Annual Augusta National He-Man Woman Haters Club Masters Dilemma

Yeah stfu woman! You have no right to speak!

 

Oh, do continue. I really want to see where you go with that.

 

After today's media round, will we get some great insight on Bubba Watson's play?

 

My last word on the subject: How will inviting a woman (who will be a rich 1-percenter, not a single mother of four working two jobs) change anyone's life? We're not talking about gender inequity in the workforce, sexual harassment, etc. Does anyone care if Ginny Rometty has the same chance to use an Augusta membership to impress clients? Does a giant multi-national corporation such as IBM need that? Will they do less business if their current CEO isn't a member at Augusta?

 

Media round was yesterday.

Any good columns/articles about it anywhere on the web today?

 

"I went out and tried to hit that hook shot around the tree, Bob. It was pretty fucking hard."

And on Oosthuizen: "From this scribe's perch, double bogey looked more makeable than double eagle."

 

A better question might be: Is Augusta National made "smaller" by its membership's exclusivity? In the vein, is Augusta National's ability to promote and grow the game of golf hampered by the same?

 

That might be the mission of the USGA, or even the PGA, but it is it the mission/goal of Augusta National?

 

According to their commercials during the Masters, it is, though I would argue on your side. I think that's just something they say to make themselves feel like good benefactors.

 

Certainly on the same wavelength with you both, YF and LTL. If they wanna say, "Hey, we're putting on this tournament, anybody wanna watch?", my take is have at it. If, however, they want to posture as quasi-guardians of the game -- which they have consistently done -- then they are seriously diminished by their exclusivity.

I give them credit, they have come a long way. For example, I really like the idea that there are at least a few tickets available (through a lottery) to everyone. The way it was before, if your family wasn't on the list generations ago, you had no chance other than to come off the hip in a major way. That move to a lottery was well within the spirit of "growing the game." And while a part of me likes the fact that their membership deliberations are private, I find the hypocrisy that's evident in the outcome of said deliberations to be more and more grating.

 

If that was the case, the rest of the world of golf wouldn't be there. One afternoon, under the oak tree behind the clubhouse, I saw the presidents of the USGA, PGA of America and the captain of the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, plus the commissioners of the PGA, LPGA and European PGA Tours and the CEO of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Regardless of what anyone thinks about Augusta's policies, those people make an appearance.
And do you think the Augusta members feel "smaller?" They don't give a rat's ass.