ITHAS my father glued to the television every year. My brothers refuse to leave their houses while it's on. I myself have trouble tapping into this excitement, but for my family and many other golf fanatics, the Masters Golf Tournament is practically another Christmas. This year was no exception. However, this Masters has been consumed by a quite overblown and unnecessary attack on its host club.
Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, has led the crusade. Upon discovering last summer that the Augusta National Golf Club, which hosts the Masters Tournament every year, does not have any women members, Burk embarked on a campaign to force this boys' club to change their sexist ways.
Few would say that the absence of women at Augusta National is a good thing. The club should have taken women members a long time ago. This is the 21st century, after all -- the closest thing to a boy's club nowadays is the men's bathroom.
However, Augusta National is in no way obligated to admit a female member. Neither Martha Burk nor anyone else has the right to force that decision on them.
The Augusta National Golf Club is a private organization. They are privately funded. They have the right to admit whomever they want. Nowhere in Augusta's rules does it say that women are not allowed to be members. Membership at Augusta is done by invite only, as it is at most private golf clubs. A woman has simply never been invited to be a member.
Along comes Burk, a member of an outside organization, who doesn't agree with Augusta's current status. Burk essentially wishes to force a change in an organization in which she plays no role and which is not breaking any laws.
It is one thing for Burk to voice an opinion, on behalf of NCWO, that Augusta National should have female members, in hopes of changing its leaders' minds. It is a completely different thing for Burk to step in and try to run a private organization.
In a letter to Augusta National, Burk not only demanded that the club change their membership policies, but also gave the club a deadline by which to do so -- before the Master's Tournament in the spring.
Who does Martha Burk think she is? Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson was completely correct in his response to Burk's letter, saying, "We will not be bullied, threatened, or intimidated. We do not intend to become a trophy in their [NCWO's] display case."
After Johnson's surprisingly defiant response, Burk vowed to go after the sponsors of the Master's Tournament, hoping to force change in the membership at Augusta National by preventing them from broadcasting the tournament.
The golf club, however, is practically self-sufficient when it comes to the Masters Tournament. They dropped what few sponsors they had and brought the Masters to your home last week, commercial-free.
Burk also organized a much-hyped protest against the actions of Augusta National Golf Club. She expected that a large gathering would sway the opinions of the club's leadership, and she would finally get her way.
Thirty women showed up.
There were more police officers, security and press there than actual protestors. This is proof that Burk has vehemently undertaken a cause that most women don't really care that much about.
The National Council of Women's Organizations does important work for global human rights, reproductive health, education, domestic abuse and equal pay for equal work, among many other fields. Why Burk chose to attack the Augusta National Golf Club is a mystery, and an embarrassment.
If Martha Burk really wants to pursue the noble cause of women's rights, she should pick something that women actually care about. Any protest is pretty much a lost cause if hardly anyone supports it. I'm sure there are many women who wish Augusta National had female members, but as the turnout at Burk's protest proved, there are few who wish to force it on them.
For now, the Augusta National Golf Club remains a boy's club. It's outdated, it's chauvinistic -- but it's allowed. Next time Martha Burk wants to wage a public battle, she should pick a cause that actually has the support of women behind it.
(Kristin Brown's column normally appears Wednesdays in The Cavalier Daily. She can be reached at kbrown@cavalierdaily.com.)
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