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Tour pros next in Augusta lobbying effort (Hootie Responds)
AP ^ | Sept. 3, 2002 | AP

Posted on 09/03/2002 12:46:50 PM PDT by jern

Tuesday, September 3, 2002 Burk says players 'need to take a moral stand'

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------- ESPN.com news services

The fight between the Augusta National Golf Club and Martha Burk, the chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO), grew even a bit more testy on Tuesday.

Appearing on the Dan Patrick Show on ESPN Radio, Burk said that her organization will begin targeting PGA Tour players in a bid to force Augusta National to allow women members.

The players "need to take a moral stand," Burk told Patrick.

"I think Augusta will eventually see that it will be in the best interests of their club ... to do the right thing and allow women members," she later said in the interview.

Through a club spokesman, Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson issued a written response to Burk. It said:

"1. This is not a legal issue. The Masters has a constitutional right to its private membership.

"2. Martha Burk tries to equate this to the Shoal Creek racial issue in 1990, but they are totally different. In America, there are women's colleges, the Girl Scouts of America and women's health clubs throughout the country. In Canada and overseas, there are women-only golf clubs.

"3. The Club possibly will have a woman member in the future, but it should be the Club's decision, not the decision of an outside group that knows little about the Club or Tournament. In Ms. Burk's initial letter, she placed a deadline on the Club to have a woman member (2003), and discussed the sponsors of the Tournament.

"4. The winner in this sponsorship issue is the viewer. There will now be 12 ½ hours of commercial free golf coverage.

"5. What is presently happening is a corporate campaign. The National Council of Women's Organizations is targeting anyone associated with the Masters.

"6. The reason we chose not to ask the sponsors to participate in 2003 was to spare them the inevitability of a continued corporate campaign that could have included protests and boycotts.

"7. Dr. Burk is now telling individuals what to watch on television. In three online polls conducted this weekend, nearly 90 percent of respondents said they would continue to watch the Masters on CBS. Over 4.3 million women watched the Masters last year.

"8. The Masters and Augusta National are different. One is a private club, and the other is a world-class sporting event that is completely inclusive.

"9. The Masters is being used as a symbol. Several other Clubs do not allow women to play or even to enter the grounds. Women play at Augusta National regularly, and there are no restrictions on tee times. Women played over 1,000 rounds at the Club last year."

Last week, Burk said that she will talk with CBS about its televising of The Masters, which will be commercial-free next year. Johnson announced that The Masters will drop its sponsors -- IBM, Coca-Cola and Citigroup -- to shield them from any controversy over the club's all-male membership.

Augusta National has not had a woman member in its 69-year history. It has had black members since 1990.


TOPICS: Constitution/Conservatism; Culture/Society; Extended News; News/Current Events; US: Georgia
KEYWORDS: augusta; burk; masters; national; ncw; players; women
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To: mewzilla
"Can I ask a silly question?"

No. Just remember: when the going gets tough the tough go shopping.

121 posted on 09/03/2002 7:00:52 PM PDT by groanup
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To: jz638
"3.) It's freaking expensive. Yearly membership costs are probably well over $30,000"

You're right it is freaking expensive. But it is not well over $30,000 per year. There are no membership dues as I've heard it. Once a year (or more often if necessary) the members are assessed for club expenses. A few years ago they switched to bent grass greens. The cost was enormous. No problem. Just tell the members how much they owe.

122 posted on 09/03/2002 7:08:07 PM PDT by groanup
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To: Texaggie79
No need really, They don't seem a need to bother about it, and are quite blatent about the whole matter.
123 posted on 09/03/2002 7:09:44 PM PDT by NYTexan
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To: mewzilla
FWIW, the hubby agrees with you. But he can't give me a decent answer on why the gender of a member matters, either. Just because a person can do something doesn't always mean they should. It's that simple.

I think you're being deliberatly obtuse here. Of course gender matters. That's why women get together for "girl talk" and men get together to watch football. The sexes are different in more ways than anatomy. If Augusta members prefer to have a club that has only men it's because they prefer the company of men and want the club set up to fit the needs of men.

If there were a female equivalent to Augusta, it certainly would be a different place - and I wouldn't have any problem with the women who would set up such a place.

124 posted on 09/03/2002 7:32:01 PM PDT by PMCarey
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To: mewzilla
Men's clubs were founded to be a refuge, a place where men could go and smoke cigars, talk bidness, tell dirty jokes, sit around in big leather chairs and read the financial pages, drink some bourbon and branch water, get a massage, play gin rummy, and stuff like that. When this got started 70 to 100 years ago, there were such differences between the sexes in terms of social behavior that it made perfect sense to be "men only". In fact, it was an essential element of the purpose and mission of the club.

Men were expected to behave in a different fashion in the presence of ladies due to the sensibilities of the fairer sex. Even today, the once men's only clubs which now permit women have sections reserved for men only-- men's grill, card room, or such.

The people at Augusta National obviously have chosen to keep in place the long standing traditions from the days of the founding of the club. People like you or MS. Burke may point out times have changed and perceive these traditions as arbitrary or unfair. But some people revere tradition more than others. Some peoples' opinions may differ from yours and MS. Burke's as to whether distinctions in society in the roles of the sexes is a good or bad thing.

Some people simply respect the freedom of a private organization to make its on rules rather than be dictated to by some rather despicable fringe dwellers who can't stand to see such freedom exist.

If Augusta National wants to stay the way it is for no reason other than they like it better that way, then that should be good enough.

