11/21/24
August 20, 2012
Augusta National adds first 2 female members: For the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has female members. The home of the Masters, under increasing criticism the last decade because of its all-male membership, invited former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore to become the first women in green jackets when the club opens for a new season in October.
posted by tommytrump to golf at 11:55 AM - 20 comments
The ladies section (both of them) will be allowed to play on Tuesday afternoons any time after 5PM.
Joking aside (I hope), are there any ladies tees at Augusta?
posted by JJ at 01:10 PM on August 20, 2012
are there any ladies tees at Augusta?
Given the required level of wealth it takes to become a member, and the resulting fact that the vast majority of members have a vague memory of their 70th birthday, I would guess that the forward tees are plenty forgiving.
posted by tahoemoj at 03:10 PM on August 20, 2012
Joking aside (I hope), are there any ladies tees at Augusta?
I can't find anything online to back up this notion, but I think that women were only previously barred from being actual members of the club, not from playing on the course or attending events as guests. If that's true, and I have no certainty that it is, I would expect that they had ladies tees for member's wives or other guests of the club to play from if they wanted. But, again, I'm totally fabricating this conception of the club and it's not based on any fact that I can find. Looking at the course on Google maps (overhead view - the 45 degree view of the course shows it under reconstruction or something), it looks like there are forward tee boxes for most of the holes, but I don't know if those are the pro/amateur boxes or if the forward one is for ladies.
posted by LionIndex at 03:37 PM on August 20, 2012
For the first time in its 80-year history, Augusta National Golf Club has female members.
Now, was that so fucking hard to do? I've looked around and the world hasn't ended, and I haven't heard of any (new) reports about hellholes opening up in Georgia.
posted by grum@work at 07:44 PM on August 20, 2012
Tonight I drank an Augusta Ale to celebrate.
Not really. It's just what I happened to have in the fridge.
posted by DrJohnEvans at 09:22 PM on August 20, 2012
I haven't heard of any (new) reports about hellholes opening up in Georgia.
It's part of God's plan that the boulevard that runs past the entrance to the club is lined with a murderer's row of fast food joints.
They could always add another Hardee's or Waffle House without anyone noticing.
There may be something backhanded about the timing of this. Isn't this the time of year when they totally tear the landscaping apart to begin getting ready for next April? I thought there were certain times of the year when the course is unplayable.
posted by beaverboard at 09:25 PM on August 20, 2012
There may be something backhanded about the timing of this... I thought there were certain times of the year when the course is unplayable.
The course is closed from late May until mid-October, because high summer in Augusta is hot, humid and horrible.
Given that it's about as far away as you can get from the Masters in the calendar, my sense is that the club is saying that it makes its own decisions on its own terms, without any influence from the media or even the wider game of golf. It's not "in response to" anything.
posted by etagloh at 11:33 PM on August 20, 2012
Bunch of elitists who have calculated reasons for anything and everything they do. Don't go carving their faces on some mountain like they're heroic trailblazers. If it wasn't for 4 days each April practically everyone would be telling them to shove their beliefs up their tight asses.
posted by dyams at 11:57 PM on August 20, 2012
Tea fanciers must be quite annoyed at this development. The members elected a woman of color with a high political profile and a South Carolinian...and it wasn't Nikki Haley.
Annual membership fees are apparently much more modest than at other private GC's, as the tournament brings in so much revenue. The figure is about what you'd expect to pay for a 7 year old Buick with 50,000 miles on it.
posted by beaverboard at 06:53 AM on August 21, 2012
It's not "in response to" anything.
That may be what they're selling, but I'm not buying. I think Karen Crouse and the female IBM CEO who wasn't admitted as a member were the last embarrassments they were willing to endure.
posted by rcade at 09:38 AM on August 21, 2012
Does this mean there will be a Pink Jacket?
posted by Folkways at 10:50 AM on August 21, 2012
That may be what they're selling, but I'm not buying.
Except that Ginni Rometty didn't make the list, even though every IBM CEO has been offered membership as a kind of ex officio deal; so it's still Augusta National convincing itself that it won't be pushed by other folks into doing anything.
posted by etagloh at 11:23 AM on August 21, 2012
The members elected a woman of color with a high political profile and a South Carolinian...and it wasn't Nikki Haley.
They're both heavy RNC supporters though, which to me suggests this is as much a political move in a state with across the board republican representatives in Washington as it is a true opening of the gates.
Scratch their back, you get yours scratched.
posted by dfleming at 12:02 PM on August 21, 2012
Indeed. I don't know anything about Darla Moore, but Condi Rice is not exactly what you'd call a boat-rocker.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 02:49 PM on August 21, 2012
Baby steps. I'm not saying they should be lionized or have paeans written in their honor, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
posted by tahoemoj at 03:42 PM on August 21, 2012
I can't for the life of me understand why anybody would care about this. A bunch of over the hill, ultra-conservative, rich old farts want to keep their little good ole boys golf club in the dark ages, why would anybody even give a shit. Isn't it within in their rights to have a boys only club?
While I couldn't imagine wanting to be a member of a club like this, I didn't care that they had it, and wouldn't care if they wanted to keep it that way for 100 more years. It is not like they are opening up the doors to the general public. It is a private club for the exclusive use of it members and guests. Still seems pretty exclusive to me. Sure ladies come on over if you are a fortune 500 CEO or former Secretary of State, we can try to accommodate all six or seven of you.
The world isn't a better place because of this token act, and while there are now two female members, most of the old men who are members probably can't notice anyway.
posted by Atheist at 04:04 PM on August 21, 2012
Because it's the most famous golf club in America, and one of the top few in the world.
Because it hosts one of golf's major tournaments, which crushes even the other majors in TV ratings.
Because they have previously denied membership to all women, even the ones who are Fortune 500 CEOs or former Secretaries of State.
But, perhaps most important, because you have a BACK button on your browser, you don't need to spam up the thread with "Who cares?!?" horseshit.
posted by Etrigan at 04:25 PM on August 21, 2012
Isn't it within in their rights to have a boys only club?
If it were whites-only, would you feel the same way?
posted by yerfatma at 05:06 PM on August 21, 2012
Baby steps. I'm not saying they should be lionized or have paeans written in their honor, but you gotta start somewhere, right?
Well, yes, and women's rights has started (and proceeded) in all kinds of places apart from Augusta National. I count myself among those who consider Augusta's "no girls allowed" policy childish and contemptible, but also felt that it wasn't a very useful battle to fight -- which is not to say that I'm criticizing or disagreeing with those who did choose to fight it, just that it's not where my own priorities would lie. Too little to gain, you know? So a few token women get admitted to a club that is a bastion of privilege, but also largely irrelevant to actual power in the world today. It won't change the world any more than keeping them out did. In a time when it's becoming horribly obvious in the USA just how tenuous are some much more fundamental rights for women, this is not IMO particular cause for rejoicing.
posted by lil_brown_bat at 10:07 PM on August 21, 2012
Long overdue, but a great moment regardless.
Looks like Karen Crouse's disgust with the discrimination helped finally drag Augusta National out of the stone age.
She got to cover the story for the Times today. That must have been a satisfying lead to write.