As It Happens6:41A tale of two Stallings: Real estate agent gets invite to golf’s most prestigious tournament
Georgia’s Scott Stallings enjoys playing golf — but he doesn’t think he has the requisite skills to compete at the Masters.
So he was a bit surprised when he received an official invitation in the mail from Augusta National Golf Club inviting him to play at one of golf’s most prestigious tournaments.
Then it clicked. The invite may have been sent to Scott Stallings, the real estate agent. But it was clearly meant for Scott Stallings, the professional golfer who lives in Tennessee.
“I don’t think I’d have a chance in a million,” he told As It Happens host Nil Köksal. “Now, the real Scott Stallings, they probably have a little bit more faith in his abilities.”
Augusta National did not respond to a request for comment.
‘I read it and I reread it’
It was Scott’s wife, Jenny Stallings, who first discovered the accidental invitation.
It was New Year’s Eve and the Atlanta couple had just arrived at their vacation home in St. Simons, Ga. Scott was unloading their stuff from the car, and Jenny ran up to the condo to check the mail.
When she spotted the dark green envelope emblazoned with the golf course’s distinctive logo, she immediately recognized it as being from the Masters. She opened it eagerly, thinking that she and her husband had won tickets.
Instead, she found an invitation, printed in a posh calligraphy, “cordially” inviting one Mr. Scott Stallings to compete.
“I read it and I reread it, and I’m like, what?” she told CBC. “So I start yelling to my husband … ‘Oh, my God! You just got invited to play at the Masters!”
‘Checking the mailbox five times a day’
Meanwhile, golfer Scott Stallings was anxiously checking his mailbox several times a day, and wondering why his coveted green envelope had not yet arrived.
He was pretty sure he’d qualified for the tournament, and all his golfing colleagues had already received theirs.
“Honestly, I thought my wife had it and was doing something for Christmas,” Stallings told reporters Monday at the Sentry Tournament of Champions in Hawaii.
But there was no green envelope under the tree.
Then he finally got his answers in the form of an Instagram message from the other Scott Stallings, explaining the mix-up.
Jenny Stallings had penned the message on her husband’s behalf, she said. She didn’t want to embarrass the golfer, so she figured the best thing to do was reach out to him privately.
At first, the golfer didn’t seem to believe the Georgia couple. He responded with a laugh-crying emoji. So they sent him some photos of the invitation, and gave him their phone number.
The next morning, the couple awoke to find a voicemail from none other than pro-golfer Scott Stallings, whose wife, it turns out, is also named Jennifer. Soon, both couples were on the phone talking it all out.
“We’re Scott Stallings fans because of my husband. He’s been always following him for years,” Jenny said. “I mean, it was just so surreal.”
Meanwhile, the real estate agent’s Instagram was blowing up. The pro-golfer had posted a screenshot of their messages, with the caption: “Literally had been checking the mailbox five times a day and then I got this random DM yesterday.”
The Georgia Stallings have since headed to their local UPS store to ship the invitation to its intended recipient. Jenny filmed her husband as he packed the coveted green envelope into a plain white one.
“OK, Scott,” she said. “Why are we at the UPS store?”
“Because I’m having to send my invitation to play at the Masters back to the other Scott Stallings,” he replied with a playful scowl.
“Oh, I’m sorry,” she said.
“I tried,” he said. “That’s OK.”
But, in reality, the real estate agent says he never considered keeping the invitation for a second. In fact, he’s been checking the UPS tracking information to make sure it’s en route to the correct Scott.
“We were very cautious about it,” he said. “I said [to the UPS worker]: make sure this gets in the right place.”
Golfer Stallings, he says, has been gracious, inviting the Georgia couple to watch a practice round at the Masters and join him and his wife for dinner.
“My Jennifer and his Jennifer, we’re going to have dinner Monday night,” he said. “A great double date. And as far as I’m concerned, I just won the lottery.”
