Augusta May Have To Admit Its First Woman Member

The more that Burk and the press make this a crusade for equality the less chance the invitation will happen.  The time will come but Augusta sure isn't going to be pressured into doing it.

I agree, Augusta members don't need IBM or any other sponsor and have made that abundantly clear. They are autonomous, wealthy, and very stubborn, and Burke annoys even me. I can only imagine how fed up with her tirade the members must be.

 

There exists the unlikely possibility that the Masters will be jeopardized by a sponsor withdrawal, but I doubt it will happen. They will find another sponsor or just not hold the tournament. I think the rich pricks who belong to the club get a lot of thrills from rubbing shoulders with the best players in the world, but they won't be told what to do even if it means losing some of that patronage.

 

If a lockout can happen in the NFL or NBA, the ANGC can shut its doors to the PGA tour. It's not like ANGC needs customers or money. There will be a line 10 miles long begging to be allowed to play at the course, and it starts with half this site and goes all the way to Ernie Els. That won't change even if they do admit to being racist sexists.

 

The only pressure to which they might cave is if Jack, Arnie, and Tiger open their traps about it, which I doubt since it'd be suicidal to their legacy and they are all defined by the prestige of that tournament and would look like morons biting the hand that immortalized them. But if those three jumped ship, it would annihilate the image of the tournament. 

I suppose, IBM wouldn't sponsor the event if they didn't support the philosophy of private clubs limited to one gender. I imagine that Augusta membership is limited to just a few, and that the current members at Augusta could probably choose any golf/country club in the world, but likely pay initiation and monthly/annual dues for it's exclusivity.

Ah, where's Hootie Johnson these days? I want to see if ANGC still thinks this is being forced "at the point of a bayonet" on them...

They might have to let Yani Tseng play at some point.  Well probably not, but it would be interesting.  I think she could hold her own with the guys.

Look at the member list, most of the members already have both legs in the grave just waiting to take the final plunge.  In other words, most of the members grew up and were adults in an era when women did not have many legal rights--they were slaves to the household.  Until the average age of the members declines significantly, Augusta will continue its so-called traditions.  The more I learn about ANGC, the less impressed I become but I also place very little value on exclusivity.

Not that I know a whole lot about this boys club, but it probably wouldn't hurt to get some new impulses.

Chantal Sutherland will make history Saturday as the first woman jockey to ride in the world's richest horse race. She hopes many more will follow.

What makes this a real dilemma is not Martha Burk or anybody forcing them to do anything.  This is an internal dilemma in that it is their own traditions colliding.  It has always been part of their tradition to exclude women, but it has also been their tradition that they have always invited the IBM CEO to become a member.

 

The question is which tradition do they hold more dearly?

If the past is any indication, the former.

 

It's pretty simple from their POV. Don't extend a membership to the IBM CEO. Claim they are a private club & thus can decide who is & is not a member.

 

It's important to keep this in context, which the Martha Burks of the world cannot seem to do. And that is, there are far more relevant inequalities between men & women than who gets invited to be a member at an ultra-private club. It makes good headlines, but it's so irrelevant in the grand scheme of things.

Martha Burke doesn't care about ANGC admitting a female, she cares about getting her name in the paper and appearing on TV.  After her "protest" fizzled out years ago no one has cared what she says or thinks.  And now she has found an entre back into a 15 minute of fame spotlight. 

 

If she cared about a woman getting in she would have kept her mouth shut and let events play out.  Then ANGC might have have just quietly admitted the IBM CEO on their own terms.  Now they might not just so they won't be seen as caving to Burke.  She knows this very well.  I utterly despise these professional agitators, whether it is Martha Burke or Al Sharpton.

 

 

.............................................................................This guy......................................................................

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LOL! That guy is more likely to get membership IMO.

 

I could understand the protesters if Augusta was some sort of public entity, but it isn't. ANGC can do whatever they please.

I hope they admit her, then snub her; make an example of her. Put a womans sign on a broom closet door. Of course it would be much different if we were talking about a public institution. Would it be cool if Augusta changed their policy? Sure, but it is certainly not up to the public to decide...

Very good point.  By the way, you forgot about Gloria Allred.

 

Congratulations, you devised an even more ignorant method than they already have in place.

 

Brandon

If they did announce her as a member, they'd probably do it at the closing ceremonies of the Masters as a surprise instead of doing it under scrutiny. And it'd be a symbolic gesture and not really a change in attitude.

This is just the media getting the story in while it's hot. They won't invite her to be a member IBM will still be a sponsor and it won't be an issue. It not like IBM paid the money to be a sponsor just to see if the CEO would get an invite to be member. Eventually there will be a female member at Augusta as times change there but it will never have anything to do with Martha Burke.