AJC > Sports > Columnists > Archives > 2006 > May > 07 > Entry
DEL.ICIO.USPayne must act at Augusta
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Jeff Schultz
A few years ago, Martha Burk asked Augusta National to start admitting women members, and Hootie Johnson reacted with the finesse of an eight-year-old with a pirate hat and a plastic sword, standing guard over his tree house.
Johnson said he wouldn’t change anything “at the point of a bayonet.” Or, to put it another way, “You can have your voting rights when you pry them from my cold dead hands. Until then, go make me a sandwich.”
On Friday, Johnson announce he would retire as chief of Augusta National. (I’m going to assume it’s just coincidence he stepped down the same day as the director of the CIA because, for one thing, Porter Goss may have actually seen the point of a bayonet.)
There is an opening for Hootie at Fernbank, adjacent to the T-Rex exhibit. Whether Augusta National remains stuck in a time warp now is entirely up to Billy Payne.
Payne oversaw the 1996 Olympics. He presided over the greatest global example of people coming together for an event, regardless of race, nationality, religion, politics, economics or gender. Now he presides over one of the world’s most famous backyards with its equally infamous exclusionary policies.
Payne had to bring people together for Atlanta to win the Olympic bid. But he discovered just how divisive an issue this was when he failed to get golf approved as an Olympic sport in ‘96, largely because it was going to be held at Augusta National. If he hasn’t learned the lesson, he’ll prove to be merely a younger dinosaur.
Augusta National is a club and the Masters is a tournament. But the two can’t be separated. To support the tournament is to support the club. The club is private but it hosts the most public of events, with professional golfers on network television. It’s not a tree house.
The club has progressed from a time when Clifford Roberts wouldn’t allow an African American on the premises for any purpose other than caddying or dishwashing. It allows women to play the course. Progress, even if at a comatose snail’s pace.
Augusta is steeped in tradition. Allowing women members would not eat into that tradition at all, any more than allowing blacks did. It would be one more reason to celebrate the club and its tournament.
The issue went from screaming headlines a few years ago to non-existent at this year’s Masters. But the fact the story — somewhat like Burk — went underground shouldn’t fool anybody. It will resurface, because matters involving discrimination always do. Payne knows that. He’s too smart not to.
Unlike Burk and Johnson, Payne knows something about finesse. Burk started out with good intentions in 2002, but by 2003 had veered off course. She was doomed when she started drawing parallels between Augusta National’s policies, and patriotism and women in the military. She teamed with Jesse Jackson, whose aide, Charles Farrell, uttered these forgettable words: “We find it morally offensive at a time when Saddam Hussein is gender-eligible to be a member of Augusta, yet the woman who is an Iraqi POW is not.”
Let’s try to stay on point, shall we?
The NFL would not hold its Super Bowl at a stadium that was operated by a club with exclusionary policies. The difference here is that players like Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson have a hammer but won’t use it. You just don’t boycott the Masters. It’s too important to your season and your bank account.
It’s news just to get a player to say, “The fairways are too narrow.” When asked before this year’s Masters what he would say if Johnson asked if him about the course, Woods smiled and said, “I want to be invited back.”
“Players walk in eggshells,” at Augusta National, David Toms said.
Payne can affect change. Ten years ago, the Olympics in Atlanta were punctuated by outstanding performances by women athletes: the soccer team, the softball team, gymnasts, swimmers and track stars.
There was a time when the Olympics were for men only. That tradition died in 1900. Wilma Rudolph, Peggy Flemming and Mary Lou Retton haven’t seemed to hurt the Games.
Here we are in 2006.
Now that he has a new office in Augusta, Payne might want to spread that around.
Permalink | Comments (222) | Categories: Golf, Jeff Schultz
Comments
Commenting is now closed for this entry.
By John in Augusta
May 7, 2006 06:59 PM | Link to this
yawn
Private club. Private determination of membership. End of story.
Oh—and stories like this (and attitudes like Martha Burk’s) simply postpone the admission of a member. When they do it, they want it to be their idea.
yawn But it’s a private club, end of story.
By Ty
May 7, 2006 07:07 PM | Link to this
I just want to understand why it is that….when the female-based organizations and minority-based organizations are questioned about allowing ‘others’ into their group, the conversation in the media is about “preserving their heritage / legacy”.
Yet, whenever it is one of those ‘old white guy’ organizations, the text is always built around ‘discrimination’?
Case in point …. we now read that girls are at the advantage in preparing for college — in part due to the approach to elementary and middle school education. Yet, to change this trend, we must ‘discriminate’…against the girls????
I applaud Hootie and the Masters committee for not being held ‘at the point of a bayonet’ (regardless of who heads the committee). Have you ever thought that MAYBE if you’d just “back off” a bit and let things work quietly in the backgroud, everyone could win? (seems to have worked in the business world).
Poor Billy Payne…. if he ‘does the right thing’ and expands membership, you AJC folks will be ALL over the issue……
Let’s get the boys playing in the LPGA first (just so show how the door swings both ways)….then we can talk to Billy.
By Larry
May 7, 2006 07:21 PM | Link to this
Jeff,
Do you have any courage? Were you and Terence Moore always the last guys picked—or never picked—thus forced to play dolls with the girls?
Stop trying to create an issue where none exist and try to “make a difference” in this world for once! Hanging out with Martha Burke and the National Organization of D**?
What’s next, Jeff, a body piercing or two and a tattoo to disguise your insecurity?
Hey AJC, has your subscription renewal fallen so badly that you’re now allowing bottom feeding journalist like Schultz and Moore to promote lesbians and dishonor Babe Ruth just to create enough controversy to siphon your last possible dime before extinction?
We all know Terence Moore’s true colors, Jeff, but is this really you, man?
Come on, Jeff, have some courage and issue a retraction and an apology. The real men will then began to pick you on their team!
By jj
May 7, 2006 07:33 PM | Link to this
Jeff, usually you are pretty good but this ridiculous. Why can anyone outside of a white male have their own club? Let it go, it’s private!! Not to worry I am sure the media will get Wie in the tournament soon enough, prehaps even before she wins, let’s say an LPGA tournament. Sorry I digress.
By Bob in SF
May 7, 2006 07:54 PM | Link to this
Augusta’s membership is 300+ of Who’s Who of old money and corporate power in America. How does it progress woman’s rights in any way for a another millionaire to get into this club just because she is a woman? My girlfriend works out at Curves, a ladies only gym but I don’t picket on their sidewalk decrying the unfairness of it all. Private clubs do their thing. There probably will be a woman on Augusta’s role call someday but she will be old, extremely rich and white. How does that further civil rights in any matter? Why should we care? This is a media barnyard filler story. I guarantee you 99.9% of the women in America think there are more important women’s issues Martha should be exerting herself on.
By Timm
May 7, 2006 07:58 PM | Link to this
Private clubs have the choice and the right to choose who their members are. I am so glad someone is telling the media and the world to “Shut their Pie hole’s” and if you don’t meet the criteria, sorry, you can’t play.
By Quaildawg
May 7, 2006 08:00 PM | Link to this
Jeff, your ignorance and the ignorance of these “must change policy” advocates is on full display with the same old cliches’ about PGA, professional tournament, etc. If you want to be a respected writer do your homework! The Masters is, has and always will be an “INVITATION” only tournament and is a privately initiated event. The membership at Augusta can establish whatever rules they want in determining who plays their tournament (ex. that’s why the previous years US, British, Mid and Public Links Amatuer Champions are invited). Name me another “PGA” event that does likewise!? If they decide that they don’t want the #1 money winner on tour to compete guess what!? They won’t invite him!!! Whenever you ink idiots quit abusing the privilage of attending the event, eating all the free food, drinking free beverages and sucking up any other perks and then bashing the host for doing what is within their rights and start REPORTING on what the event is really about…GOLF and not some political issue that will be a refreshing day. BTW Jeff if you have your panties in such a wad over this why don’t you start your own golf tournament, much in the way Bobby Jones did back in the late 1930’s, and you can include whoever you want for membership.
By Mike
May 7, 2006 08:13 PM | Link to this
I agree. It is a private club. If women can have all-female colleges but men cannot, then why should private sporting clubs be any different? Guys cannot play in the LPGA, but women make an uproar when a man criticizes a women for wanting to compete in the men’s tournaments. Where is the equal ground in this? Women scream for equality yet it seems all they are saying is “let us do things that men cannot do” (bypass exclusiveness). When are women going to start raising hell for not being able to be drafted? Some of the most vocal “feminists” want priviledges but not responsibility. Who is in the dark ages now?
By Dwayne
May 7, 2006 08:17 PM | Link to this
Why is it a big deal that they won’t allow women at a private club? If they do allow women, it will be very sad.
By Bryan G.
May 7, 2006 08:22 PM | Link to this
I am sure there is a Terrance Moore column accompanying this that says that they don’t allow enough black members…maybe it’s still on a copy editor’s desk somewhere.
This is one of the more insanely idiotic things I’ve ever read, Jeff. I award you know points, and may God (or G-d, if you will) have mercy on your soul.
By Bryan G.
May 7, 2006 08:23 PM | Link to this
I’m actually going to award you “no points” as the case may be. My bad. Maybe my comment should have been on a copy editor’s desk…
By Joe
May 7, 2006 08:41 PM | Link to this
When Augusta National goes public, I want in too. Until then I guess Martha and I will have to wait. Get Webster’s and look up private.
By Joe
May 7, 2006 08:42 PM | Link to this
When Augusta National goes public, I want in too. Until then I guess Martha and I will have to wait. Get Webster’s and look up private.
By War Eagle
May 7, 2006 08:54 PM | Link to this
Come on Jeff, did you have lunch with Terrance and Cynthia last week. The ajc keeps losing out>>hint>> 60 plus% voted Republican in ths State of Georgia last election with a Bush, Perdue and majority of the Legislature leading the way..Leave Billy Payne and The Masters alone,
By northwestDawg
May 7, 2006 08:59 PM | Link to this
Don’t play golf but I watch the “Masters”. Jeff, is this really you? It is a PRIVATE club. With every body else having all kinds of private clubs what’s wrong with Augusta setting thier own rules? I hope you didn’t write this column just because you may become famous for trying to open up old wounds. Billy Payne will be good for the club and the Billy Payne that I remember play DE for Georgia won’t be pushed around by anybody. He believes in tradition and he’s a leader so GO,BILLY,GO! Do it your way!!!!!
By Cletus Snow
May 7, 2006 09:04 PM | Link to this
Lets hope mr. Pain doesn’t deliver the same disaster to Augusta that he did in Atlanta.
By A-Dogg
May 7, 2006 09:15 PM | Link to this
I am sick and tired of the libs picking on male dominated organizations. Augusta National’s membership policy reflects only one thing - the fact that guys like to hang out with other guys. It’s not purposefully exclusionary. You know, I don’t see the AJC going after the Junior League for not letting men in. Nor do I see the AJC going after collegiate “black” fraternities and sororities. Let people have their clubs and let similar people hang out together. This is not a McDonalds commercial - we don’t all have one asian friend, one black friend, and one handicapped friend. People like to hang out with people like them. If you don’t like the club, don’t watch the Masters.
By SouthernDawg
May 7, 2006 09:17 PM | Link to this
Our country was founded upon the basis of freedom to associate or not to associate. Augusta National is a private club that accepts no federal and/or state funds.
Jeff Schultz, you’ve shown yourself to just another liberal journalist out to erode personal freedoms in this great country.
By Titleist
May 7, 2006 09:19 PM | Link to this
Jeff has obviously been “stepped on” and “passed over” too many times. He chooses to waste his meaningless time on the above column when an appropriate article would have concerned the Braves and their 2nd extended losing streak of the short season.
By Slackjawed Yokels
May 7, 2006 09:24 PM | Link to this
What do the Georgia’s Republican leanings have to do with this issue? Are you simply validating the stereotype that the majority of Republicans are good ol’ boys, bigots and sexists? If so, well done. Or, “Mission Accomplished,” to put it in a parlance that you might better understand.
Idiots.
By Jamal
May 7, 2006 09:35 PM | Link to this
Wow Jeff! The little fan support you had just went out the window. I think the point is clear. It is a PRIVATE club. They host the tournament. There are all women’s clubs, black colleges, etc. These are PRIVATE institutions. The only thing you achieved by writing this column is revealing your idiotic point of view. This column is a joke! You can join Martha Burk now as a laughinstock… Congrats!
