Posted on 09/27/2002 11:55:43 AM PDT by Tumbleweed_Connection
Augusta National Golf Club is a private club. It has 300 members, all of the male persuasion. It is a golf club which owns one of the lushest golf courses in America.
As a private club, it has the right to make its own rules. One of the rules states that Augusta National’s membership is limited to men. That’s the way it has always been and because it is, it irks one Martha Burk, who is chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations.
It also appears to irk USA Today which reports that the Burk woman has fired off letters to six members of the club demanding that they explain how they dare to belong to a men only organization.
"Friday, USA Today reports, "Burk's newest letter will hit the desks of six club members: Rep. Amo [that’s Amory, boys] Houghton (R-N.Y.); Lloyd Ward, CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee; former U.S. senator turned Coca-Cola board member Sam Nunn; Citigroup CEO Sanford Weill; Motorola CEO Christopher Galvin; and JP Morgan Chase CEO William Harrison.
"We'll ask them for on-the-record statements reconciling their corporate policies with their memberships in Augusta," Burk told the paper.
In a lengthy story in today’s issue, Michael McCarthy and Eric Brady present this golf club as some kind of secret, conspiratorial organization akin to Yale’s infamous Skull and Bones coven.
Augusta National, you see includes among its 300 members some of the nation’s most important men - CEOs of major companies, top political figures and the scions of America’s financial aristocracy. Among the more illustrious members not mentioned by McCarthy and Brady, was one Dwight D. Eisenhower who occasionally lived in a cottage on the grounds. One has a picture of Ike reading this hit piece and hitting the ceiling as he was wont to do when encountering this kind of politically correct advocacy disguised as journalism.
The membership roster, loaded as it is with gentlemen of wealth and accomplishment automatically places the golf club under a cloud of suspicion in the eyes of USA Today which seems to find capitalist conspirators under every bed. What on earth do these people talk about when they get together in private, without a woman in sight. What kind of skullduggery do they plot?
Now it’s bad enough, it seems, that the members are rich, but many, USA Today tells us ominously, are old.
"USA TODAY” the reporters tell us, "has obtained a copy of the long-secret membership rolls for the club that hosts The Masters, one of golf's four major championships. The names on that list tell the tale of an old boys club, emphasis on old: The average age is 72. More than a third are retired. And they come mainly from the country's old-line industries: banking and finance, oil and gas, manufacturing and distributing.”
Obviously a very sinister group.
"The list is interesting as much for who is on it as for who isn't,” the paper tells us, noting that while Warren Buffett, Jack Welch and Arnold Palmer are there, " you won't find the likes of Bill Clinton, Donald Trump or any publicity-loving dot-com billionaires.”
Bill Clinton? In a gentleman’s club?
The club, we are led to believe is not only undemocratic, it is also exclusive. You just can’t walk up to front door and apply for membership - you have to be invited! Bill Gates, allegedly yearned to get an invitation for years before he recently got one.
USA Today actually refers to Augusta National as "golf's secret society,” and goes on to list the membership as composed of "Statesmen and politicians. Several of Augusta's members have spent half their lives in the public arena. But when it comes to their membership, they say little.
"Among those who could not be reached for comment: former Secretary of State George Shultz, former Secretary of the Treasury Nicholas Brady, former Defense Secretary Melvin Laird and former Georgia governor Carl Sanders. Nunn said in a statement: ‘As a member, I make my views known through the club's normal procedures, not in the public arena.’ "
Football’s legendary coach Lou Holtz, recently invited to join Augusta National, told the Atlanta Journal & Constitution: "I have played there many, many times over the years as a guest. My wife has played there and she loves it. We have stayed all night there at the course. She is as excited as I am."
Asked about the question of its absence of women members, Holtz said: "My wife has played there and so did a thousand other women last year. I don't know where the no-women policy is. . . . I don't want to hear 'no women,' because my wife has played there."
