Gentlemen Only

After the question of who would ultimately win the 2012 Masters Golf Tournament, the question of women becoming members of the prestigious club seemed set to be a major talking point of the weekend.

Traditionally, the CEO of International Business Machines Corporation has always extended a membership opportunity to the Augusta National Golf Club, and this has never been an issue in the past as the prior CEOs have all been men.

But recently, Ginni Rometty was named CEO of IBM, placing Augusta National and its chairman Billy Payne in a precarious situation. 

Luckily, the obvious question and issue of Rometty’s membership flew under the radar throughout the week as Payne, Rometty and IBM declined to comment about the situation. What this really shows is that the question of Rometty’s membership shouldn’t be an issue.

Augusta National was founded in 1933 by Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts to be the most breathtaking golf course in the world and a “men’s” club.

This tradition has continued for 79 years.

Ten years ago, the club’s men-only tradition came under severe attack by Martha Burk, as she said the club’s closed membership to women was sexist.

Then-chairman Hootie Johnson responded to Burk’s claims in saying that Augusta National has the right to its single gender membership just as a sorority or fraternity does.

And that is exactly what Augusta National is: a fraternity.

Membership just also happens to come with the best golf course in the world. It seems that Rometty recognizes what Augusta National is, and this is probably why she and IBM have not pressured Payne and the Augusta members to grant her membership.

Rometty was even at this past weekend’s Masters Tournament, sitting just behind the 18th green.

The most interesting aspect to me about the almost annual membership controversy is who is at the head of it. Burk, who led the strongest attack against Augusta, is a widely-known feminist activist.

Annika Sorenstam, arguably the best female golfer ever, never raised a question about the club’s membership policy. Contrary to the belief of many that women are not allowed to even play the course, Sorenstam, and many women, have played Augusta on multiple occasions.

Nancy Lopez, another all-time great female golfer, has publicly stated her support of the no female members rule at Augusta. 

While many people view Augusta National as a Little Rascals-esque “he-man woman haters club,” this is really not the case. Nearly every day the club is open, women play the course.

Augusta National is not by any mean sexist against women. It is simply following the tradition in which it was founded.

I applaud Rometty for her poise and understanding of the club’s tradition and not challenging “a tradition unlike any other.”  

­— wfgryna@indiana.edu