When it comes to calling the Masters, warns golf analyst Peter Kostis, the wisest strategy for sportscasters is to adhere to the Latin phrase “primum non nocere”—first, do no harm.

Broadcasting the Masters is a death or glory affair. One great call can etch an announcer’s name into history. Just ask Jim Nantz (above, right) and Verne Lundquist, whose long careers at CBS date back to a pair of famous calls at the 1986 Masters.

But one wrong remark can leave you excommunicated from the country’s most-watched tournament. Pour one out for Gary McCord, who was banned from CBS’s coverage after joking about “body bags” and Augusta National Golf Club “bikini-waxing” its lightning-fast greens. And pour another one out for the late Jack Whitaker, who was barred for calling the crowd coming up the 18th fairway a “mob.”