Billy Payne Retiring as Augusta National Chairman

In a year that has led to the announcement of many changes coming for the PGA TOUR, there has been little room for stability. Now, one of golf’s most stable golf clubs will be undergoing a major change as well.

Billy Payne, the chairman of Augusta National, will be retiring from his post effective October 16th, right before the start of the next season. Payne, who is now 69 years old, will retire from the role that he has held for 11 years and one that allowed him to create great change. Payne’s major achievement in this role was being the first chairman at Augusta National to accept women as members.

“There are two people that matter here — Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones,” Payne said on Wednesday. “The rest of us are custodians. We do our best to first embrace, and thereafter hopefully to advance their philosophies for this club and for the game of golf — their obsession for detail, their passion to be the best. And I’ve done that now for a considerable number of years.”

Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club William Porter ‘Billy’ Payne…

Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club William Porter ‘Billy’ Payne takes part in the first tee ceremony prior to the first round of the 2017 Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club on April… Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images

Outside of Payne’s great legacy for being a progressive chairman at Augusta National, he also did much to help the overall game of golf and the Georgian community. Payne was one of the leaders that helped bring the 1996 Olympic games in Atlanta and he has also been one of the driving forces in creating the Drive, Chip, and Putt competition. Payne also helped create the Asia-Pacific Amateur, which awards the winner a spot in the Masters.

Payne will leave some very big shoes to fill and those shoes will be filled by Fred Ridley. Ridley is a former U.S. Amateur champion and USGA President. Currently, Ridley serves as the chairman of the Masters’ committee so his transition to the role of chairman of Augusta National seems like a natural one. Ridley will also become the first chairman to have actually played in the Masters.

While this will be a big loss for Augusta and the golf community as a whole, we wish Billy Payne a happy retirement and the best of luck to Fred Ridley as he takes over Payne’s role.

Cover Photo via YouTube