Debate revived over Augusta’s male-only members policy

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A battle of the sexes is brewing again at the Augusta National Golf Club in Georgia, the home of the Masters golf tournament.

For decades now, only men have been the masters of this domain, but some are wondering if it’s time for a change. Should Augusta National admit women as club members?

It’s not the first time the question has been posed to the all-male club. The debate has been revived because of IBM’s appointment of a new chief executive.

The company has hired a woman, Virginia Rometty, as its CEO. IBM’s last four CEOs - men - were all invited to be Augusta members, leading many to wonder what the club will do.

Rometty succeeds Sam Palmissano at IBM, which runs the Masters’ website from the bottom floor of the media centre.

To be clear, Augusta National does not ban women - they can play the golf course. But no woman has worn an Augusta green jacket, deemed a status symbol in business and golf, since the club opened in 1933.

The organization is keeping mum on the issue. It refuses to comment, maintaining its policy of not discussing membership. Actually, Augusta is so secretive, no one knows whether it has even extended an invitation to Rometty.

However, Augusta National’s chairman did say this week that the club will decide for itself whom to allow into its ranks.

Even U.S. President Barack Obama is weighing in. White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters that Obama’s “personal opinion is that women should be admitted” to the golf club. Carney said it was “up to the club to decide,” but Obama told him he personally thinks women should be welcome.

“We’re kind of long past the time when women should be excluded from anything,” Carney said.

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Republican leadership candidate Mitt Romney, Obama’s likely challenger in the fall, said “of course” he would allow women in “if I could run Augusta.”

“Of course. I am not a member of Augusta. I don’t know if I would qualify. My golf game is not that good,” Romney told reporters as he chatted with supporters after a campaign stop in Pennsylvania. “If I could run Augusta, which isn’t likely to happen, of course I’d have women.”

“I think (Rometty and Augusta are) both in a bind,” Martha Burk told The Associated Press last week.

It was Burk who led an unsuccessful campaign 10 years ago for Augusta to admit a female member, demanding that four companies drop their television sponsorship because of the discrimination. Hootie Johnson, club chairman at the time, said Augusta would not be pressured to take a female member “at the point of a bayonet.”

“IBM is in a bigger bind than the club,” Burk said. “The club trashed their image years ago. IBM is a corporation. They ought to care about the brand, and they ought to care about what people think. And if they’re not careful, they might undermine their new CEO.”

Billy Payne, who ran the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, took over as club chairman in 2006. He said that day the home of the Masters “has no specific timetable” for admitting women. The question was raised at the 2007 and 2010 Masters, and both times, he said membership issues were private.

Johnson wound up doing away with television sponsorship for two years to keep the Masters’ corporate partners out of the fray.

But Burk, a political psychologist, expert on women’s issues, and co-founder of the U.S. Center for Advancement of Public Policy, doesn’t believe it should be that simple this time.

“What IBM needs to do is draw a line in the sand - ’We’re either going to pull our sponsorship and membership and any ancillary activities we support with the tournament, or the club is going to have to honour our CEO the way they have in the past,'” Burk said. “There’s no papering over it. They just need to step up and do the right thing.”

“They need to not pull that argument that they support the tournament and not the club,” she said. “That does not fool anybody, and they could undermine their new CEO.”

Burk said she would not be surprised if IBM pressured Rometty to say she doesn’t want to be a member.

IBM has not commented publicly on the matter.

“Really, I don’t think it’s her responsibility,” Burk said. “It’s the board of directors’. They need to take action here. They don’t need to put that on her. They need to say, ‘This is wrong. We thought the club was on the verge of making changes several years ago, and we regretfully end our sponsorship to maintain her credibility and the company brand.'”

The debate returns just in time for one of the most anticipated Masters in years. Tiger Woods finally returned to winning in March at Bay Hill and is considered one of the favourites, along with U.S. Open champion Rory McIlroy. Eight of the top 20 players in the world ranking have won heading into the first major of the year, a list that includes world No. 1 Luke Donald and Phil Mickelson.

Now comes a sensitive issue that dogged the tournament a decade ago, and might not go away easily.

Rometty is said to play golf sparingly. Her greater passion is scuba diving.

The new CEO has been named to Fortune magazine’s “50 Most Powerful Women in Business” for the past seven years, and was at No. 7 a year ago. She started with IBM in 1981.

“We have a face, we have a resume, we have a title and we have a credible reason to do it that doesn’t involve Martha Burk,” she said.

Burk said she is no longer chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations. She had planned to step down until the first flap with the Masters began in the summer of 2002. Now, she said she runs the Corporate Accountability Project for the council, a project born from her battle with Augusta.

It wasn’t until 1990 that Augusta allowed its first African-American to join.

We want to know what you think. Should the old boys club let in a woman? Why or why not? Share your thoughts on our Facebook page.

Round 1 of the Masters began Thursday. Rounds 3 and 4 air this weekend on Global Television.