Billy Payne wins Gold Tee Award, shares wisdom on leadership during acceptance speech
RYE, N.Y. – Whether leading his Atlanta law firm, the decade-long effort to land the Centennial Olympics in his hometown or as Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club for 11 years, Billy Payne led with two guiding principles: no dream is too big and no detail is too small.
For embodying and exemplifying the best spirit and traditions of the sport of golf, Payne was the 2025 recipient of the Gold Tee Award, the Met Golf Writers Association’s highest honor.
As MGWA board member Martin Davis pointed out in the dinner program, Payne spearheaded four major initiatives – his personal grand slam, if you will – during his 11 years as Chairman of Augusta National that have had social repercussions far beyond the confines of the club.
The first was the admission of women as Augusta National members. The first two were Darla Moore and former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. In a recorded video played at the dinner, Rice called Payne “a transformative figure for golf, for sports, for America.” She added: “It wasn’t only admitting Darla Moore and me as the first women and doing it, by the way, in a way that was low-key that never made us feel as if we somehow were tokens or symbols or something. We were just members of Augusta and I thank him for that.”
His other initiatives were about growing the game – the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, the Drive Chip and Putt for juniors age 7-15 and the Latin American Amateur Championship.
Wrote Davis: “Although metrics for Billy’s Grand Slam initiatives are not readily available, anecdotal evidence strongly indicates that they have had a tremendous impact on participation and interest in golf worldwide, and will continue to do so for years to come.”
On Tuesday evening at Westchester Country Club, William Porter Payne – Billy to his friends – shared some of his leadership wisdom during his acceptance speech. First, he made a confession.
“As difficult as it may be to give you the sad reality, no matter how hard I tried, I’m no good (at golf),” he said. Laughter ensued. “Following in the famous footsteps of my football star father, I grew up learning to hit people not little white golf balls.
“Later, as an aspiring young lawyer, I quickly became aware that my ability to play golf might perhaps be a way for me to create business for my law firm. Then as I was learning to play the game in these early years, wow, I noticed I was making far more friends than I was making birdies and pars. Not long after those early attempts to learn the game my life was dramatically changed as I was invited by many of those same friends to become a member of Augusta National Golf Club.
“I’m living proof that your friends will never allow you to fail. Living proof that the best and most witness the quality and performance of those people that we are fortunate to lead. As I read recently, every day in fact, leadership is as simple as communicating to others their own worth and potential so clearly that they are inspired to see it in themselves.”
Of his tenure as Chairman, Payne humbly said, “It gave me a rare and precious opportunity to see perfection unfold from the efforts of a wonderful staff and an immensely dedicated and talented membership.”
For dreaming big and sweating all the small details, Payne is a worthy recipient of joining Augusta National founder Bob Jones in receiving the same award given to him more than 70 years ago.
Other award recipients included former New York Times golf writer Bill Pennington with the Linc Werden Golf Journalism Award; Craig and Kevin Stadler as Family of the Year; Sean McManus as Paul Dillon Distinguished Service Award; Les Schupak and David Zona as Dave Anderson Spotlight Award; Mizuho Americas as Bing Crosby Tournament Sponsor Award; and Southampton Golf Club as Club of the Year.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Former Augusta National chairman Billy Payne wins 2025 Gold Tee Award