By scoreboardboy
May 7, 2006 09:35 PM | Link to this
When I read this embarrassment of a blog, I was sure that all of the bleeding hearts in the ugly blue splotch of Atlanta would react with cheers. But I’m happy to say that I was wrong. Even in Atlanta, there are those who understand that the First Amendment does (in fact) guarantee the freedom of association to everyone…yes, even rich white men. I’m tired of constantly having to defend this right to liberals, although I must admit it WAS FUN watching Hootie slap Martha Burk back into obscurity…
By Jamin
May 7, 2006 09:39 PM | Link to this
Mr. Schultz: I have read 22 posts on this blog so far. Not ONE is in support of you on this issue. That should tell you how far off you and your mental state is on this issue. I think you might want to see if the Boston Globe is hiring, so you can cover Ted Kennedy daily agenda. That seems to suit you pretty well.
By reality check
May 7, 2006 09:41 PM | Link to this
You aren’t going to get in, Jeff. Give it up.
Maybe you and slackjawed should form your own club with your own admissions policies.
If the Augusta National one day decides to allow women members it won’t be because of what anybody in the media or women’s movement thinks. Nobody respects either one.
By Dean
May 7, 2006 09:47 PM | Link to this
I applied to get in at Wesleyan last fall. I though my chances of finding a date and an education would be pretty good. I was denied admission. Why was I denied? Oh, it must be private.
By Dean
May 7, 2006 09:47 PM | Link to this
I applied to get in at Wesleyan last fall. I thought my chances of finding a date and an education would be pretty good. I was denied admission. Why was I denied? Oh, it must be private.
By scoreboardboy
May 7, 2006 09:51 PM | Link to this
Well, I see we do have ONE dissenting opinion so far. Let me try to answer your question, sir (used loosely). The Republican leanings of Georgia were mentioned merely to emphasize the average Georgian’s appreciation of our Constitutionally guaranteed freedom of association. But it’s OK. We didn’t really expect you to understand…
By Barbara
May 7, 2006 09:57 PM | Link to this
You are obviously in the minority on this one, and I’m a female! Some things are best left to males, and others are best left to females. What are you trying to do? It appears that the AJC crowd will be the leaders in creating the latest havoc about the lack of women in the Augusta National. Find another cause, please!!
By scoreboardboy
May 7, 2006 10:01 PM | Link to this
I’m sorry, Slackie. I forgot that (when arguing with a liberal) one must resort to name-calling, in order to be understood. So I must return the favor and call you an idiot as well. Did I do that properly? I must admit that I only resort to name-calling when I talk to liberals, so I don’t get much practice…
By Fan
May 7, 2006 10:11 PM | Link to this
Schultzie, Phuleeze, men do what men want, women do what women want. “Dark ages” is such California disdain for being normal. Is Orange County calling you home? It’s OK to have a need that no women be around.
By ATL AL
May 7, 2006 10:17 PM | Link to this
Augusta National doesn’t discriminate against women. They discriminate against people of modest wealth - regardless of gender, race, religion or IQ. Get over it Jeff. I know the AJC IDIOT WRITERS CLUB only discriminates against those with views other than theirs.
By bill
May 7, 2006 10:19 PM | Link to this
Can you count to two, scoreboardboy, or did you matriculate with the war eagle? I’m amused that a sports writer can excite so many extremists, even getting them to define the Republican party for us. Don’t worry guys, your boy Rush will be there for you tomorrow.
By Elibadus
May 7, 2006 10:25 PM | Link to this
This is absurd. As a female, I have no problem with males being able to have a private club. Are there not all female schools? Are there not minority clubs and events? If we are truly an equal society, then every gender/racial group has the right to assemble together.
By Ben Sutton
May 7, 2006 10:27 PM | Link to this
People want what they can’t have! Augusta National is one of the most coveted golf clubs in the world. It has become that way for a reason. I hope Billy sticks to tradition, and doesn’t give in to social liberals like Mr. Schultz. When you walk onto the grounds of Augusta, you feel like you are in golf heaven. I have been to Pebble Beach, Pinehurst, Sawgrass, etc. These course are amazing, but nothing like Augusta National. Keep it the way it is! If its not broke- don’t fix it.
By Ben Sutton
May 7, 2006 10:33 PM | Link to this
You state “Augusta National is a club and The Masters is a tournament. But the two can’t be separated.” The tournament is also by INVITATION only Jeff. It is not open to the public. They are not separated. Get it right.
By allenlaw
May 7, 2006 10:36 PM | Link to this
If you want a private club in Augusta that allows women and has a beautiful golf course with an annual tournament that is the envy of the world, then put up your money (or find enough like-minded people with money) and create one. Until then, you’re just another guy trying to tell other people how to live their lives to please you.
By Boone Brown
May 7, 2006 10:45 PM | Link to this
I had the priviledge to be a gallery guard during the Masters for 9 years. It was great while it lasted but family and work took precidence in the end. (Had to commit for all 7 days of the tournament.) I was treated like royalty by everyone involved with the tournament, from the members to the litter crew. I still have not heard of any one or any group demanding that teenage boys be admitted into Girl Scouts!
By scoreboardboy
May 7, 2006 10:46 PM | Link to this
Yeah, Bill…I can count to two. I will give you credit. You didn’t technically resort to name-calling like your boy Slackie.
On to the salient points…I didn’t define the Republican Party. I merely defended it against the accusations of Ol’Slanderin’ Slackie. If you care to address any of the points I actually made, I will be glad to defend them. Otherwise, don’t waste my time.
One final point…can one actually be an “extremist” when one is firmly in the majority? I understand you liberals only have a few buzzwords in your lexicon of demagoguery (and “extremist” is certainly one of those precious few), but do try to apply them honestly. You might be surprised how refreshing a debate can be when both sides make honest arguments.
By Saturn
May 7, 2006 11:23 PM | Link to this
allenlaw- excellent point. Jeff, I would venture to say that 90% of women could care less if they were allowed to be members or not. The 10% that do, look and think like Martha Burk. Go ahead, I think you and Martha would make a pretty handsome couple.
By Bam Bam
May 7, 2006 11:29 PM | Link to this
There is a threesome teeing off at 9:12 tommorrow- Jeff Schultz, Jesse Jackson, and Martha Burk. Does anyone want to join this threesome. Jeff- I don’t think anyone in their right mind would enjoy hanging out with these “like minds”
By Just Another White Male
May 7, 2006 11:41 PM | Link to this
Membership at this “private club” is an issue because business gets done there. Introductions are made, relationships are formed, and deals are done.
Systematically excluding women from membership is certainly the club’s prerogative. But it’s wrong, and it reflects badly on the members.
Martha Burk was too abrasive and overplayed her hand. But the strategy of focusing attention on the issue could work if done more skillfully. This “private club” is comprised of quite a few members who are leaders of public companies.
For those who think popular opinion is the best judge of this issue, realize that 50 years ago there was overwhelming support for not having blacks as members.
By scoreboardboy
May 7, 2006 11:44 PM | Link to this
And Bill…don’t characterize Schultz as a “sports writer”. First of all, that title is too complimentary for him in general. And, specifically in this instance, it really doesn’t fit at all. This blog was a political opinion piece…nothing less, nothing more. I understand that saying “I’m amused that a sports writer can excite so many extremists” is a convenient red herring for you to throw out on the table. But it is a dishonest argument. Try to do better. If you can respond with an honest, well-reasoned refutation of any of the points made here, I will be glad to discuss it with you.
By Bam Bam
May 7, 2006 11:53 PM | Link to this
I think we found the 4th.. to the guy who just posted- “just another white male” thats funny
By James
May 7, 2006 11:59 PM | Link to this
Pure liberal hogwash. I used to look so forward to Jeff’s columns, but now I know its like reading Bill Maher without the quick wit. Private club, moron. As Ty said, when Augusta lets women in, its time to allow men into the LPGA. Im sick of this wussification of America. Michelle Wie misses a cut by 3 strokes in a men’s tournament and its covered like she won the damn Masters. When will the world realize that NO ONE CARES about women’s sports unless they have a daughter or sister playing? Its like Michelle Hiskey (sic) is back writing for this liberal rag. I wish Furman Bisher weren’t senile and relegated to horses and baseball players who’ve been on the worm buffet for three decades.
P.S. DX is coming back!
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 12:08 AM | Link to this
White Male:
Congratulations. You’ve actually made a reasoned argument without calling anyone names. Allow me to respond:
1) See the First Amendment. It guarantees the freedom of association without any of the exceptions you note. It mentions nothing about business, introductions, relationships, or deals.
2) At least you admit that excluding women is their prerogative. Move to the head of the class! You follow it up by saying it is wrong and reflects badly on the members. That is a value judgement and your opinion. You are certainly entitled to your opinion as is Hootie Johnson. But consult your Item #4 for your own denigration of the use of personal opinions in matters such as these.
3) I agree with you. Burk was her own worst enemy. I also agree that Burk’s goals could be achieved by a slicker salesman. And that is a shame.
4) Until the Constitution is amended, there should STILL be overwhelming support for excluding black members. The First Amendment makes no exceptions for race either. You don’t see me (a white male such as yourself) suing to participate in the Miss Black America Pageant, do you? I could spend the next six hours typing the names of countless national organizations that exclude white males, but I won’t. I trust that you stipulate their existence. Your argument seems to be that the First Amendment doesn’t apply to the Augusta National Golf Club because the members are rich and powerful. I’m sorry, but that argument isn’t good enough.
But thanks for the civil post. As I said before, an honest debate can be fun…
By BirdDawg
May 8, 2006 12:51 AM | Link to this
Jeff Schultz, I have only one thing to say to you:
You are a HYPOCRITE.
There’s not much worse in this world than a hypocrite Jeff, and your stance on this issue reeks of hypocrisy.
I frequently enjoy your columns for their irreverant sense of humor.
But I am sick of you bringing your person ideology and politics into an arena that it does not belong.
I will give your argument (which is baseless and illogical in its current state) credance when you decide that not only must Augusta National integrate women, but when women’s colleges should integrate men, or when black colleges should integrate. You see where I’m going with this Schultz?
You can’t have your cake and eat it to, as people of your particular ideology seem to want it all of the time.
And how about this? You take up for the abolition of affirmative action (otherwise known as reverse racism), and I’ll support you with Augusta. Its the same basic principle: exclusion.
The difference: Augusta is a private club, Einstein.
A place like UGA isn’t, yet it can exclude all of the highly qualified white males it wants in the high name of multi-culturalism, even if the people they let in are not even half as qualified as the people they exclude.
One is privately funded, the other is paid with my hard-earned tax money, yet my son couldn’t get into UGA for 2 years and he was an A-B student, yet there were people getting in who were C students because their skin is a different color.
Now, you tell me which of those situation is the wrong situation, Schultz.
By Mr. C
May 8, 2006 01:09 AM | Link to this
What a shame!!! This is 2006. You would think that people change with time, become more open and acceptable of others. If we had this argument 50yrs ago, most of the bloggers here will probably support keeping blacks out of Augusta. It takes courage to bring up a topic like this even if it’s not popular. Sooner or later, Augusta will have to change whether we like it or not.
By Wesley
May 8, 2006 01:17 AM | Link to this
Dear Jeff,
In the words of our beloved Triumph The Insult Comic Dog, ” Thats a great story, FOR ME TO POOP ON” !!
Its a private club, ‘nuff said !
Do the right thing Billy…Leave it alone and go walk nine !
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 01:20 AM | Link to this
Mr. C:
What is your reason for opposing Augusta National’s policies? Do you simply disagree with them personally and/or morally? And therefore you think they should be forced to change by public pressure?
Or do you think their policies are illegal? And therefore they should be forced to change by the government?
I, of course, wouldn’t agree with you in either case. But I am still interested in your response.
By John
May 8, 2006 04:55 AM | Link to this
I think it’s extremely humorous that not a single posted comment agrees with you Mr. Schultz. You must be part of the “silent majority” along with all those protesters thta showed up with Burk a couple of years ago (wasn’t it like 20-30 people who actually showed up?)
There are much MUCH larger issues at stake in the world right now…you know what, seeing as I don’t make enough money nor amy I famous in any way, that pretty much makes me ineligable for Augusta National either…maybe if we work really hard to get everyone to get paid the same, be worth the same and affored EXACTLY the same amount of priveledges this county will actually begin to get somewhere…oh wait, hasn’t that already been tried a couple of times around the world and FAILED…I can’t remember but I bet if you ask some of our Cuban-Americans and Russian Americans they will fill you in on the fundamental issues with such thinking
By used to live in the South
May 8, 2006 05:12 AM | Link to this
As much as I love the South, it learns very slowly, because it’s always convinced it’s right. Try substituting the word “race” or “blacks” for “gender” or “women” in the above arguments. This is a tired issue, only because the right answer is so obvious. Jeff is right; discrimination is wrong. I thought we had learned that. If that isn’t clear enough, ask yourself the following question: would it be okay for Augusta to declare that it would have no black members? IF you believe the “it’s private” answer, you have to say yes. See if you do. If you don’t, write Jeff an apology.
