Augusta National Golf Club Announces Plans to Continue Discrimination Against Women

NOW leaders applaud the work of National Council of Women's Organizations chair Martha Burk; urge feminists to ask corporate leaders why they belong to a club that excludes half their customer base

November 12, 2002

by NOW Staff

After Augusta National Golf Club chair William "Hootie" Johnson announced the club has no plans to change its all-men's membership and that it may be several years before a woman is invited to join, leaders of the National Organization for Women called on feminists across the U.S. to contact Augusta members who head major corporations and ask them why they belong to a club that excludes half their customer base.

Despite months of pressure from National Council of Women's Organizations chair Martha Burk, Johnson insisted in a number of statements to the media this week that Augusta National has no obligation to allow women members, even though it hosts the Masters, the annual golf championship viewed on television by hundreds of millions around the world.

Burk, who urged the club earlier this year to admit a woman before the 2003 Masters in April, reportedly called Johnson's statements "a slap in the face" to Augusta members who have asked for the discrimination to end. "I hope cooler heads and rationality will prevail and they will come down on the side of fairness, regardless of what Hootie Johnson thinks," she told the Washington Post. These guys are not Boy Scouts or Girl Scouts, they're adult human beings, many of them CEOs of the largest U.S. corporations."

NOW Membership Vice President Terry O'Neill applauded Burk's leadership in the fight to have women admitted to Augusta National and noted that Augusta's membership rosters include a former Secretary of State, members of Congress and top executives from Coca-Cola, Motorola, Citigroup, JP Morgan Chase and other corporations. The management and leadership of these corporations have developed and embraced comprehensive "diversity" programs within their organizations both in employment and procurement of goods and services. How is it then that these executives can accept the discriminatory policy adopted by Augusta National? Or are their "diversity" goals all "talk and no action"?

"Let's look at the facts here," O'Neill said. "No matter how much Hootie Johnson tries to bluster and obfuscate, his position — that it's OK to discriminate against women — is morally reprehensible and out of step with what the majority of people in this country believe."

"Hootie tries to hide behind the private-club excuse, but during the week of the Masters, Augusta National becomes the public face of golf, with television network sponsorships from the largest corporations in the U.S.," O'Neill said. "The membership roster of Augusta National reads like a who's who of the corporate world. The members of Augusta have a responsibility to act in a civilized manner and not exclude 51% of the population."

A list of members of the Augusta National Golf Club is available at USAToday.com.