No, it’s not 2003 or even 1963. It’s 2012, and we’re still talking about allowing women to be members of Augusta National during The Masters.
The current controversy surrounding the private golf club in Georgia is the question of whether or not the board of trustees will offer a membership to the current CEO of IBM, Virginia Rometty. Ginny, the 31-year IBM veteran, was appointed to the prestigious position earlier this year, and with what has been given to at least the past four CEOs of the international company is now in question.
“IBM is in a bigger bind than the club,” Burk said. “The club trashed their image years ago. IBM is a corporation. They ought to care about the brand, and they ought to care about what people think. And if they’re not careful, they might undermine their new CEO.”
Augusta has a new chairman in Billy Payne, who ran the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. When he replaced Johnson as chairman of the club and of the Masters tournament in 2006, he said there was “no specific timetable” for admitting women.
The question was raised at the 2007 and 2010 Masters. Both times, Payne said membership issues were private. -CBS News
Should Augusta National, the men-only private club that is host to the PGA’s The Masters tournament, offer Rometty a membership as they have for at least the last 30 years to her male predecessors?
President Barack Obama and Mitt Romney weighed in today and both agree that Rometty should be offered the same membership to the golf club as her IBM CEO counterparts.
President Barack Obama believes women should be allowed to join the all-male Augusta National Golf Club, the White House said on Thursday, adding pressure on the exclusive 80-year-old organization to drop its restrictive policy.
“His personal opinion is that women should be admitted,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters, saying he had spoken to Obama about the issue, as the prestigious Masters tournament got under way in Augusta, Georgia. -Reuters
Or should Augusta keep their tradition intact and continue offering memberships to men only?
Angie Lynch is the founder and managing editor of the powerhouse women’s literary community, Smut Book Club. She is a Native Floridian without a tan, probably because she spends her days hard at work on the magical internet. For the past several years, Angie has worked way too hard at building clout as an influencer in food and margaritas as well as being a source for laughable pop culture commentary. You can read more from Angie on her blog, A Whole Lot of Nothing.
image via Wiki Commons
As an IBM employee I’m proud of having Ginni Rometty as our current CEO. I hope Augusta realizes that membership to its club is a privilege that should be extended to Ginni as it was to Sam Palmisano and Louis Gerstner. She is a brilliant woman who earned her seat as a top CEO. She should be rewarded as such, regardless of gender.
So, the only reason she should be let in is because she took over a position that has traditionally been a man’s job: CEO at IBM?
No. IBM has long been one of Augusta’s top sponsors and for that, membership has been extended to IBM CEOs. The IBM Board of Directors chose to appoint Ginni Rometty as our current CEO. Why should she be denied the same privileges that have been granted to previous CEOs?
I went to law school in Atlanta, and every time the Masters rolled around, this issue was brought up in the news, on the radio, etc. But no matter how much public opinion pushed for change, it never changed, and after a couple of weeks, people moved on to the next issue. I predict the same outcome here. Unless IBM threatens to pull the sponsorship Katie mentioned. Money talks.
The membership at Augusta is made up of welathy, powerful men. And I think it speaks volumes that they don’t think women are worthy of being members of their club.
I kind of go back and forth on this one. Augusta allows women to play the course, just not become a member. It is a private organization perfectly entitled to do so. I do agree that it is extremely archaic. However, there are plenty of all female golf clubs. So, should they let males join? It goes both ways…
Also, I find it strange that Obama and Romney are weighing in on this. There are bigger fish to fry, gentlemen.
I agree with Rachel above- this comes up every April, and disappears right after they award the green jacket.
No. They shouldn’t have to. As a private club (that could do just fine without a major tournament being at their golf course), they have the ability to do whatever they want. It’s no different than men not being invited into the Junior League to me. That’s a women’s club and men shouldn’t be in it. The fact that they have a major PGA tournament at their course is irrelevant to me. Plus, it only hinders the members’ ability to actually play the course. They are only able to play the course a few months out of the year because the rest of the time is preparing it to be pristine for a week out of the year. That same week is the only week anybody cares about this issue, too.
They still let women buy egg salad sandwiches and high dollar t-shirts, though. Just ask my wallet and my waist!
Has anyone even bothered to find out if Ginny wants to be the first female admitted to the Augusta National? It’s a private club, let it be.
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