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Photo Of The Day – Today we take a look at the Augusta National Golf course incident in 1983. The incident is probably unknown to most, so let’s travel back in time and see what happened some 37 years ago.
The New York Times article from October 23, 1983, begins with the headline “REAGAN UNHURT AS ARMED MAN TAKES HOSTAGES” and continues with:
“An armed man crashed through the gates of the Augusta National Golf Course today, took hostages and demanded to speak to President Reagan, who was playing the 16th hole at the time.”
Remember that about 2 years before, in 1981, Ronald Reagan was shot by Hinckley so it’s easy to understand if the Secret Service was on high alert to avoid another incident.
In the feature top image, we can see a limousine designed to allow agents to stand on a side platform and hang on to side handles. The roof is an open-top. It looks like the driver has the window – probably a thick bulletproof one – winded down.
We are talking Old School here, with agents wearing boat shoes and Uzis. Note that the Uzis seem to have some sort of (very strange) connected magazines, with a 90-degree angle.
Some say there’s a Franchi SPAS-12 shotgun in the back too, but I’m not sure.
Update: Reliable sources claim the shotgun is a Remington Law Enforcement top-folder 870, in a short barrel configuration.
However, president Ronald Reagan is probably not in the car.
I was able to find this source/quote.
I have first hand knowledge about this. Reagan visited my town in 1986 when I was 14. His limo was flown in the day before and stored at a local firehouse under Secret Service watch. One of the guys in charge of that firehouse was the dad of a friend of mine. So he arranged for us kids to actually see and sit in the limo. They had Uzis in cases in the trunk that they showed us. The 80’s were a simpler time.
Golf Digest has more on the story here. It’s a pretty interesting read if you have the time.
The president had left in a speeding motorcade that included grim Secret Service agents hanging on an open car, machine guns pointing in every direction.
If you know more about the incident, the firearms in the pictures and the story behind the strange Uzi magazines please start typing in the comments below.