Annual Augusta National He-Man Woman Haters Club Masters Dilemma

Why is the idea of a "private club" so hard for some to understand.

You want to have a club that allows only women and blacks - buy a damn golf course, create a membership list and decide who you want and who you don't want around

That is part of living in America.

 

No Dogs! No Actors!

 

So is mocking those who defend exclusionary tactics that were passe decades ago (not aimed at you).

And hondo, most of us are grown up enough to not have to use the blast button. Then again, most of us are advanced enough to be offended by Augusta National. Yokel. You are what you are.

 

I do think Augusta National's membership is fair game, to a point, in light of the club's presenting its annual tournament as "a celebration of golf" (I don't recall which one, but in the past one chairman used exactly that phrase). Golf these days is way more than a buncha rich stiffs who prefer to be in a males-only club. So, from that perspective, the National's not living up to its own standards. (I will say that, the day I got to play there, the day after Sandy Lyle won in 1988, several women were playing).

If, on the other hand, the club simply says, "We have this tournament every year, watch it if you'd like," then that's their prerogative and, really, I don't think it's my place to criticize. That is, historically, consistent with how the club viewed its tournament ... it started out as an invitational for some of Jones' professional and amateur friends and then morphed from there. They scheduled it when they scheduled it so plenty of Jones' media friends could catch/cover it on the way back from spring training in Florida.

 

The idea of a private club isn't hard to understand. Their club, their rules. God bless America.

What's hard to understand is the countless non-members--golfers, media, sponsors, viewers--who continue to pay homage to the brotherhood and their private playground.

Every year, we go through the annual ritual of tisking and objecting and debating the rights and wrongs of Men Only rule. And then we all show up to play/sponsor/cover it, swooning over the pretty flowers.

Really, how can you blame the exclusionary dorks at Augusta? Why should they change anything? They already know the formula: deal with annual media flap for a couple weeks leading up to the event, and wait for it to pass. By the time the first dude tees off on April 7, all is forgotten.

 

It was the result of a female security guard who was mistakenly under the impression that women aren't allowed in the locker room. In the big picture, it's all the same discussion.

 

Except Tara Sullivan received an apology and numerous women sportswriters, such as Christine Brennan, Karen Crouse and Melanie Hauser, were welcome in the locker room for years. One rent-a-cop didn't get the word. Something similar happens at almost every golf tournament to male and female reporters.

 

Honest question, Hondo, why are you in such a hurry to defend Augusta at every turn? Private club or not, what their private club stands for is odious as hell.