Kai Trump drew attention at Augusta National this week after she walked the grounds, watched the action at the Masters and posted several pictures from the course. The 18-year-old also had a photo with Bryson DeChambeau, but the social media images immediately prompted questions about whether she had run afoul of one of Augusta National’s most closely watched rules.
Many people assumed the post showed Kai Trump with a phone inside the club, which would have been a problem at Augusta National, where phones are barred on the grounds and anyone caught carrying one can be removed and permanently banned from buying tickets. But the pictures appear to have been taken with a digital camera, not a phone, and those cameras are allowed on practice days.
That distinction mattered because the Masters is one of the few sporting events where the club’s rules are enforced with unusual force. Press members are allowed to bring phones into Augusta National, but they must keep them on their desks in the media area, while players, patrons and guests face the stricter ban that has led to ejectiions in the past. Mark Calcavecchia was recently ordered to leave Augusta after being caught on his phone, a reminder that the policy is not decorative.
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The interest around Kai Trump also folded into the wider Trump family presence around Augusta. Donald Trump is not allowed to be a member at Augusta National, and golf instructor Butch Harmon said the former president is “full of himself” and “the type of person that I don’t think fits the profile of an Augusta member.” Harmon added, “I don’t think his personality fits the membership at Augusta.” When pressed on the comment, he said, “That’s as politically correct as I can be.”
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Coverage of the Masters gets underway on April 6, and the attention around Kai Trump shows how quickly a simple set of course photos can turn into a rules question at Augusta. Here, the difference between a digital camera and a phone is not a technicality. It is the line between a harmless gallery from the grounds and a violation that can end a patron’s access for good.