By Bel
May 8, 2006 05:51 AM | Link to this
Other groups, ie. black fraternities, women’s clubs, were created NOT to exclude white men, but because white men would not let them in.
If Augusta National and other all-white, private wealthy men’s clubs want don’t want to associate others—good riddance. I just find it funny that they actually belong to churches! After all, they’ll have to answer to the Man Upstairs for their “Christian” sentiments someday.
By Dave Armstrong
May 8, 2006 06:03 AM | Link to this
I am thrilled that we have the opportunity and time to endlessly debate membership at Augusta National. It means there is nothing else more important going on and all must be well with the world.
By David
May 8, 2006 06:09 AM | Link to this
Definitely need to let women join the Augusta National.OK so you can’t force a “private” club to let them join.I still don’t see the problem in them volountarily opening up the doors to women.Just do it and move on!
By Terry
May 8, 2006 06:27 AM | Link to this
maybe Billy Payne will call the publisher of the AJC to his office and when he arrives the publisher will be handed this column and then told, “I’m sorry, the AJC is no longer welcome here.” It’s their right to do so and I hope Billy Payne does it. who needs your coverage of anything?
By Austin Rhodes
May 8, 2006 06:57 AM | Link to this
Cut Jeff a break…he is trying to use his column to show his sensitive side. He must be trying to get laid.
AR
By Sharon
May 8, 2006 07:21 AM | Link to this
Jeff, thanks for your seemingly out of character, courageous, ethical stand. I can’t help but wonder if, behind your usual snarky facade, the obviously very bright man that you are is disturbed by the response of the vast majority of your readers. At least it’s great for readership and probably more than a few radio and tv appearances, too. Anyway, for the handful of intellectually curious, emotionally secure readers of your column, I recommend a thought-provoking, behind the scenes look at Augusta National, Inc called Augusta’s Money Matters by M. Chambers.
Augusta’s Money Matters By Marcia Chambers Golf For Women Magazine
May/June 2003
Nine months ago, the debate over Augusta National Golf Club’s all-male membership practices and its sponsorship of the Masters golf tournament exploded into the public arena. Golf for Women set the stage for this debate with the article, “Ladies Need Not Apply” (May/June 2002), in which we asked whether two of golf’s majors, the Masters and the British Open, should be held at clubs that exclude women members, and whether public corporations such as IBM, Citigroup and Coca-Cola should sponsor an event staged at a club that discriminates against women.
Related articles
Ladies Need Not Apply Augusta from the Inside Survey: Augusta & You What’s it like to be a member? The National Debate The Great DebateThe Masters debate has centered around two personalities. On one side is Martha Burk, 61, a social activist and chair of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, who has accused Augusta National of practicing discrimination and has urged the club to change its ways. (Women are not excluded entirely — wives, daughters and other women may play the course as guests of a member — but only men can hold a membership.) In addition, Burk has urged the Masters’ corporate advertisers to no longer “underwrite discrimination” and to follow their corporate codes of conduct.
On the other side of the debate is William W. “Hootie” Johnson, 71, chairman of Augusta, who argues that his club is protected by First Amendment rights of association. Johnson has held high the banner for same-sex clubs, becoming a champion of the rights of privacy for his 300 members, who include business titans such as billionaires Bill Gates and Warren E. Buffett. In an open letter he released last July, Johnson wrote that he would not be “bullied” into accepting a woman member and that the club and the Masters, “while happily entwined,” are really “quite different” and separate. “One is a private club,” he argued; “the other is a world-class sports event of great public interest. It is insidious to attempt to use one to alter the essence of the other …”
But what is the essence of Augusta National? On close inspection, the club and the Masters are not as separate as Johnson claims. What few people know is that Augusta is a multimillion-dollar corporation whose profits are intertwined with the life of the club. Although Augusta presents itself to the world as a private club, it is also a commercial entity that does business as the Masters. Indeed, its official legal name — one not publicly advertised — is Augusta National, Inc., a for-profit company that conducts Masters’ tournament business year-round, not simply during one highly visible week in April. According to a recent Dun & Bradstreet report, Augusta National, Inc. does business as the Masters and Augusta National Golf Club, both at the same address.
“Augusta is organized as a for-profit business corporation,” says John Simon, a professor at Yale Law School and an expert in nonprofit organizations. “Some of its members are its shareholders, and it operates actively in the world of commerce, aggressively exploiting its trademark for profit. Hootie Johnson may call it a private club; I would call it a commercial firm. And that is quite different from describing it as small, strictly social group of fraternally bonded men.”
In fact, Augusta National has little in common with the 4,326 private golf and country clubs in the United States. A private club is defined as a place where members enjoy recreational and social time together. The vast majority of clubs are set up as nonprofits, a designation that permits them to be tax-exempt and also limits the amount of taxable income they can raise. Private clubs do, of course, hold events such as weekend tournaments, but they are usually for members and their guests. Few of them would have reason to create a series of trademarks — as Augusta has done — because they have no commercial purpose.
Augusta, on the other hand, has been a for-profit corporation almost since its inception. The club, founded by golf legend Bobby Jones and Clifford Roberts, Jr., a New York stockbroker, opened in 1932 as a place “where kindred spirits could meet to enjoy the game they love, in privacy.” Jones and Roberts also envisioned it as the setting for a tournament; in 1934 they announced they would host an invitational golf tournament “with specially invited professionals of the day.”
The following year, on August 2, 1935, Augusta National became The Augusta National, a corporation with three categories of stockholders set up to do business in the state of Georgia. (The stock is not publicly traded on an exchange.) In 1939, the “Invitational” was renamed the Masters. In 1955, the board changed the name to Augusta National, Inc., and empowered its chair and small executive committee to have “exclusive jurisdiction and control over the management and affairs of the club.”
From the beginning Augusta has run itself differently from other private clubs. Most clubs have member-elected boards which set policy; members meet for an annual meeting where the issues before the club — capital improvements, membership, course maintenance — are presented before the voting membership.
Not Augusta. Historically, Augusta’s policies have been set by one person: the chairman. Johnson, a banker from South Carolina, is the club’s fifth chairman, succeeding Jackson Stephens, a billionaire investment banker from Arkansas. Johnson serves in three roles: chairman of the tournament, chairman of the club, and CEO and chairman of Augusta National, Inc. Unlike other private clubs, the Augusta chair holds the power, and while technically there is a board of governors, according to David Owen, author of The Making of the Masters, the early board existed “largely to provide a pool of likely participants for an autumn golf outing that happens to coincide with the board’s superfluous annual meeting.”
But it is the Masters, and the profits it generates, that truly separate Augusta National from its brethren. In 1997, Golf Digest estimated Augusta’s gross revenues from the Masters to be $22 million (a figure that has assumedly grown). These revenues include millions of dollars from U.S. and foreign television rights and millions more from gate receipts. The revenues offset the expenses of the Masters, which include maintenance of the course (a hugely expensive undertaking), the players’ purse ($6 million in 2003), as well as security and capital improvements. After expenses, Golf Digest estimated the club’s net profit at $7 million in 1997 — and that was a “conservative” figure. Not to worry: Augusta National, which employs roughly 200 people, pays taxes each year on its profits and in every way acts as the multimillion-dollar business it is.
The club’s most lucrative profit source is the extraordinary merchandising of scores of licensed products bearing the exclusive Augusta National Golf Club logo. It is instantly recognizable: a red flag planted in the state of Georgia on a yellow outline of the U.S.A. The Augusta National Golf Club licensed trademark is so desirable that every item on which it is stitched or pasted or printed becomes a moneymaker. From the early 1990s the revenues from the Augusta National product line have soared, from roughly $2 million to $9 million in 1996, and to an estimated $12 million or more today. (A small portion of Augusta’s profits are donated to charity.)
Ironically, Augusta’s marketing is aimed in equal measures at women and men. Products range from clothing of every conceivable sort to accessories such as jewelry, gloves, shoes, scarves, belts, socks, hats, ladies’ handbags and purses. In the stemware and china department, there are drinking glasses, crystal and china plates, and glass figurines and sculptures. The remaining items cover the marketing spectrum, from golf banners to pin flags to golf stools and chairs to golf umbrellas to garment bags for travel. And to hold the cash that pays for them all, one may purchase billfolds and money clips, all with the official logo.
The merchandise is sought after, in part, because it is so hard to get. The products are available only during Masters week, when ticketholders are permitted on the grounds. Leonard DeCof, a golf industry lawyer from Rhode Island, recalls an experience his late wife, Adele, had in the Augusta pro shop. “Golf is huge in Japan,” says DeCof. “It is a very, very treasured thing to have something with the Augusta logo on it, so it is not unusual for the Japanese to buy out everything in the pro shop that has an Augusta National emblem on it. They take them back and give them away as corporate gifts.” His wife was standing in line, he says, “and a Japanese lady in front of her bought 20 cashmere sweaters at $400 apiece.”
Another example of Augusta’s commercial motive is the leveraging of its highly profitable name. Augusta National, Inc., holds registered trademarks on names including “Augusta,” “The Masters” and “Masters Tournament,” and it protects those trademarks with a pit bull’s tenacity. It has even trademarked the words “Amen Corner.”
During his years as chairman of Augusta (1935 to 1977), Clifford Roberts jealously guarded the use of the name “Masters.” He spent many of his days persuading others to drop the idea of using “the Masters”: He prevailed when Dunlop Tire wanted to use “Dunlop Masters”; when Colgate Palmolive wanted to use “Ladies Masters”; and when “Black Masters” was suggested for an African-American event at Pinehurst.
The first trademark case that went to trial had Roberts as a key witness. In 1976, Augusta National, Inc. filed suit in U.S. District Court to prevent the Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Company from sponsoring the “Ladies Masters,” a 1977 LPGA tournament that was slated to be held in South Carolina. The idea was to hold the Ladies Masters a week after the actual Masters, thereby linking the two tournaments in the minds of fans.
In ruling for the club, U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Alaimo wrote in his opinion that “Northwestern’s use of the name ‘Masters’ will interfere with Augusta National’s right to control its own business reputation, and creates a likelihood of injury to plaintiff’s business reputation.” He then permanently enjoined Northwestern from acting.
Other cases followed, and Augusta’s attorneys aggressively fought to protect their client’s trademark. In 1997, federal judge Charles A. Moye, Jr. ordered a California businessman to stop producing golf towels imprinted with the term “Augusta.” The judge held that the word Augusta, which is also the name of the city, could be deemed an Augusta National, Inc. mark if it were linked to an item of golf paraphernalia. Augusta’s local merchants were already furious, having been informed in 1993 by Jim Armstrong, Augusta National’s general manager, that they were “infringing on the club’s proprietary rights.” There was little they could do. In 1998, when the Golf Academy of Hilton Head Island used the words “Junior Masters,” Augusta sued again, and federal judge Sol Blatt ordered an end to the Junior Masters. “The Masters mark,” he wrote, “in the context of golf, is one of the strongest, if not the very strongest, golf-related marks in existence in this country.”
Over the years, entrepreneurs have tried all sorts of ways to capitalize on the fame and fortune of Augusta or the Masters name. In decision after decision of the Trademark Trial and Appeals Board of the U.S. Patent Office, they have failed. Variations on the efforts include: ArcMaster golf clubs; Fairway Master golf clubs, balls, and shafts; Masters Pro Golf, a hand-held computer game; Augusta Sportswear; Golf Masters perfume; and Masters, a cleaning preparation for golf club grips. As Judge Blatt put it, the corporation wants “to preserve in this country, the public’s exclusive association of the marks with Augusta National, Inc. and its high quality and unique golf club, golf course, tournament and products.”
So if Augusta National isn’t just a private club, then what, exactly, is it? Golf for Women asked William J. Carney, a professor of business and corporate law at Emory Law School in Atlanta, if Augusta could be considered a “hybrid”: a private club and a for-profit commercial entity rolled into one. “You can say that. It is an unusual structure,” he said. “Legally, it is not a hybrid. It is just a for-profit taxpaying corporation.” Like many experts and lawyers who were interviewed for this article, Carney was surprised to learn that Augusta National is a for-profit corporation. Why? “Because almost all golf or country clubs are organized as nonprofit associations or corporations. That’s just the conventional way it’s done,” he says. “[Augusta National] has this gigantic profit center that most clubs don’t have.”
Membership in Augusta also confers an exalted prestige unmatched in American business. “However one views it,” one top golf executive says, “there is no way to explain away the fact that being a member at this club is extraordinary to your professional life, and the fact that women as a category do not have that right — can’t get that right — well, that is wrong.”