"This is a private club," member Ben S. Gilmer of Atlanta, a former president of AT&T told the Journal. "What they say among themselves is a private matter. Other people are trying to inject themselves into a private matter. . . . He [Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson] speaks for the club, so if he speaks for the club on this issue, he speaks for me on it."
In 1934, the first golfer to win the Masters was Horton Smith, who just a happened to be married to Barbara Bourne, daughter of Singer Sewing Machine Company heir Alfred Severn Bourne who helped finance the complex.
When his daughter married Smith one of her aunts said "Imagine spending all that money to educate Barbara, bringing her up properly to bring distinction to the name of Bourne, then she marries a man named Smith.”
And that, Miss Burk, should tell you what you’re up against.
We don't know what the membership rules are, they won't reveal them, but it seems silly to debate whether or not the rule exists. If they have never been "invited", it means they are not wanted. The membership want to keep it exclusively a men's golf club and maybe it's an unwritten rule written in stone. We have no way of knowing for sure. What we know for sure is that there are no women members.
"Johnson has said the club has no exclusionary policies, although it has never had a female member its 69-year history and only welcomed its first black member in 1990. In response to Burk's letter, Johnson defiantly said that Augusta National will not be "bullied, threatened or intimidated" to add female members.
If I had an exclusive women's club going, I sure as heck wouldn't want to have to invite some guy because someone told me I had to invite some guy.
LOL! Amen to that! They can still discern class.
Common sense prevails here. If they have never had a female member, there must be some exclusionary policy, written or unwritten. Read the subtext.
But he was admitted this year, and with it came speculation that the TV may go to a pay per view tourney on the Yankees Network and possibly a tie in with footage on Microsoft sites.
How about we just read the TEXT? From Johnson himself:
Augusta National was established in 1932 by legendary golfer Bobby Jones as a place where kindred spirits could meet to enjoy the game they love, in privacy. The original members were essentially personal golfing friends of Bobby Jones and the other founders of the Club. The Club functioned in this capacity when it was decided in 1934 to have an invitational golf tournament with specially invited professionals of the day. This invitational tournament, in what was at the time a small Georgia community, became the Masters. Except during the Masters, Augusta National has not changed from what was envisioned by its original founders - a small, private club for the enjoyment of golf. The Masters, however, has changed. The Masters is one of the four major golf tournaments in the world and traditions surrounding the Masters have become part of the traditions of golf. Augusta National has an obligation to the game of golf. We accept this responsibility and will continue to fulfill it to the best of our ability. Augusta National, which has less than 300 worldwide members, has no membership restrictions based on race, color, religion, gender or national origin. Our society is changing, and it is only natural that our Club should reflect these changes in contemporary society. We are finding more and more, our existing members' suggestions for new members have broadened to include a varied cross section of this society. We expect this trend to continue. Augusta National has no timetable for change, as any such timetable would be artificial and unrealistic. We can say, however, that our membership procedures will be administered in accordance with the principles above. We will continue to respect the privacy and the enjoyment of golf for our membership, and we will continue to preserve and protect the traditions of the Masters Tournament, for the good of the game.BACKGROUND OF AUGUSTA NATIONAL GOLF CLUB AND THE MASTERS TOURNAMENT
Especially when you're losing the debate. ;-P (I'm kidding)
Their policy is, at this point, not to admit women.
Which is, of course, different from a RULE not to admit women.
I'm sorry, I'm nitpicking.
We have been extremely blessed.
They stated there is no such policy. You have not evidence to contridict their statement.
LOL, I guess Augusta as been too :)
Not at all, you're presenting a spirited defense to support your argument. I just happen to believe that there really isn't any argument. Written rule or no, the evidence that they don't want women in Augusta is clear and convincing.
Name one woman member of Augusta National.
Why do you insist on this baseless argument? What do you know about Augusta National's rules? Do you think there are membership dues? There aren't. Members are simply assessed for annual expenses. So next year, in order to televise the tournament, members will probably be assessed a hundred thousand or so each to provide coverage. Did you know that? What else do you not know about Augusta National?
Name one woman member of the Dallas Cowboy's starting lineup.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.