The great debate on women at Augusta

JACKSONVILLE, Florida -- With neither side willing to budge on the debate over Augusta National's all-male membership, the leader of a women's group said this week it was "more likely than ever" there will be protesters at the Masters next April.

"People are angry about it," said Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women's Organisations.

"People have been making plans at my request to go down there.

''It sounds like if nothing changes, there probably will be pickets and demonstrators."

Burk spoke after reviewing an interview with Augusta National chairman Hootie Johnson, his first since the controversy strated in July.

Johnson was adamant that the Masters would be played, no matter what, and that there was no chance a woman would be among the 300 members at Augusta by then.

Burk refused to take no for an answer. "I don't accept it as the last word," she said.

"It may even be the last gasp to stave off change. This has all the earmarks of a person under siege."

Clearly, neither Burk nor Johnson are giving in. Both think they're right. Both think they will prevail.

Both believe the majority of Americans are on their side.

During an interview from his office, Johnson pointed to four bulging files of letters on his desk that support Augusta National and its right to associate with whomever it wants.

"Nice prop," Burk said. "If you want to come over here, I can stack them for you, too."

The club plans to release a public opinion survey conducted by a Washington polling company that indicates, among other things, that most people agree Augusta National can set their own membership policies as a private club.

"He's got just enough of a kernel of truth to be able to convince some people on this business about being within his legal rights," Burk said.

"He has succeeded in getting some people to view this as a Friday night poker game in their basement."

Still, she said her campaign has produced progress. And she is not convinced that Johnson's point of view is shared by most. "What he's doing is wrong and I believe the American people know he's wrong," she said. "The ruling bodies in golf know he's wrong. Everybody agrees this is not good for golf. It's inevitable there is going to be admission of a woman member to Augusta."

Johnson sure didn't make it sound that way. Blending constitutional rights with male bonding, Johnson said a woman member at Augusta was "out in the future, but definitely not before April."

Burk was just as resolved about her campaign. "We haven't given up on anyone," she said.

So, what next?

She plans to send another round of letters to top executives, demanding they reconcile their membership at all-male Augusta National with their corporate policies against sex discrimination.

"A lot of members are trying to stonewall us," Burk said. "My board has decided to give them one more chance -- kind of a fair warning. We really would like a response because, more than likely, we will start a public education campaign that highlights their companies, their products, their policies on discrimination and their response to us."

She added she would continue to pressure CBS to drop its coverage of the Masters, even though the network said in September it would not.

Johnson dropped the Masters' three TV sponsors to keep them out of the controversy and said Augusta National had enough money to go without sponsors indefinitely.

"I think they're rich enough to go indefinitely," Burk said. "The question is are they that suicidal in terms of the prestige of their tournament?"

Even so, she conceded that only Johnson can end the stalemate by agreeing to invite a woman member.

Otherwise, expect to see pickets and protesters outside the course, rubbing elbows with the traditional crowd trying to buy tickets.

Burk said the campaign would not end in April no matter the outcome and that the issue would continue to dog one of the most famous golf clubs -- and tournaments -- in the world.

"Sponsors will not want to go near it," she said. "Even the members they seek in the future will feel it's tainted, that it's become emblematic of discrimination."

Defiant as ever, Johnson declared that the Masters would be played next year, no matter what, and there was no chance a woman would be a member of the club by then.

"We will prevail because we're right," the 71-year-old Johnson said.

His comments were the first on the subject since he fueled the debate over the all-male membership at Augusta National by criticising Burk for trying to coerce change.

The club has never had a female member in its 69-year history and Johnson didn't sound as if he was in any hurry to change that. "We have no timetable on a woman member," he said. "Our club has enjoyed a camaraderie and a closeness that's served us well for so long that it makes it difficult for us to consider change. A woman may be a member of this club one day, but that is out in the future."

During an hour-long interview in his office, the hint of a smile played above his square jaw as he spoke. He hardly resembled someone who felt threatened, even at "the point of a bayonet." That's the phrase he used on July 9 in a terse, three-page statement in response to Burk's letter urging the club to admit women -- a phrase that has become a slogan of his resolve.

He was unyielding in his stance that Augusta National would not cave in to the demands of Burk or anyone else who dares to challenge the constitutional rights of a private club to associate with whomever it wants.

"This woman portrays us as being discriminatory and being bigots. And we're not," Johnson said.

"We're a private club. And private organisations are good. The Boy Scouts. The Girl Scouts. Junior League. Sororities. Fraternities. Are these immoral?

"See, we are in good company as a single-gender organisation."

He sees no connection between racial and gender discrimination. "Do you know of any constitutional lawyer that's ever said they were the same? Do you know any civil rights activists that said it was the same? It's not relevant," he said. "Nobody accepts them as being the same."

Augusta National opened in 1933, the vision of Clifford Roberts, a Wall Street investment banker, and Bobby Jones, the greatest amateur ever.

The Masters was created in 1934 and has evolved into the most famous of golf's four major championships, the only one played on the same course.

Johnson, a retired banker, was four- years-old when he attended his first Masters in 1935. He was invited to join Augusta National in 1968 and was elected chairman 30 years later.

He is said to have worked behind the scenes to get the first black admitted to the club in 1990, shortly after an all-white membership controversy.

Augusta National allows women to play its course without restrictions.

Women played more than 1000 rounds last year and Johnson invited the University of South Carolina women's golf team as his guests.

So, what's wrong with having one as a member? "We just don't choose to do that at this time," he said.

Johnson said Burk's letter hasn't had any effect on the club's decision to invite a woman to join.

Still, the chairman clearly is annoyed by Burk's campaign.

He never mentioned her by name, three times referring to her only as "this woman" or "that woman."

Asked if he had any regrets about his response to Burk -- three sentences versus three pages to the media -- Johnson smiled: "I seldom have any regrets. I don't look back much."

Then he turned serious and added: "I regret that she threatened us. And I regret that she threatened our sponsors." Johnson dismissed the only TV sponsors of the Masters -- Citigroup, Coca-Cola and IBM -- after Burk challenged them to live up to their own policies against sex discrimination.

That will make next year's Masters, which already gets the highest ratings among golf tournaments, the first commercial-free sporting event on network TV.

If some view this controversy as having the potential to mar the crown jewel of golf, Johnson certainly doesn't. "The majority of Americans are with us on this issue," he said, leaning back in his leather chair.

"I want you to know that."

How can he be so sure? "I just know it," Johnson said.

"I know it by the response I get here." He reached for a letter and newspaper clipping on the coffee table, a poll from the Lancaster Intelligencer Journal, that asked readers to call in their vote on whether Augusta should admit women.

Of 624 callers, 90 percent said no.

On his desk were four files, each one bulging with letters he said supported Augusta National and its rights as a private club. Johnson said he had read and responded to each one.

The only time Johnson's voice was tinged with agitation was when he wondered why his club should be penalised "for presenting something that's good for the game of golf, something that 150 million watch around the world? Something that is respected worldwide? We're going to be penalised for that?"

Burk has challenged several high-profile members of Augusta National to own up to their public stand against discrimination.

Lloyd Ward, CEO of the US Olympic Committee and one of only a half-dozen black members at Augusta, said he would work for change from inside the club.

American Express chairman Kenneth Chenault, another black member, also said he believed there should be female members.

That violates a cardinal rule at Augusta.

The club traditionally speaks with one voice -- Johnson's.

"I'm not going to talk about members," he said, cutting off a question about comments from executives like Ward and Chenault. "We'll handle that internally." -- Sapa-AFP-AP