Josele Ballester and Matt Thurmond, the head coach at Arizona State, made quite a splash at The Masters. They both drew ridicule for their attire at one of the most prestigious events in golf.
One of the two incidents was much less controversial than the other.
Ballester, a native of Castellón, Spain, qualified for The Masters as the reigning champion at the U.S. Open Amateur. He will graduate from Arizona State in May, approximately one month after playing the historic 18-hole course at Augusta National Golf Club for the first time. It is the biggest stage in golf and he got to play his practice round in a Spanish foursome with Jose Maria Olazabla, Jon Rahm, and Sergio Garcia!
However, Ballester played his first round alongside Scottie Scheffler while wearing a hat with his school’s mascot spelled out upside down. His choice of lid was subject to widespread criticism.
For those who are not aware of the ongoing trend, let me explain. The rise of these hats started back in 2020 with one simple word: ‘DALLAS.’ True Brvnds founder Sang Truong wanted to create a brand for his city. It resulted in a gold mine.
I was just [exploring] different typography and trying to mess around with the word ‘Dallas.’
— Sang Truong
Truong turned the word DALLAS upside down (because the pandemic turned the world upside down), put it on a hat, and created 30 prototypes. They sold out almost instantly. Not long thereafter, True Brvands partnered with Cowboys quarterback Ben DiNucci. DiNucci gave one of the hats to Dak Prescott. Prescott wore the hat during a press conference. The upside down ‘DALLAS’ hats took off.
With the rise of the ‘DALLAS’ hat came the rise of its copycats. Clothing companies worldwide started flipping random words upside down. That leads us to Thursday.
Josele Ballester wore a hat to represent his school. It just so happened to go along with the pop culture trend.
As he and Scheffler walked 18 holes on the most iconic course in the world, ‘SUN DEVILS’ was plastered upside down on his forehead. Some people thought the hat made him look like he was out on the student course with a six pack. Others likened it to a night out at the bar or a fraternity party. The great Bunkie Perkins called it “real Arizona State Dbag energy.”
Fans watching at home could not believe Ballester would wear such a casual hat to such a dignified event like The Masters. There were a large number of folks who were outraged!
To make matters worse, this was not the only attire issue to come from the Ballester camp this week. His head coach accidentally walked out onto the Tournament Practice Area while wearing shorts earlier in the week. He was trying to say hi to former Sun Devils golfer Kevin Yu but he did not get to stay long.
I went out on the range without thinking, gave him a hug. After about one shot and one quick hello, they came out and said “I’m sorry, sir, you can’t be on the range with your shorts.”
My bad, it was a mistake I made. I want to follow the rules here when I’m at Augusta and do everything right. Lucky to be here and appreciate everything here. I just made a mistake!
— Matt Thurmond
Thurmond was able to have a laugh at his own expense.
Strolled out onto the Augusta range today with my coach badge. Got removed for wearing shorts. First bogey of the week. Celebrated with an egg salad sandwich. Pants tomorrow.
— Matt Thurmond
Although the minor incident very quickly blew over, his player sparked a controversy of his own just a few days later. Was it inappropriate for Josele Ballester to wear the upside down Sun Devils hat at Augusta?