So are there any laws that apply to Augusta National in this membership dispute? None that fit. Even assuming that Augusta might be deemed a public accommodation and therefore subject to the state’s civil rights law, the state would first have to have such a law. Georgia, it turns out, is one of five Southern states with no public accommodation law or any other business-related civil rights law.
In the Federal civil rights arena, the 1964 Civil Rights Act, aimed at eradicating racism in public places such as motels and lunch counters, does not include gender as a category and specifically exempts private clubs from its reach. And while a number of cities, including Atlanta, have adopted ordinances pertaining to private club discrimination, Augusta has not.
Though the U.S. Supreme Court has not confronted a case with facts that closely resemble Augusta’s situation, it has spoken. In 1988, the High Court upheld a New York City ordinance that barred discrimination in the city’s private luncheon clubs if the club engaged in commerce and had more than 400 members. Some courts have upheld the application of civil rights laws to private clubs, if the clubs give evidence of engaging in commercial activity. The more the club looks purely private, purely social, not tainted with commerce, the more likely it will survive the court’s scrutiny.
Golf’s governing bodies, to their credit, have not waited for the courts to act. In the aftermath of the Shoal Creek debacle of 1990, when the PGA Championship lost major television sponsorship because the host club refused blacks as members, the PGA Tour, the PGA of America, the USGA and the LPGA adopted rules that required any host club to have nondiscriminatory membership policies. Two PGA Tour host clubs gave up their events in order to retain their exclusionary policies: then all-white Cypress Point in Pebble Beach and all-male Butler National, outside Chicago.
Given the strong antidiscrimination positions of golf’s governing bodies, it is surprising that they could not pull together to resolve the Augusta controversy. One reason may be that several USGA and PGA Tour board members are also members of Augusta.
Hootie Johnson, now in his fifth year as Augusta chairman, has a progressive record on race. It was shortly after Shoal Creek that Augusta admitted its first black member, Ronald Townsend, a communications executive. Augusta now has five black members; the newest, admitted this year, is Virgis W. Colbert, an executive at Miller Brewing Co.
Asked whether Augusta National is a small, private club or a big business, USGA president Reed K. Mackenzie suggests that Augusta instead has come to resemble one of golf’s governing bodies. “I think there is a great deal of merit in taking the position that Augusta National is really like an association,” says Mackenzie, “and that when they speak on matters relating to golf it has an impact beyond their borders, and beyond what they are doing simply as a golf club.”
In other words, the Masters has attained an exalted position in the life and traditions of golf. Augusta’s members organize and produce an annual tournament of great magnitude that has become America’s premier golfing event. Since 1935, Augusta has grown into something far bigger than a club. It’s time for Hootie Johnson, the board of governors, and the members of Augusta to own up to that — and to bring their powerful corporation into the 21st century.
By BOB REYNOLDS
May 8, 2006 07:22 AM | Link to this
Hey Jeff, mind your own busines.
By Ben T. Wood
May 8, 2006 07:30 AM | Link to this
You have really rolled back the curtains and shown your stupidity and political correctness mental feebleness….
Give us a break…. Women can have their own club…. damn what a stupid article…
By Dex
May 8, 2006 07:32 AM | Link to this
Jeff, So what woman you do you ” PC correct” AJC sports writers have in your boy sports writer fraternity? I say Augusta like every other private club can include whomever they wish. I hope they never give in to this ridiculous PC crap.
By Ron
May 8, 2006 07:47 AM | Link to this
Everyone does realize women ARE allowed at Augusta National, don’t you? One poster ealier states business is done, deals are made, contacts are made, all while women are excluded. That’s not true. Women ARE allowed to enter Augusta National, they are just not allowed on the membership roster.
While you may agree or disagree about the topic it is a PRIVATE club.
By birbdog
May 8, 2006 07:55 AM | Link to this
What a stupid article.
By JS
May 8, 2006 07:56 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
You’re an idiot.
By Jim Cole
May 8, 2006 07:56 AM | Link to this
Since freedom of the press is an absolute, then freedom of association is also. Aren’t they both a part of the amendment in OUR constitution?
By Theeny
May 8, 2006 08:00 AM | Link to this
What would Jesus do in Payne’s shoes?
By Theeny
May 8, 2006 08:01 AM | Link to this
What would Jesus do?
By Ron
May 8, 2006 08:05 AM | Link to this
“What would Jesus do?”
Probably the same thing he did last time he was here. You do remember all the women’s rights movements he led, don’t you?
By Thomas
May 8, 2006 08:18 AM | Link to this
Awww Jeff, I hope you don’t stay up nights worrying about this too much. If a private club wants to exclude women, big deal. I find it funny that all the pressure from the press hasn’t done a thing other than entrench the members further. Kudos to Augusta for thumbing their nose at political correctness.
By CJ
May 8, 2006 08:23 AM | Link to this
Maybe the AJC and Augusta national could strike a deal:
Augusta will invite a female into membership and the AJC will write an article or editoral that isn’t left-wing, anti-Christian…
By EB
May 8, 2006 08:31 AM | Link to this
Stupid column. Private club. End of story.
By Keith
May 8, 2006 08:44 AM | Link to this
Please Billy, bow to media pressure and let women into Augusta. It is about time everybody realizes just how many people support this viewpoint. I count 3, Jeff , Martha and Mr C. Since when, in a democratic country, does something pass with 3-I’s and an untold number of Nay’s?
By Rachel
May 8, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this
Augusta National is a PRIVATE club and they can do what they want!!! I get so tired of those that cannot understand that concept, yet they continue to spout off at the mouth about it! I am a 41 year old female and I hope I never see their policy change. This is such a stupid issue and there are bigger battles to fight … like ILLEGAL immigration!
By Ronnie Barrs
May 8, 2006 08:49 AM | Link to this
Mr. Schultz is having trouble with the concept of ” private “.
By reality check
May 8, 2006 08:53 AM | Link to this
Hey, “used to live in the south” it’s private, so the answer is yes, they can exclude blacks if they want.
They don’t. Augusta National has 5 black members. One of these days they may decide to let women in, but that is none of your business.
Stay put. And see if you can get C to join you.
By Glenn
May 8, 2006 08:56 AM | Link to this
The suggestion arose in an article that someone else host The Masters. However, The Masters is not a PGA event. The Masters is a private, invitational tournament hosted by a private club managed by a private corporation. The club conceived the idea, hosted the tournament, rejected sanction by any golf governing agency, limits sponsorships [even excluding all sponsors the year Ms. Burk protested.] A few folks surrendered their memberships to the club during the debate, but there were others who were willing to join. The only influence anyone has over Augusta National is the power of persuasion, and few people care that much what America’s richest people do in their free time.
My personal preference would be that the club open its membership to women, but it must be voluntary. In the end, my opinion of what a private group should do is probably not that relevant. If we legally force Augusta National to broaden its membership, then I think gender-based exclusion in women’s colleges and such are also subject to legal review.
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 08:57 AM | Link to this
Used to live in the South:
I’ll answer your question. Yes, it in fact WOULD be OK if the evil, rich men at Augusta National decided that they didn’t want to allow any black members. So I’m afraid no apology to Mr. Schultz is forthcoming. See my above comments about the First Amendment having no exceptions for race, if you want a fuller explanation. But, I’ll summarize: The First Amendment doesn’t say anything about “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” as long as they assemble with black people.
Furthermore, Mr. Payne could remove all current members and start a new club consisting solely of left-handed, green-eyed, homosexual, Japanese Jews if he wanted to. And it would be perfectly legal.
Having said that, I’ll pose the same question to you that I posed to Mr. C: Do you oppose Augusta National’s policies because you disagree with them personally and/or morally? And therefore you think they should be forced to change by public pressure?
Or do you think their policies are illegal? And therefore they should be forced to change by the government? I would really like to know. In either case, it would help your credibility if your response were accompanied by a similar rant against the Girl Scouts and The United Negro College Fund…
And for any of you libs just rolling out of bed this morning…if you want to flame me for this post, please bring a pointed substantive argument to the table. Simply calling me a racist will only get you ignored…and pitied.
By dawg
May 8, 2006 08:59 AM | Link to this
Their club, their money, their business.
By Nick
May 8, 2006 09:02 AM | Link to this
Jeff;
When did you become a certified gelding? Your article is living proof why the AJC is struggling with their subscription numbers. Are you now auditioning for the editorial page?
By Nick
May 8, 2006 09:03 AM | Link to this
Jeff;
When did you become a certified gelding? Your article is living proof why the AJC is struggling with their subscription numbers. Are you now auditioning for the editorial page?
By BFE2005
May 8, 2006 09:06 AM | Link to this
Dork
By greg
May 8, 2006 09:20 AM | Link to this
I can’t think of one rational reason why a privately funded, UN-subsidized organization should be pressured to do anything against their will. Our founding fathers turn in their graves every time another article like this is printed. Maybe the AJC can lobby for employing the homeless of Augusta at the clubhouse, like you did with the “fish prison” Bernie Marcus built with HIS hard-earned money. What a load of garbage.
By Shock 'em Shockley
May 8, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this
As a white male I was recently dumbfounded when my application to Spelman was denied. Jeff, do you suppose Terrance and yourself could further investigate and write a meaningless article or blog about it?
I tried to call the ACLU, but it turned out to be an exercise in futility.
Please you are my last hope and obviously, as a journalist, you have such a profound impact on our society. I just heard that Billy and the boys are calling an emergency meeting on account of your moving article that was a call to action to all of us who give a damn about being part of something where we are obviously not welcomed.
Keep up the great work!
By Mark
May 8, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this
Jeff, Usually I agree with you but not this time. For the life of me, I don’t see why you think this is anyone’s business besides the members of the club. Augusta is a PRIVATE club; private, as in not public. They do have the right of freedom of association.
The odds of anyone getting into the club are literally one in a million (300 members,US population 300 million, you do the math). Why the furor over putting a fat kitty with the fat cats is just beyond me. Besides, any woman wealthy enough and powerful enough to be worthy of membership wouldn’t likely be the type of person content to be a mere symbol, a token if you will.
As an aside, if you take the time to really look into Martha Burk’s organization you’ll find that men can’t join; can you say double standard. Now, I don’t know why men would want to, but shouldn’t we have the choice. Oh, I forgot, it doesn’t work that way.
By Toker
May 8, 2006 09:22 AM | Link to this
urgh, golf
By p
May 8, 2006 09:26 AM | Link to this
lol, why don’t you move north and start your own club with stan kasten and martha burke.
By Vince
May 8, 2006 09:32 AM | Link to this
Maybe Augusta National should just replace Hootie with Stan Kasten. Then we could watch him trade Tiger Woods for a club pro with a drug/anger problem … but we could pressure him to make sure it’s a woman.
By Slow Play
May 8, 2006 09:33 AM | Link to this
Two Questions:
1) Ever been behind a foursome of women on Saturday morning?
2) If there wasn’t a world wide televised golf tournament at Augusta National every year, would anyone care if it didn’t allow woman?
By claude
May 8, 2006 09:35 AM | Link to this
P R I V A T E C L U B NO women! there are private women clubs that men are not trying to get in.,
By dawgfacedboy
May 8, 2006 09:35 AM | Link to this
I think I agree with 90% of you on here. It is a PRIVATE club and therefore can accept/deny anyone it wants. Private colleges do the same thing. Does anyone see a white male causing a stink because he didn’t get accepted into one of the ALL BLACK COLLEGES or the ALL GIRLS COLLEGES in this state? How long before some chick comes along and wants to be accepted into a fraternity? That’s all Augusta National is; an old man’s fraternity! Why would you want to be a part of something where noone wants you?!?
By Keith Strawn
May 8, 2006 09:36 AM | Link to this
Jeff, you are such a phony, and such a fool. There is nothing worse than fake, politically-correct, self-righteous indignation. I’m sure you lie awake at night worrying about the fact there are no female members at Augusta National.
By CHARLES CABIBI
May 8, 2006 09:37 AM | Link to this
Writers like Jeff Schultz are always looking for a cause to write about because they lack talent and know that the only way they can draw attention to themselves is to establish a contraian commentary and start an avalanche of replies. ( I am sorry to admit I am replying myself, but I tire of the inadequacy of people like Schultz that take up space in the media. Leave the Augusta National one of the vestiages with tradition attached and give Jeff another inance topic to editorialize.
By Michael
May 8, 2006 09:37 AM | Link to this
Jeff, that’s the biggest bunch on nonsense you’ve ever written. There are thousands of private clubs all across America that don’t allow female members. Augusta National just happens to be a high profile one, but that doesn’t mean that they shouldn’t be able to organize their club however they wish. It’s PRIVATE. If you don’t like it, you’re free to start your own PRIVATE club and organize it however you wish.
