ISSUE: Augusta National Golf Club and women

OPINION: Matter of time before females become members

Augusta National Golf Club has made significant changes surrounding its historic Masters Tournament. Qualifications for the event have been stiffened, as has the test of golf with holes being lengthened, narrowed and generally made more difficult.

“Difficulty” is today the subject of a column on this page by Martha Burk, the woman who previously has organized protests in Augusta regarding the golf club’s refusal to admit women as members.

Burk attacks Augusta National for its continuing policy but reserves her primary disdain for ExxonMobil for its sponsorship of the Masters, contending the women of corporate America, including those who work for ExxonMobil, deserve equal opportunity. She says female drivers should take note of where the money from the gas they buy is going − to finance a big event at a club that won’t admit female members as a matter of policy.

Augusta National has an exclusive membership, which makes it logical that female executives want the same opportunity at membership as their male counterparts. And change will come − if for no reason other than the high profile of the Masters Tournament.

Whether the club should be pressured into altering its admission standards is another matter, but the change will happen because the tournament and its importance transcend the club itself.

Groups including the Executive Women’s Golf Association contend that Augusta National should demonstrate the same inclusiveness as other major golf facilities. “The exclusion of women is particularly disturbing to the EWGA since our membership consists primarily of business women who love the game of golf and value its importance in their careers.”

Augusta National and Masters Tournament leaders acknowledge women will become members but no one is saying when. And the issue is on the back burner for most people because Augusta National membership is so exclusive as not to be seen by people as a real test of women’s rights.

For their part, golf fans − male and female − don’t want Augusta National held hostage on the issue. Jeopardizing the Masters is unthinkable.

Some will say defending the club and its traditions is the equivalent of defending the likes of racial segregation, for once there were no African-American members and no black players in the Masters. While there are differences − the Masters is an event for male golfers being one − the comparisons will win the day.

The proponents of female members at Augusta National should work with the club, the tournament and the leaders of both − not against them by pressuring companies that support the Masters and attacking anyone, including other women, associated with it. Change is coming.

You must be logged in to comment.