Kenny Mayne would like to clarify something. He is not banned from Augusta National Golf Club. He is also kind of banned from Augusta National Golf Club. He’s fine with you believing whichever version you prefer.
“Yeah, it’s funny, that’s a real story and a fake story at the same time, which that’s kind of true with everything, I think,” Mayne told host Brandon Contes on the Awful Announcing Podcast this week, addressing the story that went viral last month after he told it to Jon “Stugotz” Weiner on God Bless Football and it got picked up by us at Awful Announcing, Sports Illustrated, and Golf Digest as if it were a legitimate controversy.
Here’s what actually happened, as best as Mayne can reconstruct it. He used to cover golf for ESPN alongside Scott Van Pelt and Andy North, and during one broadcast, he was doing one of his signature silly pretend stories — the same brand of bit he’d do for NFL coverage — and made some crack about showing up to the Masters with four “saucy” women to play. Augusta National, which famously exercises extraordinary editorial control over everything connected to its tournament — this is a place that tells broadcasters to say “patrons” instead of “fans” and “second nine” instead of “back nine” — did not find it funny. They called into the ESPN production truck while the broadcast was still on the air.
“They really did get upset,” Mayne said. “They really did call ESPN; they called the truck while we’re still on the air. And my boss is like, ‘No, no, no, he just does jokes. He’s not really gonna do that.’”
The complicating detail is that Mayne was never invited to cover the Masters in the first place. He was primarily covering horse racing at the time, so there’s a real chance Augusta’s angry phone call and his lack of a Masters credential are completely unrelated. Mayne decided it was funnier to tell people he’d been banned for life. That bit sat in his rotation for what he thinks might be 20 years until the Stugotz appearance.
“When you deliver a line, you gotta kind of know the tone, you gotta know the context,” Mayne said, “and next thing you know, I’m being written up in Sports Illustrated, Golf Digest — what the hell’s going on?”
His bosses at Weenie the Fourth — the podcast Mayne co-hosts with Brian Baumgartner from The Office and Cooper Manning — were thrilled and told him not to correct it. They didn’t care about the truth. They liked that his name was generating headlines and that people might find the show. Cooper Manning, for his part, has made clear he will not be escorting Mayne onto Augusta’s grounds. He doesn’t want to jeopardize his own standing with the green jackets.
As for what Augusta itself thinks of all this, Mayne figures it was probably just one guy who called that day, and that they may have a better sense of humor than people give them credit for.
The good news is that Darius Rucker has invited Mayne to his golf tournament the day after the Masters. He’s getting close.
Listen to the full episode of the Awful Announcing Podcast featuring Kenny Mayne beginning Thursday, March 5. Subscribe to the show on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, and wherever you get your podcasts. For more content, subscribe to AA’s YouTube page.