By Barbara
May 8, 2006 09:40 AM | Link to this
Why should Payne do what you ask? You’re a sportswriter that has an opinion, period. There’s a reason places are considered “private”. If people who pay their way want to discriminate, that’s their “right”. There are many other organizations that are “women only”, “black only”, “gay” only, etc., and you don’t see white males clammoring to get into those organizations. Live and let live, period.
By Jon Houser
May 8, 2006 09:45 AM | Link to this
Atavistic? Hooray for Hootie! This is not an argument; this is simply an ad hominem assault. Keep the pc nonsense in Atlanta where it belongs.
By Warren
May 8, 2006 09:46 AM | Link to this
Yea I think all the traditions of the past should be broken like allowing women to joing Augusta National. I only wish the Boy Scouts would have allowed female leaders like that young blond teacher who has a habit of “liking” 13 year old boys…I mean maybe she could start a family planning merit badge! Let’s do away with all tradition…starting in Augusta!
By Kenny
May 8, 2006 09:52 AM | Link to this
Wow, I never thought there would ever be a bigger moron at the ajc than Terence Moore. Congrats Jeff, you’ve surpassed Terence on the Moron scale!
By Reggie
May 8, 2006 09:54 AM | Link to this
I read two paragraphs and that was all I needed to hear from Jeffy the Wuss. I suppose Bigot Terence Moore will be next in the proverbial tee box, taking his shots. It is a PRIVATE club you idiot! If it bothers you so much, boycott it by refusing to use your press credentials, otherwise shut the hell up, keep going to your sensitivity classes and maybe someday your p*** will fall off and it will help soothe whatever guilt you seem to carry around about being a man.
By Shock 'em Shockley
May 8, 2006 09:57 AM | Link to this
I tried to cause a stink about joining an all black AND female college dawgfacedboy, but as usual by pleas fell on deaf ears.
By GolfinGeorge
May 8, 2006 09:58 AM | Link to this
Mr. Schultz is one additional reason (along with Cinthia and Jay) I did not renew my subscription to the AJC. I now limit myself to the AJC sports Email (I hate to miss the Furman Bisher articles)
By viktor
May 8, 2006 09:58 AM | Link to this
Apply my simple rule-of-thumb: whatever the AJC or Jimmy Carter recommends, do just the opposite. Works great. Everytime.
Like appointing a conservative as editor-in-chief of the AJC to stop declining subscriptions. See? Guaranteed to work.
By glenn
May 8, 2006 10:00 AM | Link to this
I normally like your columns but you are WAY off base on this one!!!!
By Slow Play
May 8, 2006 10:01 AM | Link to this
I don’t agree with Jeff but c’mon people, it’s his opinion. It amazes me how angry people are in this world. Do you guys hate your lives so much that one man’s opinion can make you so angry?
Do all of you have opinions that everybody agrees with ALL the time? If not, do people lash out at you in unbelievable hostility when they don’t agree with you?
Relax guys. Don’t take life so seriously all the time. Take anger management classes and for G-d’s sake, recognize Jeff’s column for what it is…..HIS OPINION!
By David from Augusta
May 8, 2006 10:01 AM | Link to this
Not again. Last time even the New York Times and all the networks couldn’t gin up more than 20 protestors. Find something else to write about and stay in Atlanta — we really don’t need you down here.
By viktor
May 8, 2006 10:01 AM | Link to this
Warren, great idea. I can see it now, the Lafavre cabin at Augusta National.
By DMK
May 8, 2006 10:02 AM | Link to this
Jeff, you suffer from WMGS (White Male Guilt Syndrom). It’s okay, you can find treatment. White Males aren’t horrible the ogres that everyone makes them out to be. In fact, White Males have done a lot of good for society. Heck I’ve never owned a single slave or slapped a women’s behind in the office.
I know this is going to be hard for you to understand, but sometimes, yes sometimes, Guys like hanging out with other guys, w/o interuption from women.
Crazy idea, I know.
By David from Augusta
May 8, 2006 10:03 AM | Link to this
Not again. Last time even the New York Times and all the networks couldn’t gin up more than 20 protestors. Find something else to write about and stay in Atlanta — we really don’t need you down here.
By Gerald
May 8, 2006 10:03 AM | Link to this
Pantywaist
By matt
May 8, 2006 10:03 AM | Link to this
Couldn’t you think of something better to write about today, you pathetic bed wetter ???
By viktor
May 8, 2006 10:08 AM | Link to this
What would Jesus do?
He’d shoot an 18, of course.
By kay
May 8, 2006 10:09 AM | Link to this
hi, i don’t even LIKE golf but i’m from augusta and i’m a woman and GASP i’m black! 1. i could care less if the augusta national admits women. 2. if men were so “upset” about the exclusionary practices of other organizations, then why don’t you raise some heck? i think it would be quite interesting to see men fight to attend an all girls school. i wonder if those men would be supported by other men or looked down upon as someone less than a man for daring to go outside of the box? 3. have any women come forward that WANTED to join the augusta national? everyone is taking for granted that ANY woman in her right mind wants to sit around with a bunch of old rich (white) men in her spare time. i’ve never been, never wanted to go, and i bet the women who have wanted and have gone did exactly what they wanted (played golf) and left. 4. and this is specifically for a-dogg who mentioned so-called “all black fraternity and sororities” and the rest of you who have made mention…here’s a newsflash the membership ISN’T all black anymore. at The University of Georgia there were several (i dont have exact numbers but yes they included white ones) students that made the CHOICE to join a historically black organization and were accepted for membership. how many white fraternities/sororities can say they accepted anyone of a different ethnicity when it came to rush? and for the other poster, no you couldn’t get into spelman but try morehouse…its right across the street. you’d have a better chance of getting in.
By kay
May 8, 2006 10:14 AM | Link to this
hi, i don’t even LIKE golf but i’m from augusta and i’m a woman and GASP i’m black! 1. i could care less if the augusta national admits women. 2. if men were so “upset” about the exclusionary practices of other organizations, then why don’t you raise some heck? i think it would be quite interesting to see men fight to attend an all girls school. i wonder if those men would be supported by other men or looked down upon as someone less than a man for daring to go outside of the box? 3. have any women come forward that WANTED to join the augusta national? everyone is taking for granted that ANY woman in her right mind wants to sit around with a bunch of old rich (white) men in her spare time. i’ve never been, never wanted to go, and i bet the women who have wanted and have gone did exactly what they wanted (played golf) and left. 4. and this is specifically for a-dogg who mentioned so-called “all black fraternity and sororities” and the rest of you who have made mention…here’s a newsflash the membership ISN’T all black anymore. at The University of Georgia there were several (i dont have exact numbers but yes they included white ones) students that made the CHOICE to join a historically black organization and were accepted for membership. how many white fraternities/sororities can say they accepted anyone of a different ethnicity when it came to rush? and for the other poster, no you couldn’t get into spelman but try morehouse…its right across the street. you’d have a better chance of getting in.
By Whocares
May 8, 2006 10:14 AM | Link to this
Yeah, not only should Augusta admit women, they should also admit other tokens: mentally handicapped, ex-cons, illegal immigrants, and any victim-based group. But even the AJC blatantly discriminates against mentally challenged writers….oops, sorry, it has Jeff, Terrence, Cynthia and Jay, so I guess I’m wrong. Props to the AJC for hiring these otherwise unemployable people!
Good luck, Jeff, on your next softball team tryout. Maybe you can finally make the right field position on that all woman team!
By Dennis
May 8, 2006 10:16 AM | Link to this
I am disapointed in your views on this. Other people have made excellent points. I guess that you would be for allowing girls in Boy Scouts, and boys in Girl Scouts? It can go on and on. It is a private club, and the members should control who are memebers. You may want to take a look at Adios Country Club, Coconut, Florida. They have a sign on premises “no women allowed”. Arnold Palmer designed, and he is a member.
By JR
May 8, 2006 10:18 AM | Link to this
The only good thing to come from this column is that it seems to have galvanized intelligent people to protest the leftist author. BTW, drawing the comparison of breaking the color barrier to breaking the gender barrier is idiotic and inflammatory.
By GTGD
May 8, 2006 10:20 AM | Link to this
Wow, you people are really something. Every once in a while, i forget this is a Red(neck) state, but then i read bigoted comments on these blogs and get reminded. Yes, it’s a private club, and yes, they don’t HAVE to admit anyone. But Jeff’s point is that they should be proactive and join us in the 21st century.
By Greg
May 8, 2006 10:21 AM | Link to this
Augusta National does not give a damn what you or anyone else thinks, Jeff. They do it their way because they CAN, and I am glad there is somebody out there in today’s world who can still do that, and ignore comments like yours. I would hope they would just take the tournament off TV, and stage it on their own terms, before kowtowing to a bunch of whiners and meddlers, and I wouldn’t be suprised if they did…because they CAN. It’s THEIR tournament; why can’t you people understand that? I have been inside Augusta National several times, on the course, in the clubhouse, even in the Champion’s locker room, as a guest on business. They have always treated me with the utmost in hospitality, and I have always tried to respect the fact that I was inside their property. I would hope that people like you Jeff, would extend the same respect should you come onto my property, or anyone else’s…including the folks on Washington Road. Why don’t you take up the charge to get men into that private women’s club up north? Oh, I know, it’s far more popular to pick on rich guys. I know it pains you for that last sentence not to be able to say “rich white guys”.
By Rock
May 8, 2006 10:21 AM | Link to this
Jeff Schultz,
You have just written one of the most laughable articles I have read in a long time. At least you have exposed your self as the communist that you are. The best thing I can say is get a life Jeff.
By michelle
May 8, 2006 10:21 AM | Link to this
haven’t got time to read all 100+ comments at the moment, but i’ve got to say this:
i’m a female, and i’m all about equal rights etc.
BUT… this is a private club, on private property. what makes you (the author), or martha burk or any other NOW fanatic, so high and mighty as to demand what someone does or doesn’t do on their own property? if augusta doesn’t want female members, then that’s how it stands. poo on you.
this is not about actually giving women a shot at a membership. no, this is about finding something new to harp on and pouting when it doesn’t go your way. if its’ such a big deal that women get a membership to a prestigious club, then go start a women’s only club that rivals augusta. there were only a handful of people who opposed this, and you get any pro golfer off the record and they will uphold the honor and tradition of this private club. on camera, there’s fans and sponsors and no one wants to look bad in front of those money-givers, right?
really, this is pathetic. honestly.
By Greg
May 8, 2006 10:23 AM | Link to this
Augusta National does not give a damn what you or anyone else thinks, Jeff. They do it their way because they CAN, and I am glad there is somebody out there in today’s world who can still do that, and ignore comments like yours. I would hope they would just take the tournament off TV, and stage it on their own terms, before kowtowing to a bunch of whiners and meddlers, and I wouldn’t be suprised if they did…because they CAN. It’s THEIR tournament; why can’t you people understand that? I have been inside Augusta National several times, on the course, in the clubhouse, even in the Champion’s locker room, as a guest on business. They have always treated me with the utmost in hospitality, and I have always tried to respect the fact that I was inside their property. I would hope that people like you Jeff, would extend the same respect should you come onto my property, or anyone else’s…including the folks on Washington Road. Why don’t you take up the charge to get men into that private women’s club up north? Oh, I know, it’s far more popular to pick on rich guys. I know it pains you for that last sentence not to be able to say “rich white guys”.
By SouthernLady
May 8, 2006 10:23 AM | Link to this
Augusta National is private…nuff said!
By Rock
May 8, 2006 10:23 AM | Link to this
Jeff Schultz,
You have just written one of the most laughable articles I have read in a long time. At least you have exposed your self as the communist that you are. The best thing I can say is get a life Jeff.
By Greg
May 8, 2006 10:27 AM | Link to this
Augusta National does not give a damn what you or anyone else thinks, Jeff. They do it their way because they CAN, and I am glad there is somebody out there in today’s world who can still do that, and ignore comments like yours. I would hope they would just take the tournament off TV, and stage it on their own terms, before kowtowing to a bunch of whiners and meddlers, and I wouldn’t be suprised if they did…because they CAN. It’s THEIR tournament; why can’t you people understand that? I have been inside Augusta National several times, on the course, in the clubhouse, even in the Champion’s locker room, as a guest on business. They have always treated me with the utmost in hospitality, and I have always tried to respect the fact that I was inside their property. I would hope that people like you Jeff, would extend the same respect should you come onto my property, or anyone else’s…including the folks on Washington Road. Why don’t you take up the charge to get men into that private women’s club up north? Oh, I know, it’s far more popular to pick on rich guys. I know it pains you for that last sentence not to be able to say “rich white guys”.
