by Gregory Hughes
Earlier this week, Ben profiled the fight for the admittance of women at Augusta National in our series, “Unhip Moments in Golf.” I’d like to address it a bit further, as it was an issue I was only vaguely aware of before this week, and it really is an interesting and bleak reflection of the game’s principals. I should start by saying that I won’t let myself play devil’s advocate, so if you’re looking for empathy towards Billy Payne and the boys, this is not the place for it. From here on out, I’ll be operating under the belief that denying membership to women is chauvinistic, immoral, and that the PGA Tour is complicit in its continued ability to do so.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think empathy is a bad thing, especially when you’re dealing with thousand-year-old conventions and their dismantling. It’s hard to take something so deeply embedded in people, wave a wand over it, and watch it dissipate before your eyes. It keeps you from becoming blind with anger, almost unaware of what the issue was to begin with. But at the same time, Augusta National has had several light tugs in the past decade, some by women’s rights advocates, some by the general public, even by a Tour player here and there. I say “light tugs” not as a reflection of the efforts of these people, but as reflection of how far Augusta National has budged.
The name Martha Burk resounds in our heads as the person most synonymous with this case. Her effort to reverse the club’s policies, starting in 2003 with public demonstrations and urging sponsors of the Masters to reconsider their affiliation, continues to this day. She is undoubtedly the most vital reason that the issue is anywhere near our current thinking, but she won’t be the ultimate cause of its reversal. Burk has been vilified since she began her efforts. She’s been called “offensive and coersive” by William “Hootie” Johnson, Augusta’s former chairman, a distinction that has a created a wrongful perception of her in the public eye. She can no longer speak in a public forum without being perceived as a radical, trying to disrupt the fun of the week’s events. Aw, look! Jim Furyk’s kids are caddying for him in the par-3 tournament! Look how cute they are—swimming in those massive caddie uniforms… What the hell is that woman screaming about?
The public’s demeanor is varied on the issue, ranging anywhere from historical complacency—the whole, “I’m Southern, I understand tradition” response—to the “People are entitled to their opinions” response, a la Tiger Woods.
The sad truth is that the nature of the Masters Tournament makes it difficult to mount any sustained effort. It’s only in our consciousness for so long. A few weeks of anticipation, the week itself, and maybe a news cycle’s worth of reflection. After that, it’s on to the next one. The issue is mentioned almost every year, but it goes away even quicker as time goes on.
I would argue that there’s only one way for Augusta to reverse its “unofficial” policy, and it has nothing to do with legalities. A player, a prominent player, would have to protest the Masters. Make an announcement and simply not show up. Can you imagine? His fellow tour members would be forced to comment on it—be forced to articulate their opinion on the subject. Augusta itself would be faced with the issue of the potential for other players to follow suit, weakening its field and subsequent reputation as one of the greatest, if not the greatest tournament in golf.
You can say that it’s not the responsibility of athletes to voice their political beliefs, that it’s their job to shut up and play the game, but discrimination is an issue that professional sports have been linked to for decades. Whether we want it to or not, professional sports fall along the timeline of history, and it answers to the same issues and preoccupations that we confront in our everyday lives.
And yes, this is discrimination. It falls in line with the eerie tendency for women’s rights issues as the last to be addressed. But it can be changed, if one person has the guts to make the effort; to sacrifice a paycheck and the temporary ostracism of his fellow Tour members for a cause that is bigger than his career.
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Augusta National is a private club. Not unlike the many women’s only clubs throughout the US. This is not discrimination in the sense that women are inferior, it is a tradition and a place for golfing men to be in a sanctum of golf. The Century Club of Rochester, Women’s City CLub of Pasadena do the same thing, they are a respite for women. The only difference is they don’t hold a nationally televised sporting event that brings attention to the fact that they are a private club that discrimnates against men. You can’t have it both ways, private clubs have every right to dis-allow certain groups, it is one of the very freedoms you are arguing for in your article. Some wealthy women can buy Augusta Country Club and make it a women’s only venue and hold an invitational LPGA tournament and no man would say boo.