Gary Player's son arrested for fraud, jailed for 5 days over 2018 Masters incident

Wayne 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. 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.”

Player has another issue at hand. 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.

Player told Golf Channel that rising ticket prices for the 2018 Masters made him unable to deliver on that package.

The Gary Player Group released a statement Wednesday saying:

“Mr. Player is currently in South Africa and unaware of this unfortunate situation with his son Wayne,” the statement said. “His position has always been that Wayne is an independent businessman that does not represent the Gary Player Group nor Mr. Player personally. We do not know the details surrounding this matter and until we find out exactly what transpired, cannot comment with any authority.”

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/golf/2019/01/31/wayne-player-arrested-fraud-2018-masters-week/2737850002/

https://www.augustachronicle.com/news/20190130/company-representing-masters-champ-gary-player-releases-statement-about-sons-arrest