By Greg
May 8, 2006 10:28 AM | Link to this
Augusta National does not give a damn what you or anyone else thinks, Jeff. They do it their way because they CAN, and I am glad there is somebody out there in today’s world who can still do that, and ignore comments like yours. I would hope they would just take the tournament off TV, and stage it on their own terms, before kowtowing to a bunch of whiners and meddlers, and I wouldn’t be suprised if they did…because they CAN. It’s THEIR tournament; why can’t you people understand that? I have been inside Augusta National several times, on the course, in the clubhouse, even in the Champion’s locker room, as a guest on business. They have always treated me with the utmost in hospitality, and I have always tried to respect the fact that I was inside their property. I would hope that people like you Jeff, would extend the same respect should you come onto my property, or anyone else’s…including the folks on Washington Road. Why don’t you take up the charge to get men into that private women’s club up north? Oh, I know, it’s far more popular to pick on rich guys. I know it pains you for that last sentence not to be able to say “rich white guys”.
By Paul
May 8, 2006 10:31 AM | Link to this
Jeff, I know you’re from California but come on. It is a PRIVATE CLUB. How many private clubs in this country do not allow whites or males or white males? Where is the uproar over those clubs??
By John McEnery
May 8, 2006 10:32 AM | Link to this
Augusta National:
The club is private, unless the club accepts government funds, they can restict membership. Leave them alone.
By Mitch
May 8, 2006 10:34 AM | Link to this
Typical, all the wannabe elitists are lining up in favor of Hootie and Augusta National. Betcha none of you guys have ever played a round there and never will. Keep dreaming.
By Joe in BDA
May 8, 2006 10:37 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
It is refreshing to see someone sticking up for etremely rich, white woman. They have been oppressed far too long. Thanks for bringing this issue to light.
Regards,
Ashamed Male
By Courtney
May 8, 2006 10:39 AM | Link to this
Yet another AJC writer announces that he will be voting for Hilary Clinton…as many times as possible. A complete lack of understanding of the issue. A complete lack of understanding of right and wrong. And a complete agreement to government by polls. And a serious willing to glom onto anything that sounds trendy.
Augusta National is a PRIVATE CLUB. They are not breaking any laws. Public opinion has nothing to do with what they do.
How about pointing out the hypocrisy of Martha Burk’s cronies she claims to be in charge of. Many of those groups are female only - and some are militantly against having anything male around.
By michelle
May 8, 2006 10:40 AM | Link to this
hey mitch,
bet you haven’t played at augusta and won’t ever either. are you gonna cry about it now? it’s not about being elitist, i’ve hardly the finances to claim that. it’s about recognizing that this ISN’T the next step in the civil rights movement, and never will be.
get off YOUR high horse, i’m sure it’s a long fall down.
By Greg
May 8, 2006 10:41 AM | Link to this
I think ajc.com is having some web problems with my post going up several times…
By GTGD
May 8, 2006 10:52 AM | Link to this
no Greg, i think YOU are having some problems. you morons hit the “Post” button over & over again because there’s a delay in loading the message up to the web page. hey Jeff, ever notice that the most ignorant and bigoted comments are posted multiple times by morons who don’t know how to use their computer?
By Rob
May 8, 2006 10:53 AM | Link to this
What a shock!!! AJC have web “problems” when one of their own are being flogged for be dumb.
By Shock 'em Shockley
May 8, 2006 10:53 AM | Link to this
Mitch- what was your post attempting to accomplish. Would you even believe me if I told you I play there? Or I’m a member? Or Hootie is my grandfather?
I doubt it and its not true (surprise, surprise), but your ignorant post shows just how narrow-minded and short sighted you truly are on this issue. I would love go on and on, but it looks like Michelle took care of you already.
By kaz
May 8, 2006 10:56 AM | Link to this
Ya know what frightens me, is people like you Jeff. those that think political correctness supercede personal freedom of an individual or organization. Augusta National is PRIVATE, they can admit or invite anyone they choose that simple. And Tiger Woods and the rest of the tour are doing what they should, concentrating on golf and leaving the policies of a private club out of the golf.
By Scott
May 8, 2006 10:56 AM | Link to this
Jeff, please say the Cox sisters made you write this. It’s probably the only thing their billionaire butts can’t have.
By TypicalAJCMoonbat
May 8, 2006 10:56 AM | Link to this
I’ve got to strongly agree with Jeff. Although he and I are only part of the proud 2% who espouse this view, we remain sure that we are in the Mainstream of opinion and the othe 98% are nothing but extemists on the fringe. After I wipe the froth from my chin, Jeff, I want you to know that we two, as the mainstream, are happy for all those neanderthals to recognize us as raving moonbat leftists.
We have much work ahead. As a 6”1”, 175 lb. slow, weak 52 year old, I have always felt discriminated against by the NFL and teh NBA. Why is it that I can’t play defensive end or power forward? It’s because of blatant age and ability discrimination, and nothing else. Let’s carry our banner against these private sports associations and bring them into this century. And why are there no wheelchair athletes in the NHL? Again, pure discrimination and we’re not going to stand for it anymore! And neither will those so handicapped!
Someone above mentioned getting Stan Kasten involved with the Masters. Brilliant move! He can turn the Masters into a common person tournament and have it losing money in only a short while, thereby benefitting the common man and woman. He’s shown his vast talent at losing for many years, and he could make the Masters such a loser that they’ll have to let women play to lessen the tournament even more!
Keep up the great campaign, Jeff. Remember we’re the mainstream of American opinion and it’s the good old fashioned American way to instill Euro-socialist ideals in these extremist neanderthals!
By Gone with the 2nd Wind
May 8, 2006 10:58 AM | Link to this
Mr. Shultze, suh. You of awl people should know that this is JAWAHGA. It’s not 2006 in JAWAHGA. Or SOWATH CAROWLINE-AH eeahthuh. Just look at the responses you’ve gotten. Really stirred up the Neanderthals, haven’t you. Of course, if Tiger or Phil or any of the other pros had any kahunas, they’d boycott the damn Masters. But, alas they don’t (have the kahunas). But don’t fret. By the year 2300, maybe 2006 will come to JAWAHGA. Yes suh, progress is on the way !!! PS (I believe it should be “Payne can ‘Effect change’”.
By Pompano
May 8, 2006 11:00 AM | Link to this
I think Jeff must have slept in this morning, so they pasted his name over the top of an article written by Terence Moore. Surely the AJC doesn’t employ 2 fools capable of writing such garbage.
By Wes
May 8, 2006 11:03 AM | Link to this
Jeff and the AJC, if you feel so strongly about your stand, why don’t you use your “hammer” and boycott covering the Masters next April? Talk is cheap, especially when you have nothing new to say. Put your money where your hypocritical, condescending opinion is.
By Mitch
May 8, 2006 11:05 AM | Link to this
Oops. What I meant to say was Hootie and I don’t need you wannabe elitists’ help. We have in quite in control.
By Kevin
May 8, 2006 11:09 AM | Link to this
I agree with 99% of all responses. This is a private club run by private money. They can do whatever they want.
Besides, what is so wrong about having a men’s only club? There are so many other things our attention should be focused on, and this is not one of them.
By Julie Barnes
May 8, 2006 11:09 AM | Link to this
In your piece about Augusta National, Hootie Johnson and Billy Payne, you say “Let’s try to stay on point, shall we?”. I find this interesting, coming from the same man who made just paragraphs earlier a comparison between Hootie Johnson and a T-Rex, and attributing a quote to him about voting rights (which have absolutely nothing to do with membership) that he never said. Making your argument in such a low-brow, sarcastic way won’t win any converts.
By Wesley
May 8, 2006 11:14 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
In the words of our beloved Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, ” That is a great story ….FOR ME TO POOP ON ” !
Its a private club…nuff said.
Tell Billy to go walk nine and forget about allowing women members until he can join ” Curves”
By Wesley
May 8, 2006 11:16 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
In the words of our beloved Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, ” That is a great story ….FOR ME TO P_ _P ON ” !
Its a private club…nuff said.
Tell Billy to go walk nine and forget about allowing women members until he can join ” Curves”
By Wesley
May 8, 2006 11:18 AM | Link to this
Jeff,
In the words of our beloved Triumph the Insult Comic Dog, ” That is a great story ….FOR ME TO P_ _P ON ” !
Its a private club…nuff said.
Tell Billy to go walk nine and forget about allowing women members until he can join ” Curves”
By Chad
May 8, 2006 11:19 AM | Link to this
They’ll eventually let women in, I think the issue with Hootie and Burk was that Hootie didn’t like being put in a full nelson to do something, and that’s what this is all about, not so much the issue of allowing a woman in. I mean it is, but I think Hootie’s resistance and the reason this got so blown up is because someone was stepping on Hootie’s neck and of course he was going to push back.
Is it really that big a deal anyway? Not being a member at Augusta doesn’t refuse you medical care or education or something, it’s golf……
By Kenny
May 8, 2006 11:20 AM | Link to this
The wonderful thing about our country is that no one can legally tell Augusta National who to let or not let in to their private club. This issue is rightfully being played out in the court of public opinion. The real issue is based on Mr. Schultz’s point that The Masters, a public tournament and Augusta National are two seperate entities. If I were a woman, I might have a problem with companies that choose to advertise and support a tournament held exclusively at club that has not admitted someone of my gender. As Hootie Johnson showed a couple of years ago when he excused all advertisers from the tournament, neither Augusta National nor the Masters is in need of any kind of corporate sponsorship any more. Years of stellar financial management combined with the corporate revenues of the tournament have surely put the club on an untouchable financial footing. The only recourse for anyone looking to hurt Augusta National would be to protest the players themselves and the companies sponsoring them. I am not talking about golf companies. I am talking about the Ford Motor Companies of the world. If you really hit the top 5-10 players then you may or may not cause some of them to withdraw. Not having the top 5-10 for a few years would slowly but surely take the lustre off of the tournament. Of course, Augusta National could decide to not have the Masters at all if they wanted to. But, they would never do it. That is the pride and joy of the club whether they admit it or not. No Masters, the club loses some of it’s cache. What are you left with in 20 to 30 years? A nice place that used to host a major tournament.
By BigPappa
May 8, 2006 11:23 AM | Link to this
I am white, male, financially secure, avid golfer, avid golf fan, been to Auguusta on business many times-know the way to get there, roomed with Lee Jansen @ Florida Southern College in the early 80’s, play public courses when family/faith commitments allow…..I’ve never been near the 1st tee at Augusta because calling others for badges, blaming someone else for my lack of access, or moseying up to the free food and mixed drinks at the Journalist reception are not my style. Hootie and The Blow Hards have the right to make their own rules whether they exclude me or not. Private means private. At least they allow me a peak thru plasma TV. I would imagine that if I was one of the boyz @ Augusta I might not feel comfortable hangin out with others that know not the feeling of humility and grace. Perhaps some of or all of them do. Fact is they have the bucks to be there and that is their right.My garden tub at home is a private club also. Only members are me and my wife. Not even Jim Nantz is allowed a peak. That’s my right as an American. To make the rules at my own private club. And to clear the bubbles from my eyes as Phil sinks a 30 footer.
By Scott C.
May 8, 2006 11:26 AM | Link to this
What’s next, Cynthia Tucker doing “Weekend Predictions” come football season? Jay Bookman cracking on the Thrashers?? Jeff, your columns are generally hilarious, but this one is in a different way. For crying out loud, its a PRIVATE CLUB!!!!!! What about that do you not understand??
By Poopyhead
May 8, 2006 11:28 AM | Link to this
That Jeff is one smart cookie, leading the charge for the universally oppressed class of old, rich, white women to be admitted into Augusta National. For years, these women have pined to smoke cigars in the clubhouse and it’s a fundamental denial of their civil rights.
And besides, who is one of the oldest, richest white women in the world? Hmmmm….isn’t Anne Chambers Cox really, really wealthy? And white? And old? Gee, doesn’t she own the AJC?
Oh Jeff, you ole brown-noser!
By Pompano
May 8, 2006 11:34 AM | Link to this
I think Jeff must have slept in this morning, so they pasted his name over the top of an article written by Terence Moore. Surely the AJC doesn’t employ 2 fools capable of writing such garbage.
By walter
May 8, 2006 11:45 AM | Link to this
Hey Jeff, You just added your stupidity with the likes of Terrence Moore. Augusta National is a PRIVATE club, period. I certainly hope Billy Payne has read the responses to your stupid article and will not allow women members just because of some idiotic opinions such as yours. You and Terrence Moore should be fired and I will certainly skip any future columns by yourself the same as I have Terrence Moore for the past seven years.
By Greg
May 8, 2006 11:47 AM | Link to this
Hey GTGD, what are you supposed to do when you try to post and the message that comes back tells you that the page did not load, you IDIOT? You’re calling me a moron? Hey Jeff, ever notice how people who can’t arrange a logical and rational response have to resort to name calling to try and get across the thought processes of their feeble minds? Hey GTGD, why don’t you try and contribute something meaningful to the conversation, instead of resorting to the old crutch of labeling someone you don’t agree with ignorant and bigoted?
