Augusta pair arrested

With Pinkerton security guards on the front gate and membership qualification deemed to be men-only millionaire status before you’re even considered for recommendation to be a green jacket – it’s tough to get a game at Augusta National, home of the US Masters.

Only a privileged few – most of them among the world’s top 70 golfers each year - have ever stepped on to this hallowed course in Georgia’s deep south, so two infiltrators, armed with a club each and some balls, set alarm bells ringing when they tried to sneak in through the back door.

Slightly the worse for drink, according to police reports, William DeLong(23) and David cooper(25) tried and failed to scale the 10 foot fence which surrounds one of the world’s most famous golf venues this week.

It was the middle of a cool Augusta night and they planned to wait until dawn in the bushes beside the 16th green to get in a few holes, when they sparked emergency signals.

They were eventually spotted in a dazed condition, by patrolmen, clutching their Dunlop equipment, hiding in the grass and arrested for disorderly conduct.

*Tiger Woods defends his US Masters title at Augusta from April 10-13, by which time, if women’s rights supporters have their way, a woman will be installed as a club member for the first time.