The famed Masters Golf Tournament begins April 8 in the southern city of Augusta, Georgia, one year after one of the biggest controversies in American golf history. The 2003 tournament was shadowed by the protests of Martha Burk and other women's rights advocates, who objected to the fact that the Augusta National private golf club admits only male members. How that standoff became a major media event, with an ongoing impact, is the subject of a new book by writer Alan Shipnuck.
Alan Shipnuck calls the dispute over Augusta National the biggest story in golf since the appearance of champion Tiger Woods.
"You have these beautifully drawn protagonists in Hootie Johnson, chairman of Augusta National, this rock-ribbed southern gentleman, and Martha Burk, who is the chairman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, this brilliant, relentless woman who had spent her whole life as an advocate for feminist issues," he said. "And they brought so much energy to this controversy that spun out in so many different directions, and I just wanted to be part of it."
The controversy began in 2002 with a private letter written by Martha Burk to Hootie Johnson. "She was on her way to a family gathering for Easter, and she picked up [the newspaper] , and there was story about Augusta National, the fact that it's all male and it has some interesting ramifications in the world of golf," he added. "And she kind of made a mental note, 'I think I'm going to send this man a letter and try to create a dialogue.' She didn't really anticipate what would happen next. Johnson responded with a press release mailed out to the world."
The release stated that the Augusta National would not be "bullied, threatened or intimidated," and that while the day might come when the club admitted women, change would not come at "the point of a bayonet." One of the ironies of the story, says Alan Shipnuck, is that Hootie Johnson had long been known as a progressive businessman, an early advocate of racial integration in his native South. But he was also a strong willed man, who had a tradition of more than 70 years to uphold. "The chairman of the Augusta National has been beholden to the legacy of [golfer] Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts," Mr. Shipnuck said. "It was founded in 1931 by Jones as his private refuge. He was one of America's greatest sportsmen, he was mobbed everywhere he went. And he wanted a place where he could relax and just be one of the guys. And the club has done everything it can to preserve that feeling and that tradition."
Alan Shipnuck believes that's made the Augusta National an unusually conservative club in a conservative sport. He says the Professional Golfers Association was also slow to embrace the civil rights movement, lagging behind sports like baseball.
"Jackie Robinson broke into the major leagues in 1947," he said. "The PGA [Professional Golfers Association] didn't excise its 'Caucasian only' clause till 1961. And it wasn't until 1990 that most private clubs in this country were desegregated."
Known for their green jackets and penchant for privacy, Augusta National members have included some of America's most influential leaders in government and finance from President Dwight Eisenhower to Jack Welch, the former head of General Electric. Alan Shipnuck says that in the eyes of protesters, the club's high powered membership gave the controversy a broader significance.
"Augusta National's defense," he said, "through all this is that 'We're a private club, just like an all- women's health club, we're protected by the First Amendment, [that guarantees] freedom of association.' Martha Burk always said, 'This isn't about golf. This is about keeping women out of the halls of power.'"
Faced with the likelihood that TV advertisers would be pressured to condemn the club's membership policies, Hootie Johnson announced there would be no commercials for the broadcast of the Masters tournament. The Augusta National would pay for the broadcast itself. The outcome of the protest seemed at the time like a victory for Augusta National. It refused to change its membership policies and Martha Burk attracted fewer demonstrators than expected to the tournament. She won't be protesting at this year's Masters, but she's still speaking out from her home base in Washington, D.C.
"The CEOs of America's corporations, eight of which are on Wall Street, have not only maintained their memberships at Augusta National Golf Club but they have refused to speak out for change,'" she said.