By PSYCHIC
May 8, 2006 11:48 AM | Link to this
I forsee a great career in your future writing childrens lunch menus.
By austindog
May 8, 2006 11:50 AM | Link to this
Jeff, great cause to champion. The neglected and defenseless “idle rich female”.
Best case scenario: they open up to women, and 99.99999999 of the population (male & female) will still never get near membership.
By viktor
May 8, 2006 11:53 AM | Link to this
I see that AJC subscriptions are down again. 6.7% this time.
The first rule of sales is to know your audience. You obviously don’t know yours.
By jim Grayson
May 8, 2006 11:55 AM | Link to this
Why belong to any organization that discrimminates against your mother, wife, and sister?
I have little respect for people who bar anyone because of factors that they cannot control like their gender.
If I were Tiger Woods, I would boycott the Masters-as Palmer, Nicklaus, and others should have done.
Same goes for the catholic church. I would not give one penny to an organizatin that bars my wife from the priesthood.
By Bob
May 8, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this
Are you trying to be a Martha Burke wannabe? Listen Augusta National is PRIVATE. They receive NO funds from the goverment,so they are ALLOWED to do as they wish. Women CAN play at Augusta they just cannot be members. The women down the street will not let me join their bridge club. Can you do some whining for me. Just let us enjoy Augusta and The Masters and take your Gloria Steinnam battle somewhere else.
By craig
May 8, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this
Jeff, again, nice liberal comments from the ajc.. Why,don’t you organize you’re own private club and invite guests???Viewpoint From the other Georgia!!!
By craig
May 8, 2006 11:56 AM | Link to this
Jeff, again, nice liberal comments from the ajc.. Why,don’t you organize you’re own private club and invite guests???Viewpoint From the other Georgia!!!
By Kristi
May 8, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this
I am an athlete and a female and I am in NO way offended by Augusta not allowing women members. It’s not like Hootie and the boys are prohibiting us from building our own exclusive club. They have their place-good for them. In this time of advancement in women’s sports, we should be able to create our own club with our own traditions, and not wait for some knight in shining armor like Payne to pick us to play on his playground.
By craig
May 8, 2006 11:57 AM | Link to this
Jeff, again, nice liberal comments from the ajc.. Why,don’t you organize you’re own private club and invite guests???Viewpoint From the other Georgia!!!
By craig
May 8, 2006 11:58 AM | Link to this
Jeff, again, nice liberal comments from the ajc.. Why,don’t you organize you’re own private club and invite guests???Viewpoint From the other Georgia!!!
By scott
May 8, 2006 12:00 PM | Link to this
right on mr. schultz.you really no how to get these good oldboys going .i think you are right that mr. payne will do the right thing and let women become memmbers .
By Blonsky
May 8, 2006 12:01 PM | Link to this
This column is yet another reason that te AJC is, at best, a third rate large market newspaper, with third rate reporters and columnist. Even with them basically giving away tens of thousands of papers to get circulation up, they are still going down the tubes. They simply rely on baiting, whether it be race, sexual preference, or in this case, gender.
By scott
May 8, 2006 12:02 PM | Link to this
right on mr. schultz.you really no how to get these good oldboys going .i think you are right that mr. payne will do the right thing and let women become memmbers .
By Harold
May 8, 2006 12:05 PM | Link to this
what is so wrong with a “PRIVATE” club and who they choose to allow into it? i dont hear a uproar of men crying why cant they get into the LPGA or white guys demanding to get into the 100 black men organization. are we not allowed to be able to have a place where we can go to be with a group of people that we CHOOSE to be with??? get real and find something that is worthwhile to talk about.
By Smarter thanyou
May 8, 2006 12:06 PM | Link to this
Comrade Jeff, I salute you! As a fellow traveler, I too hate those of wealth and privilege. Admitting an old white woman to Augusta will further our ends. It was so clever of you to realize that some old rich white woman, upon being admitted, will probaly keel over and die with excitement when she first enters the clubhouse. Another capitalist pig down! Right on! Take it to the streets! Free Mumia!
By Dan
May 8, 2006 12:39 PM | Link to this
Cobb county georgia was left out of the Olympics in Atlanta because the Black racists felt cobb was Raciest.
By Mary
May 8, 2006 12:50 PM | Link to this
I have lived in Augusta all my life and have never once questioned the exclusiveness of the Augusta National. I grew up around the Masters, and thought the whole Martha Burke thing was ridiculous (as did most of the Augusta population). Why mess with tradition? That’s all it is: tradition. I fully supported Hootie in his answer to letting women in: it was just a simple “No.”. End of story. What’s the problem with that??
By wayne
May 8, 2006 12:51 PM | Link to this
Private club! Private clubs have the right to select their memebrs, in any manner they wish. ENOUGH diversity!
I used to belong to the Jaycees. The organization was forced to allow membership of women. It destroyed the Jaycees.
By Mary
May 8, 2006 12:51 PM | Link to this
I have lived in Augusta all my life and have never once questioned the exclusiveness of the Augusta National. I grew up around the Masters, and thought the whole Martha Burke thing was ridiculous (as did most of the Augusta population). Why mess with tradition? That’s all it is: tradition. I fully supported Hootie in his answer to letting women in: it was just a simple “No.”. End of story. What’s the problem with that??
By john
May 8, 2006 12:51 PM | Link to this
I’m not sure Augusta National have been descriminating on sexual or racial terms. There descrimination has been based on wealth and prominnce. When a woman comes along who has sufficient wealth, reputation and game, I believe the gods of green will admit a goddess.
By Mark
May 8, 2006 01:04 PM | Link to this
Jeff, I think you are on to something. I’d like to demand that the Coxes allow you to wear a tube top and heels to work - a magnanimous effort by a private corporation to allow its employees (members) to express their innermost selves. After all, it is 2006. Plus, that will let you be in the running to be selected as the historic first female member!
By Don
May 8, 2006 01:08 PM | Link to this
Billy Payne “must” act to admit women as members at Augusta because a hack writer (even by the low standards of the AJC) says so?
Is the AJC going to start beating this drum again by printing articles on it every few days for the next year? This is a dead issue, as was shown when Martha Burke’s protest rally drew more journalists than protestors.
Augusta National is a private club and can admit or deny admission to whomever they want. The Masters is an invitational tournament which will continue to bring all the top players in the world and draw large TV ratings regardless of this issue.
No wonder the AJC’s paid circulation dropped 6.7% in the last 6 month period. The morons who run it are determined to staff it with columnists and reporters intent on shoving their left-wing politics down their readers’ throats whether they like it or not. The readers are voting with their feet.
By Chance
May 8, 2006 01:34 PM | Link to this
Shultz - Could you be a bigger bedwetting wienie?
By CD
May 8, 2006 01:42 PM | Link to this
Jeff, Your readers are to be commended for such reasoned, intelligent comments that are void of personal attacks. Shame on you for expressing an opinion. Who do you think you are, a columnist?
By Todd
May 8, 2006 01:50 PM | Link to this
Mr. Shultz, All I want you to explain to me is where does this right of entitlement mentality come from. Augusta National is a private club. Where do you and the Martha Burkes get off telling them who should be in their club!
Its not just this, it is the illegal Mexicans, and other minorities. I am tired of being told who should be where and what they are entitled to! The only guarantee you have, is the guarantee of opportunity! What you do with this opportunity is up to you! Mr. Shultz, Go get a life!
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 02:03 PM | Link to this
CD:
I’m not a fan of name-calling either, but it seems your real opinion (minus the sarcasm) could be expressed as follows:
Shame on all of us readers for expressing our opinions. Who do we think we are…customers? …or maybe citizens of the United States of America??
Keep in mind that opinions aren’t defined as “reasoned” or “intelligent” based on whether they agree with your own…at least not yet, anyway.
By terry
May 8, 2006 02:08 PM | Link to this
If a woman becomes a member of Augusta National, it will be because she is a qualified person regardless of sex. This is one of the most exclusive of private clubs, and their membership has a right to determine whom to invite to become members. One does not ask to become a member. I, personally, would not wish to become a member of any club if I had to ask to join. There is nothing politically incorrect in the way this private club operates. If any member disagrees with any club policy, they have a right to resign their membership. Also, the PGA tour players are not required to play in the Masters if they qualify. Likewise, the sponsors are not required to participate in the Masters telecast, but they do. Why do you suppose that is? Mr. Schultz, please find something more worthwhile for your next diatribe. Better yet, just shut up!
By kraig
May 8, 2006 02:10 PM | Link to this
I wish you would kill yourself Jeff Schultz. You would rid the world of one less moron. Seriously…go home tonight put a gun in your mouth, pull the trigger, and paint the walls red with your ignorant brain matter in front of your wife (or boyfriend in your case probably). It’s a private club, queer. What do you care if a club that you have nothing to do with only allows a specific group? Jesus Christ! We all know you are a woman at heart, which is probably why you are sticking for them. Women can barely drive cars, they have no business driving golf carts and ruining Augusta National’s fairways and greens.
By BirdDawg
May 8, 2006 02:22 PM | Link to this
Kraig,
No matter what you feel about Schultz, you’ve just crossed a major line, son. I wish your parents would have raised you better. Then you might have some class and be able to make an argument without such words as you used.
Grow up son. Real men don’t feel the need to speak as you do.
By Ben Sutton
May 8, 2006 02:38 PM | Link to this
Kraig: BirdDawg is right- you just crossed a major line. There in no place for comments that you made except for in prison or a mental institute. If you really have thoughts like these… you might want to think about checking into the latter. 99% of us don’t agree with Jeff, but we would never display our emotions in the manner you just did. Uncalled FOR!
By bushwacker
May 8, 2006 02:48 PM | Link to this
Hey Jeff, I see where IRAN does not let women attend soccer matches, maybe you and Martha would have better luck with the young liberal thinking leaders in the middle east than she had with the ancient Hootie ” the caveman” Johnson. Head on over there and see what you can do for the women of IRAN.
By William Kitchens
May 8, 2006 02:52 PM | Link to this
Hey I’m not a sportswriter but can I vote to elect members into the Baseball Hall of Fame?
By Hadden Knough
May 8, 2006 02:56 PM | Link to this
This nonsense is nothing more than another battle in the continued war on masculinity. Shultz has obviously been captured and neutered. The “Leave no man behind” policy does not apply this instance.
By George
May 8, 2006 03:05 PM | Link to this
Blah, blah, blah. Your reasoning and thought processes are as flawed as W’s. You both babble without ever making a valid point.
By reality check
May 8, 2006 03:05 PM | Link to this
Burk is already mouthing off, as reported by the AP this afternoon. She whines Billy Payne doesn’t have a stiff backbone because he won’t talk to her.
It doesn’t take Freud to understand the root of NOW’s problem.
By Aubrey
May 8, 2006 03:11 PM | Link to this
Wow. At first I wasn’t even going to dignify this with a response but since every one else is, why not? Private club, private membership, private rules. As a female I have to say I could care less if they let women in. Give men a chance to socialize without us around. We have our groups too.
By mike
May 8, 2006 03:48 PM | Link to this
I’m trying to figure out your motivation for this assault on Hootie, Jeff. Is it you couldn’t afford the $35 for a Masters Tee-shirt or did they not give you a press pass ? Either way, your 15 minutes are up; get off the stage.
By Tim
May 8, 2006 03:56 PM | Link to this
I’m 62 and played rugby in college, went offshore and fought for the U.S., and can still “whup” most of you bigots.
I notice that there is no cogent response to Sharon’s righteous post…too much reading for those of you baying like banshies?
Augusta will only allow women as members when real class comes to Augusta, and that may take some real evolution.
By Ben Sutton
May 8, 2006 04:02 PM | Link to this
the only bigotry involved here is whoever brings it on here. That would be you Tim. Keep holding on to your “race card”, it’s really helping
By Tim
May 8, 2006 04:06 PM | Link to this
Ben, did I forget to tell you I’m Irish-German? Thanks for responding so typically to the call to bigots.
By James
May 8, 2006 04:09 PM | Link to this
James: It is closed -minded individuals like yourself who just don’t grasp the concept of PRIVATE. Let Augusta Natl. do what they want. I will never get in, and that is fine by me. I don’t hate on them. It is their club.
By CA
May 8, 2006 04:12 PM | Link to this
What wrong Jeff?? Did Augusta National Security not give you your press credential? Your article is sad!!! Martha Burk has already been exposed as being a publicity monger. Now, you want to give her extra time in the headlines. Try doing actual journalistic work rather than jumping for the cheap publicity. Most of the time, I find your articles interesting and rarely thought provoking, but keep up articles like this and you will be in the same boat as Terrence Moore, a big joke!
