I spent last week in a cell phone-free world, and I liked it

You cannot have a cell phone on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club during Masters Week.

You can't have a camera on the course during the Masters tournament unless you are credentialed with one of a select few media agencies, like Associated Press or Getty Images.

The first rule causes a strange feeling of alienation for many of the spectators. Both rules are tough and unfamiliar to the media on the course.

I spent five hours walking the course Thursday through Sunday, and can't tell you the number of times I instinctively reached for my phone to e-mail or text or Tweet about something I'd just seen.

If only I could have clicked some photos on my phone during the Masters. Oh, the things you'd have seen second-hand.

My professional instincts to add to this blog aside, I like the rules. Love them, in fact.

For one thing, it's liberating to be without the phone, to cut yourself off from the outside world and simply focus on something that is actually happening in front of you, to live in the moment instead of trying to freeze-frame it, often just for the sake of doing it.

Not every picture needs to be snapped, not every observation needs to be passed along. Twitter and Facebook are living proof, and I'm as guilty of contributing to it (OK, more guilty) than the average bear.

Where can you go in public and not encounter someone who is being annoying by yammering into their phone? How often have you silently taken offense while someone you were with was obsessing over his or her phone, ignoring you to catch up on the most-recent round of minutiae going on in their tiny world?

This isn't some fawning tribute to the Masters. I enjoy the tournament like so many sports fans. I enjoy the golf course like so many golf fans. The tournament itself has been terrific the last three years. It's much more fun to watch than a U.S. Open or PGA Championship.

That deal about not having a female member? That seems like weirdness at its finest, a club wanting so badly to show it doesn't get bullied by anyone that it does the wrong thing. Tell Augusta not to switch to purple jackets for the winners, and next year's champ just might be draped in violet.

I do sympathize with the females who feel wronged about being excluded from Augusta National, because there may not be a country club in the country that would have me. And vice versa.

When it comes to private clubs for billionaires, I guess I don't get too awe-stricken. They have nice things. Swell. They have an exclusive pristine sanctuary they use to play a game. Dandy. It's important that powerful men have places to remind them they are Masters of the Universe, as Tom Wolfe called them.

However, I do happily salute Augusta National for its insistence on civility. You can express excitement and disappointment about players' golf shots when you attend the Masters. You cannot, however, yell disruptively like jackals who do so at so many other public events. The tournament is the show, not you.

Someone got away with a "Baba Booey!" on the course Sunday. Or at least they night have. I heard it on Howard Stern's radio show Monday. "Baba Booey!" at the Masters. That took guts.

I wonder how many Augusta National members listen to Howard Stern.

You will not run on the Augusta National course, anywhere. If you run, you'll get run off. If you are in a specified seating area and you stand up, you will quickly be told to sit back down. I took perverse pleasure in seeing a marshal get strict Sunday with an old guy who was blocking others' views. I'll bet that guy hasn't been told off too often over the last several decades.

And you will not have one of those infernal phones on the course that make you a nuisance. You can bring actual cameras to the practice rounds to capture images (but not to share them for commercial purposes), but not during the tournament when a champion is being determined. Players aren't to be unnecessarily distracted, nor are other spectators.

How can you not like and appreciate any of that?

But I guess it takes an entity as powerful and controlling and financially secure as Augusta National and the Masters to mandate such things. The lust people have for Masters badges is so powerful that they would never consider losing them for disobeying a rule that is actually incredibly easy to follow.

If, say, your favorite restaurant decided phone-users had to join smokers outdoors, your favorite restaurant would probably go bye-bye in a hurry.

I'm a little hypocritical to be writing this. I was driving 115 mph on a Georgia highway late Sunday night when I decided to surf the Web on my phone. Hey, I multi-task better than most people. Plus, the car was a rental.

I'm joking, of course. I don't really multi-task all that well.

Y'all come back now, ya hear?