Posted on 07/09/2002 5:54:03 PM PDT by governsleastgovernsbest
In a defiant statement about the privacy of Augusta National, chairman Hootie Johnson lashed out at a national women's group Tuesday for urging the club to have female members before next year's Masters.
Full text of Johnson's statement
"We have been contacted by Marth Burk, Chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), and strongly urged to change our membership. Dr. Burk said this change should take place before the Master's Tournament next spring in order to avoid it becoming 'an issue.' She suggested that NCWO's leadership 'discuss this matter' with us.
We want the American public to be aware of this action right from the beginning. We have advised Dr. Burk that we do not intend to participate in such backroom discussions.
We take out membership very seriously. It is the very fabric of our club. Our members are people who enjoy each other's company and the game of golf. Our membership alone decides our membership -- not any outside group with its own agenda.
We are not unmindful of the good work undertaken by Dr. Burk's organization in global human rights, Social Security reform, reproductive health, education, spousal abuse and workplace equality, among others. We are therefore puzzled as to why they have targeted our private golf club.
Dr. Burk's letter incorporates a deadline tied to the Masters and refers to sponsors of the tournament telecast. These references make it abundantly clear that Augusta National Golf Club is being threatened with a public campaign designed to use economic pressure to a achieve a goal of NCWO.
Augusta National and the Masters -- while happily entwined -- are quite different. One is a private golf club. The other is a world class sports event of great public interest. It is insidious to attempt to use one to alter the other. The essence of a private club is privacy.
Nevertheless, the threatening tone of Dr. Burk's letter signals the probability of a full-scale effort to force Augusta National to yield to NCWO's will.
We expect such a campaign would attempt to depict the members of our club as insensitive bigots and coerce the sponsors of the Masters to disassociate themselves under threat -- real or implied -- of boycotts and other economic pressures.
We might see 'celebrity' interviews and talk show guests discussing the 'morality' of private clubs. We could also anticipate op-ed articles and editorials.
There could be attempts at direct contact with board members of sponsoring corporations and inflammatory mailings to stockholders and investment institutions. We might see everything from picketing and boycotts to t-shirts and bumper stickers. On the internet, there could be active chat rooms and email messaging. These are all elements of such campaigns.
We certainly hope none of that happens. However, the message delivered to us was clearly coercive.
We will not be bullied, threatened or intimidated.
Obviously, Dr. Burk and her colleagues view themselves as agents of change and feel any organization that has stood the test of time and has strong roots in tradition - and does not fit their profile -- needs to be changed.
We do not intend to become a trophy in their display case.
There may well come a day when women will be invited to join our membership but that timetable will be ours and not at the point of a bayonet.
We do not intend to be further distracted by this matter. We will not make additional comments or respond to the taunts and gripes artificially generated by a corporate campaign.
We shall continue our traditions and prepare Augusta National Golf Club to host the Masters as we have since 1934
With all due respect, we hope Dr. Burk and her colleagues recognize the sanctity of our privacy and continue their good work in a more appropriate arena."
"Our membership alone decides our membership -- not any outside group with its own agenda,'' Johnson said in a surprisingly long and angry statement.
The National Council of Women's Organizations, which has about 6 million members from 160 groups, sent a letter to Johnson on June 12 after chairwoman Martha Burk read reports about Augusta National not having women among its 300 members.
Lloyd Ward, the first black CEO of the U.S. Olympic Committee and an Augusta member, said during the Masters that he would lobby to broaden the membership to include women.
"We know that Augusta National and the sponsors of the Masters do not want to be viewed as entities that tolerate discrimination against any group, including women,'' Burk said in the letter.
In a three-sentence reply to Burk that she received via overnight mail Wednesday, Johnson said he found the letter to be "offensive and coercive,'' and that there would be no more discussion with NCWO because Augusta membership matters are private.
"The response is insensitive at best and confrontational at worst,'' Burk said. "I and my groups are making a good-faith effort to urge the club to be fair, to not discriminate against women and basically to come into the 21st century.
"We were trying the olive-branch approach, but he's unwilling to talk.''
Johnson had plenty to say in a three-page statement.
"The message delivered to us was clearly coercive,'' he said. "We will not be bullied, threatened or intimidated. We do not intend to become a trophy in their display case.''
Burk said NCWO's next step would be to contact the sponsors of the Masters -- Coca-Cola, IBM and Citigroup -- to ask them not to do business with a club that has no female members.
"I hope they'll respond positively,'' she said. "I find it interesting to think that if the club barred blacks, whether any sponsor would come near it in this day and age. Why should it be different for barring half of the population?''
Augusta National, built on a former nursery in northeastern Georgia, opened in 1932. The Masters was created in 1934 and has become the most famous golf tournament in the world. It usually gets the highest television ratings, too.
Tiger Woods won the Masters this year for the third time.
Johnson said in April that Augusta does not have exclusionary membership policies, although it did not have a black member until 1990 and, as Burk points out, has not had a female member in its 70-year history.
"There may well come a day when women will be invited to join our membership, but that timetable will be ours, and not at the point of a bayonet,'' Johnson said.
While there are no female members, several women have played Augusta. Johnson recently invited the University of South Carolina women's golf team to play as his guest, and Karrie Webb and Kelly Robbins from the LPGA Tour played the course in May.
Johnson tried to draw a line between the privacy of the club and the public nature of the Masters tournament, attended by some 40,000 people.
Augusta National operates the Masters independent from any other golf organization, such as the PGA Tour. The club gets most of its money from an annual TV contract with CBS Sports and sales from its souvenir store at the course. Weekly tickets cost $125, half the cost of other major golf championships.
"Augusta National and the Masters -- while happily entwined -- are quite different,'' Johnson said. "One is a private golf club. The other is a world-class sports event of great public interest. It is insidious to attempt to use one to alter the essence of the other.''
Burk suggested that if Augusta National does not have female members, the Masters should move to a club that does.
"The Masters, in my mind, is not tied at the hip to this club,'' she said. "An event of this profile could be held somewhere else.''
The next major golf championship is the British Open, where Woods will try to win the third leg of the Grand Slam. It will be played at Muirfield in Scotland, a club that also does not have female members.
"I'm going to leave that for the British feminists,'' Burk said.
The "dikes on spikes" organization just NOW discovered this?
What a brilliant organization.
Oh, Mildred and I were looking for targets today, and look what we found.
Now if you turn out to be a a human being I apologize as I don't particularly like long pig.
We expect such a campaign would attempt to depict the members of our club as insensitive bigots and coerce the sponsors of the Masters to disassociate themselves under threat -- real or implied -- of boycotts and other economic pressures.
We might see 'celebrity' interviews and talk show guests discussing the 'morality' of private clubs. We could also anticipate op-ed articles and editorials.
There could be attempts at direct contact with board members of sponsoring corporations and inflammatory mailings to stockholders and investment institutions. We might see everything from picketing and boycotts to t-shirts and bumper stickers. On the internet, there could be active chat rooms and email messaging. These are all elements of such campaigns.
We certainly hope none of that happens. However, the message delivered to us was clearly coercive.
We will not be bullied, threatened or intimidated.
Whoops. Clubs in America limit availability and tee times to women more than to blacks.
On the other hand, some of the lady golfers are quite attractive not to mention quite skilled.
Lets be fair...
These people could care less about correcting alleged wrongs. They're just pissed off that somewhere, at some time, a group of men are having a good time.... without them! I applaud the clubs stand on the matter but unfortunately they probably will cave into this latest shakedown scheme once sponsors start dropping out and they will if recent history is any kind of accurate predictor. Stand tall indeed gentlemen!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.