Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Welcome to 2012: Augusta National Admits First Female Member

From ESPN:  If the Augusta National Golf Club keeps with tradition, Ginni Rometty would be its first female member, according to a report Wednesday by Bloomberg News.
Since its founding in 1933, Augusta National has had only male members. Bloomberg reported that Augusta National has in the past invited the chief executive officer of IBM, which is a Masters Tournament sponsor, to be a member.
On Jan. 1, Rometty became the CEO of IBM, succeeding Sam Palmisano, who is a member of the club -- as were the three CEOs before him, according to Bloomberg.
Augusta National declined to comment, saying it does not discuss membership-related issues, Bloomberg reported. IBM also declined comment.
Tournament chairman Billy Payne, who has said in the past there is "no specific timetable" for ending the club's all-male membership policy, traditionally holds a news conference the day before Masters play begins. This year, it will be April 4. The former head of the 1996 Atlanta Olympic committee is certain to be asked about Rometty's membership chances.
http://espn.go.com/golf/story/_/id/7748200/ibm-ceo-ginni-rometty-first-female-member-augusta-national
First, it's nice to see Augusta accepting it's first female member without it being forced to and without protests.  Augusta National is a private club and they should allow anybody they see fit, within reason.
I also believe it is the right of a private club to accept whoever they want.  If they want to be racists, so be it and let the club be scorned.  If they want to only allow people who wear yellow pants, so be it.
But it also nice to see some old clubs become more exclusive.
So, welcome to 2012, Augusta National.

No comments:

Post a Comment