The more pertinent question is why do MS. Burke or you care if women join Augusta National? Why would you possibly care?

125 posted on 09/03/2002 7:35:10 PM PDT by San Jacinto
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To: mykej
I don't understand the problem with voicing disapproval of somebody's actions.

You can dissaprove of their choice of membership all you want, but what they do is their business. I don't know why some people can't understand the concept of a "PRIVATE CLUB".

I don't think you would like them coming for your private club, but maybe you wouldn't mind.

126 posted on 09/03/2002 7:48:21 PM PDT by X-FID
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To: Rebel-without-a-pause
The fundamental nature of an all male organization would certainly change with the introduction of females. I know, I was a member of an all-male organization when it changed to accept females.

In my life, not too long ago, I was in an F-15E fighter squadron, happily doing the fighter pilot thing. Then one day we were notified that our world was about to come to an end.. (*Sigh. . .boy, I miss it. . .)

We were told the first female fighter pilot was going to be named that day and she would be inbound in a few months. Of course, we were told some changes would have to be made. An example of some of the changes follows.

Shortly before her arrival the squadron bars “lost” their Hog Logs. Hog Logs were books; journals really, that informally documented notable events of a fighter squadron. As you can imagine, the nature of the write-ups was direct, profane, merciless and fun. Just the sort of stuff you would expect from a bunch of type-A over-achievers as they sparred with each other.

Hog Logs are a tradition dating back to WWI. My squadron dates to WWII and had the Hog Logs to prove it. These logs vanished a day prior to the female’s arrival, as they were deemed by the leadership to be too sexist, too profane and too insensitive.

The removal of the Hog Logs, and other changes, caused the entire nature of the fighter pilot world to change. It changed from men freely doing a mans job to men frustrated by the shackles of political correctness.

No longer could banter be open and unrestrained, or events documented in blunt and colorful prose. Heck, you couldn’t say “F*ck” in the squadron without fear of chastisement if the wrong person heard it.

The special camaraderie was gone.

The open competition and free humor of the warrior class was now replaced by caution and restraint. No one wanted to offend the PC gawds (or gawdesses, as THEY defined the limits now).

No more could you write about boneheaded acts that your squadron mates engaged in that led to their butt-whipping in mid-air. No more could you gleefully regale all with a spoken tale about how some unlucky twists of fate made you look boneheaded (it was never your fault). Now these historical write-ups had to be written as if they were going to appear in a Dr. Seuss children’s book, and your spoken word was to be heard by your mother.

The all-male world changed, and not for the better.
127 posted on 09/03/2002 8:00:54 PM PDT by Gunrunner2
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To: Gunrunner2
You have said it best as far as I'm concerned, females on combat ship's was also a bad idea and should be stopped, all nonsense social bs.
128 posted on 09/03/2002 8:13:32 PM PDT by X-FID
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To: FreedomFriend
"I think that it was an excellent move, as it takes away a lot of the negative press, catered to by the communist media, and it alleviates the potential for disruption of this event. Absolutely brilliant idea."

There aren't any poor members at Augusta. Some of the small-ish membership no doubt exists on family (inherited) money and may be a member just because of connections. However, many of the others earned their money because they are very smart and aggressive. I'm sure Hootie has a very, very good advisory council.
129 posted on 09/03/2002 8:29:27 PM PDT by Chu Gary
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To: colorado tanker
So what would Burk change the name to? The Mistresses? The Dominatrix's?

You're probably not far off the mark.

Remember Betty Friedan's suitcase that spilled open?

130 posted on 09/03/2002 8:54:28 PM PDT by NotJustAnotherPrettyFace
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To: jern; mewzilla
An interesting twist would be for Augusta National to announce via press releases that they will admit one female membership (preferably an anti-feminist supermodel) for a membership fee of ten-million dollars.
131 posted on 09/03/2002 9:17:53 PM PDT by Zon
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To: mewzilla
BTW, there will come a day when a female golfer comes along who can drive as far as the guys in the PGA

Thanks for the best laugh I've had today.

132 posted on 09/04/2002 11:51:56 AM PDT by Psycho_Bunny
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To: mewzilla
It's simple...if it wasn't for the infrequent sex, bad cooking, and your very limited cleaning of the cave, we wouldn't want to hang around with your gender at all.

Didn't you ever notice that there are more gay men than gay women? Even they don't like y'all.............

133 posted on 09/04/2002 12:23:49 PM PDT by SpeakLittle_ThinkMuch
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To: mewzilla
But he can't give me a decent answer on why the gender of a member matters, either.

As they say in court: "Asked and answered. Move on."

134 posted on 09/04/2002 12:41:51 PM PDT by PBRSTREETGANG
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To: mewzilla
There's got to be something else at work here.

God couldn't get a membership at Augusta National without going on the waiting list AND having the members vote him in.

The members don't respond well to pressure or lobbying, from ANYBODY.

135 posted on 09/04/2002 12:55:43 PM PDT by an amused spectator
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To: mewzilla
I doubt that the majority of members even play golf. These are Country Clubs, not just Golf Clubs. Golf is one aspect. The majority of the memberships are probably for social reasons. The same goes for L.A. Country Club, the Valley Club at Montecito (CA), Pauma Valley CC in the Palm Springs area. These courses get almost NO play. Only like 5-10% of the members play golf at all, let alone at the club courses. The Valley club gets about 5 or 10 players a day if it's busy.

They are business/ social clubs more than anything. Golf is a not at all the focus.
136 posted on 09/04/2002 2:11:23 PM PDT by hoppity
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