By cosby smith
May 8, 2006 04:16 PM | Link to this
Your are nuts. Augusta National is a “PRIVATE” club. They can select who they want to be members. They do not take public funds of any kind. So get off your high horse and understand “_PRIVATE”.
By BDJ
May 8, 2006 04:23 PM | Link to this
an angry, polarized society reflected in this blog….accusations and incrimations flying like daggers … My GOD what has this country come to? I, for one, am disturbed by the violence of thought, word and deed behind some of these bloggers comments — please remember that a FREE PRESS is vital to real democracy. Thank you, Jeff, I’m sure you must have known you would elict this kind of vitrol with your commentary. I have the option to agree or disagree with what you say, I don’t have the right to try to silence you.
By mark
May 8, 2006 04:25 PM | Link to this
jeff,
By Tim
May 8, 2006 04:31 PM | Link to this
Mark, discrimination base on gender, beginning of story. End of story will be when class evolves in Augusta. This may take a long time, since it took a long time for Jews, then African Americans to be allowed membership. Private clubs are often, as is this case, merely facades to mask deals that won’t stand the light of day.
By David Doyle
May 8, 2006 04:36 PM | Link to this
Hey Jeff
When you get together with the boys on poker night, are the girls invited? I bet that would end boys night out for good. Unless, of course, if you belonged to Agusta. Be careful what you hope for.
By Deano
May 8, 2006 04:41 PM | Link to this
Bend over Jeff- here comes Martha with her strap on
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 04:46 PM | Link to this
Tim:
I didn’t respond to Sharon’s “righteous post” simply because I didn’t have time to read all 2850 words! I’m all for thoroughness in a debate, but that’s a bit long for a blog post - even a “righteous” one…
I’ll assume (since I have posted opinions on this blog that differ from yours) that you have called me a bigot. That fits the liberal template for an argument, you know. If you look in the liberal lexicon under “bigot” the definition reads “anyone who disagrees with me on any topic for any reason”. I’ll further assume that you feel as though you could “whup” me. Rather than address that, I’ll simply thank you for your service to our country.
Having said all of that, I invite you to review my posts and provide a “cogent” point-by-point response them. I’ll happily defend any and all of them, because I consider them to be quite “righteous” in their own right. I would offer a “cogent’ response to your opinions, but you didn’t really post one. You only offered praise for the opinions of another. If you would like to form a “cogent” (or even “righteous”) set of your own opinions and post them here, I’ll gladly respond.
By Mike
May 8, 2006 04:51 PM | Link to this
Why “must he act”? This evil private club just gave over $3M in charity. Sounds like a real evil empire…
By Dave
May 8, 2006 04:53 PM | Link to this
Geez Jeff! There’s got to be a nagging wife behind your position on Payne and Augusta. C’mon, show some kahuna’s. Augusta is serious tradition and private. I hope Billy Bob keeps a stiff upper lip and ignores you libby’s downtown.
By John
May 8, 2006 04:59 PM | Link to this
I can’t believe Mr. Shultz’s comments. First Augusta is a private club. Since whenh do we tell private club’s what to do? Second, the request to integrate Augusta is made by a “women’s organization” that is not integrated, especially in name. If they want a club like augusta national, build it for women only. There are differences between men and women and they should be respected.
By Jeff
May 8, 2006 05:01 PM | Link to this
Why can somethings just not be left alone?? Who is being hurt by NOT letting women in? Get over it. So if women are let in then there should not BE ANY exclusive clubs, colleges, associations anywhere for anyone. So if you are going to pick on one club or institution change them all.
By Tim
May 8, 2006 05:01 PM | Link to this
Scoreboardboy, The crux of the matter is that, although they can’t be compelled by law to change their bylaws, they are discriminating because of gender. That is ethically wrong. Because there are people who meet and deal within those confines, it is excluding women who are OTHERWISE QUALIFIED from joining that clique. BTW, thanks for defining yourself as a bigot, I don’t know you, so I couldn’t. A bigot is “a prejudiced person who is intolerant of any opinions differing from his own”, according to the American Heritage Dictionary. Also the first amendment doesn’t guarantee a freedom of association. It guarantees “the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.”
By Rach
May 8, 2006 05:07 PM | Link to this
hahahahaha…. only in america can a sports column about discrimination of women in a golf club only for men attract so many people to stand up and argue. ever been to another country? my friend is from england and had no idea her parents were different races UNTIL she came to the U.S. We put labels on everything, and as such, we bring discrimination along with it. Such a shame, can’t we all be friends? lol- i’m laughing at my own ironic, ignorant statement. welcome to the 2006 version of the 1950’s brown vs. the board of education. but honestly, who really cares? people in our generation do not really give a darn. ‘nuff said about that, ya’ll have a nice day, thanks for the article so we could all see everyone and their mother come out and post…including me
By viktor
May 8, 2006 05:10 PM | Link to this
I love liberals and their self-righteous elitism. God. What would we do without them? How would we all know right from wrong, rich from poor, who should or should not pay taxes and how much and, now, genitalia correctness? What a bunch of morons.
By uga4ever
May 8, 2006 05:23 PM | Link to this
good point viktor! Thank goodness for liberals. Listening to them- I know the meaning of moron.
By Jeff
May 8, 2006 05:44 PM | Link to this
Face it Jeff…there is only one way you can think and write if you are going to work for the AJC. You are the one with no courage. Congrats though…you get to keep your job and you’ll probably get a big raise. Too bad you have no male identity….or soul….
By StephenBob
May 8, 2006 05:49 PM | Link to this
Rach…I have been to many countries, including living in the UK for two years, and I can tell you that ALL places recognize races.
Don’t fool yourself into thinking that America is ugly and filled with racists. Go to a soccer game in Europe and see how the crowd reacts to black players.
By scott
May 8, 2006 06:17 PM | Link to this
Spare me. It is a private club. My wife even agrees that they can choose who they want to. Maybe I should I be a founder of 100 white me of Atlanta (sorry, that would be racists)
By HughG
May 8, 2006 06:24 PM | Link to this
OK, first off, can we please retire the phrase “Private Club, Moron” from the discourse here? I mean, honestly, people, after the first guy, repeating practically verbatim the message from the previous ninety nine posters said really makes the case that the “moron” could be more easily found in your mirror. Yes, it’s a private club. And discrimination in a private setting doesn’t make it right. Will it change the world if we let a woman into Augusta National? No, but it doesn’t mean we shouldn’t just to anger people we disagree with. Sports and politics interact all the time, be it with this or the Duke Rape Case or Steroid Hearings on Capitol Hill. Furman Bisher’s ode to tradition is just as political as Schultzie’s, but none of you criticize him for bringing “politics” to sports because you agree with them, so it’s “just good ol’ common sense.” Finally, I’ve had it up to here with people whining and claiming victimhood for White Males, especially White Males here in Georgia. Since the founding of our country and State, every President, Governor, and Senator has been a White Male. Did I miss the part where white males made less money at their job than their counterparts of different gender or race? ‘Cause they don’t. Even though I’m a Sports fan, the real scandal in college admissions isn’t “multiculturalism,” it’s athletics. If your D-Student son can throw a spiral or make a three pointer, we’ll grease the skids for him. Have we forgotten “Coaching Principles and Strategies of Basketball” anyone?
By Jason
May 8, 2006 06:44 PM | Link to this
Guess we don’t have to worry about Jeff writing any columns from the media work room at Augusta next year….
By Scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 08:49 PM | Link to this
Tim:
I typed a long and thoughtful response to your post, then the site crapped out when I tried to post it. So now I’m faced with re-creating it from memory over an hour later…
I asked you to go back and read my posts and offer a “cogent” point-by-point refutation of my arguments. You failed. Let me show you how to do it:
1) The first part of your post tells me that you think Augusta National’s policies are legal, yet ethically wrong because they discriminate based on gender. This is progress. At least I know the basis of your argument now. Of course, my natural response is to ask you about the “ethically wrong” discrimination of the National Organization of Women and the United Negro College Fund. And don’t give me the predictable argument about those organizations representing oppressed minorities, hence they have to abide by a different code of ethics than the one you propose for the evil rich men at Augusta National. If that it all you have up your sleeve, just skip it. Don’t waste my time.
2) In the middle of your post, your liberal soul shines through. You employ the snotty little tactic of accusing me of defining myself as a bigot. I didn’t do that. You know it. There is a word for people who willfully spread lies, but I said I wasn’t going to get into name-calling, so I’ll let you figure it out. Then you follow that by quoting a definition of bigot that seems to fit you quite well. Read it again with an open mind, and get back to me.
3) You close your post by quoting the Constitution to me. I don’t know you, but I’ll say that there are damn few people on this earth qualified to quoteethe Constitution to me. And there are even fewer qualified to interpret it for me. If you’ve studied it more than I have, I would truly be shocked. Having said all of that, let me address your little lesson. First of all, if you had done as I asked and read my previous posts, you would know that I have already quoted that passage. Except I only quoted the pertinent part. The part about the right of the people “to petition the Government for a redress of grievances” is a separate clause that doesn’t have any application in this discussion. You didn’t know that, yet you quoted the Constitution to ME. For your information, the part about “the right of the people peaceably to assemble” is widely referred to as the Freedom Of Association Clause. You didn’t know that, yet you quoted the Constitution to ME. If you want to get picky about the exact phrasing of the Constitution, consider this. I’ll bet you think the Constitution specifically mandates a “separation of church and state”. In fact, that phrase does not appear in the Constitution, nor does other phrase similar in wording or meaning. I know that is off topic. I merely mentioned it to make a point. Did you get it?
Let me close by saying that I have been trying to have an honest substantive debate with any one of several liberals on this blog for 24 hours. You were the first to respond, yet you failed on both counts. You didn’t address any of my points specifically, and you willfully lied about something I said. Let me invite you again to debate me properly. But if you aren’t up to the task, don’t bother. You will only be ignored. And for goodness sake, don’t start quoting the Constitution to me. You proven quite unready for that.
By kreedham
May 8, 2006 08:52 PM | Link to this
I just have one question, Why would a woman even want to join Augusta National?
By Efrem the Retarded Rabbit
May 8, 2006 08:54 PM | Link to this
Whoever runs the Masters should be free to exclude women, but Jeff Schultz should be free to call them insensitive, backwards rednecks for doing so. Can we all agree on that?
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 08:59 PM | Link to this
Yes, Efrem, we can agree on that…as long as we can agree that I should be able to point out the flaws in Jeff’s (and apparently your) argument.
By Tom Shane
May 8, 2006 09:05 PM | Link to this
You all are ridiculous. The whole point of Jeff Schultz’s existence is to express his opinion. His opinion is that the policies there should change. You all act like he’s forcing them to change their policies. Obviously he doesn’t have the right or power to do that. But if he doesn’t express his opinion about it, what’s the point of him, or any other columnist, even having a job? It’s a private club, no sh*t, that’s why neither Schultz nor anyone else can make them change their policies. But some of you act like protesting the policies of an organization (whether it’s private or public) is wrong, conveniently forgetting the fact that this entire country was founded on the idea of freedom to protest.
Agree or disagree with his opinion if you want (I personally don’t care either way about the issue), but saying “oh, it’s a private club, you can’t force them to change, liberal elitist communist feminist hippie blah blah blah” completely misses the point of the article and completely disregards the fact that nobody is forcing anyone to do anything.
If there’s one thing people on ajc.com’s blogs are really good at, it’s missing the point.
By scoreboardboy
May 8, 2006 09:19 PM | Link to this
Mr. Shane:
My question is this: Why is it OK for Mr. Shultz to express an opinion, but it isn’t OK for me to rebut it? And please don’t accuse me of missing the point. I fully inderstand his point, I assure you. Mr. Shultz is no rocket scientist. I doubt he’s capable of espousing any opinion that I can’t understand. If you are able to respond appropriately, please do so.
By Steve Elliott
May 8, 2006 09:44 PM | Link to this
Oh how easy it is to write such a trite politically correct piece. Write about something real for a change. First of all it’s a private club and I don’t care what century the calendar say’s we are in. In a democracy we actually have a RIGHT to a private club. Get over it. You are wrong. One thought, how come Tiger doesn’t play on the “women’s tour.” I mean that would be only fair wouldn’t it. (Don’t give me the “shallow” B.S. line for asking that by the way.) Why doesn’t anyone write about all the women’s clubs where men are kept out? Better question! Why don’t men want to join those clubs? There are virtually no all male schools anymore yet hundreds of women only school. I don’t have a problem with it. It’s healthy. Why isn’t it healthy to have an all male club? Oh it must be the money, and you leftist say you aren’t about the money but your article proves otherwise.