Mugshot of Wayne Player. (Photo: via Columbia County Sheriff’s Office)
(January 31, 2019) Wayne Player, the son of professional golfer Gary Player, has had a rough end to January, as he was arrested last week in Georgia on a fraud charge stemming from the week of the 2018 Masters and spent five days in jail after the arrest, according to USAToday.com.
The Augusta Chronicle reported that Player, the 56-year-old son of nine-time major winner Gary Player, was charged last Wednesday with deposit account fraud/bad checks greater than $499.
Player had rented a residence in Evans, Ga., for April 3 and 4 of last year for Masters week. The total cost for the two nights was $2,000. Per the Chronicle, the homeowner was paid for the stay by check but it was returned by the bank for insufficient funds. The homeowner claims his lawyer made several attempts to contact Player, including sending him a certified letter on May 14, with no luck.
Player apparently then contacted the lawyer and said he would send $1,000 to take care of the debt, but the homeowner never received the money and reported the incident to police in July.
As to the later offer of $1,000, Player admitted he had a mental lapse and failed to follow through.
“I actually put the letter from the lawyer under a heap of papers and I forgot about it, which I am 100 percent responsible for,” Player told Golf Channel.
While it appears this process may be behind him, he has another issue at hand.
According to the Augusta Chronicle, Player and Wayne Player Enterprises LLC are currently facing a civil lawsuit also stemming from the week of the 2018 Masters.
The suit, filed by Todd Feltz, states that Player and his company promised a customized “Green Jacket Masters Experience 2018” to him and his wife, Amy. The cost of it all was $6,850 per person and was slated to include dinner and open bar with Player, breakfast or lunch at the Founders Club for two days, tickets for the Par-3 Contest and the opening round of the Masters, a daily 9:30 a.m. walk of the back nine with Player, and a meet-and-greet with his dad (who won the Masters in 1961, ’74 and ’78) and other Masters champions.
The suit claims Wayne acted in bad faith and headbutted the plaintiff when he met to talk with him.
Player pleaded guilty to simple battery and the charge was reduced to disorderly conduct and a $300 fine. He told Golf Channel that rising ticket prices for the 2018 Masters made him unable to deliver on that package.
That suit is ongoing.
