Masters beginning in 1983; and the reinstatement of honorary starters, featuring Gene Sarazen, Byron Nelson and Sam Snead, in 1981. He died in 1996.
JACK STEPHENS (1991-98): Under his watch, limitations on practice-round tickets were instituted and an agreement was reached to use Augusta National as the venue for golf in the 1996 Olympic Games. The plan was later rejected by the IOC when Atlanta Mayor Bill Campbell was critical of the lack of minorities on the Augusta National membership roll. He died in 2005.
HOOTIE JOHNSON (1998-2006): The most influential chairman since Roberts, he oversaw several changes to the golf course that stretched the layout to 7,445 yards. He also made headlines for refusing to give in to activist Martha Burk, who urged the club to admit women as members. Johnson also made changes to the qualification system for the Masters and instituted 18-hole television coverage of the tournament.
Hootie Johnson, chairman emeritus, Augusta National Golf Club
1931: Born in Augusta
1953: Begins banking career in Greenwood, S.C.
May 1, 1998: Johnson succeeds Jack Stephens as chairman of Augusta National and Masters
1999: Qualification standards to get into Masters changed, most notably winning a PGA Tour event is no longer an automatic invitation; second cut of fairway increased on course
2001: Retires as chairman of the executive committee of Bank of America Corp.
2002: Sweeping changes to course made as nine holes lengthened and several changes made to fairways and bunkers; 18-hole television coverage instituted for Sunday's final round.
June 2002: Receives letter from Martha Burk, chair of National Council of Women's Organizations, about club's lack of female members and responds with terse, three-paragraph reply
Aug. 30, 2002: As controversy escalates, he releases tournament sponsors Coca-Cola, IBM and Citigroup from their obligation
2003: Planned protest by Martha Burk and National Council of Women's Organizations fizzles
2006: More changes made to course as six holes are lengthened; yardage for Masters now 7,445 yards
May 5, 2006: Retires as chairman of Augusta National and Masters and becomes chairman emeritus
