Monday, April 9, 2012

The 50 Percent

She can watch, she just can't play. Yeah . . . Same as it ever was.


Can you believe that in this day and age, the Augusta National Golf Club is still hemming and hawing over whether to admit a WOMAN?

As a libertarian, I think any privately owned club, institution, business, whatever, has the right to hire, admit, and patronize whoever and whatever it wants. I would never stick the barrel of congressional legislation at their head and threaten to pull the trigger just because those choices are stupid. But let's all admit that they are—and say it loudly and often.

If Augusta is all about where the big boys of industry play, well, some of those boys are now girls. So, what, the dudes running Augusta are just going to la, la, la, la, la, themselves over that one?

You know what else is stupid? Those schlumpy, "yes massah" overalls the caddies still wear at the Masters. Can we just get rid of those now?

25 comments:

Anonymous said...

Glad you're being consistent vis-a-vis Gov't force but... I'm not sure I agree with "stupid."

My guess is they've done a careful cost-benefit analysis on admitting Female Members.

"Honorary Membership" such as the one that could have been offered to the new IBM CEO is one thing. I'm pretty sure every living Ex-President including Bush The Elder and scores of elderly retired Generals/Senators Etc... are "honorary members."

But they don't live in Augusta and aren't slowing down play and getting in the way of paying members 51 weeks out of the year.

Actually BEING a MEMBER, paying HIGH FEES, and living in or near Augusta is a very different thing.

And I can understand why those members, and the many males on the waiting list for membership, would not want to absorb the cost of admitting female members.

I doubt if many serious (non-political) Female Golfers would even WANT to become Regular Members there absent the installation of a Lady's Clubhouse, Lady's Tees etc...

Would you QUIT your current reasonable dues reasonable length club to join an insanely expensive one with a course where you would probably NEVER putt for birdie on any of the Par 4s and 5s from the existing Tee Boxes?

I avoid words like ALWAYS and NEVER but I think it probably does apply to Augusta National.

Jenny said...

ZZZZZZZ. Again? Today they are voting in our state on a law that will force businesses to allow women to breast feed in public (even if it's a private business.) We already have a law that allows this, but apparently they need MORE.

Regarding allowing a private club to admit women; it apparently isn't hurting their business, so who cares? Oh! I don't. There are bigger issues for feminists to be worried about.

Now, I'd love to picket the hell out Augusta for the cadddie jumpsuits. Not only do they look like something from the chain gangs of 1930's.... they are WHITE. And everyone knows you shouldn't be wearing white before Memorial Day.

czar said...

Addressing Troll's comments: The course setup when the members play is entirely different from when the pros play. Even aside from tee-boxes (and cuts of fairways, greens), the course used to play in a different order for members. The members who play at Augusta don't want to shoot 142 when they go out there. The course is massaged to address the members' ego. Sure it's still Augusta National, but it's nowhere near what the pros play.

And I doubt there's ever a wait to play at Augusta. Except Masters weekend. Probably one of the most unplayed courses in the country.

The Masters can do whatever it wants -- including dictate what does and doesn't show on TV. If it wants to suffer the consequences of keeping out female members, it can. Thing is, Augusta is generally so well insulated that it's not going to suffer any consequences, unless the players start refusing to play it.

LẌ said...

Incredible. But, as long as the green money is more important than the green jacket, the pros, PGA, sponsors, and CBS will continue "as is."

grins said...

Some one once told me GOLF meant gentleman only ladies forbidden. It doesn't. I see your point and agree, but I'd rather do taxes than watch golf.

Rafael said...

Moi:

I say screw the 50%! And the 1%, for that matter!

I'm all for assimilation, but sometimes it's not just a dead horse you gotta stop beating, but a closed minded one, as well.

Unfortunately, some people's crap can't be flushed...they stink to the damn bone. Better to leave them in their gaseous bubble and find your vision up wind. Perhaps a harder route, but all the more sweet...smelling and otherwise.

Rafa

Anonymous said...

Did someone anywhere on the planet suggest that ANY private course that hosts PGA or LPGA or Nationwide events plays exactly the same for members?

I certainly didn't.

Czar is so stupid he can't even beat a Strawman in a debate.

Real Numbers from my Home Course which I strongly suspect are shorter than the Member's Lay-Out for Augusta National. The PGA layout at the Masters is about 7500.

My Course.

6512 Blue (Championship) Tees.

6101 White (Men's) Tees.

5109 Red (Lady's) Tees.

Very few Females opt to play from the White Tees. NONE play from the Blues.

Very few Women would WANT to join if there were no Red Tees and No Lady's Clubhouse.

Would you, MOI, want to join a club where you had to play from Sea-Level 6101 feet? Or would you look for one where you had a better chance at putting for birdie?

Most clubs WANT Female Members and happily build facilities to accomodate them. Including some very near Augusta National.

At this time, Augusta doesn't want to do so. I suspect as long as Men with more money and ego than common sense are willing to shell out 30 grand to be members at a Club they only play once-a-year, that will continue.

I just don't think their decision can fairly be called "stupid" at this time.

It WOULD be stupid if the club was losing money and inviting (it's invite only) Women would solve that. But I don't think they are losing money.

And, it MIGHT be stupid, if they went through the expense of adding Lady's facilities just to avoid the annual but short-lived heat they take for their policy.

Karl said...

Good afternoon Moi,

Sorry but I don't understand the controversy. Why would anyone want to be a member of a club that doesn't want them. It seems to me it's just more media drivel designed to divert attention from reality.

Oh, Hope you had a fine Easter.

czar said...

Troll: Member yardage at Augusta National is 6200 from the whites. Did you think it was 7200 because of life at Troll Muni?

http://www.twooverpar.com/FindaCourse/GolfCoursesinGeorgia/RichmondCountyGeorgia/AugustaNationalGolfClub/tabid/548/Default.aspx

And I guarantee you there are forward tees for the older members.

Go back and scrub some more mistakes and racism from your blog, Troll. The sunshine doesn't suit you so well.

Jenny said...

**drags stool into Moi's corner and waits with water bottle.**

moi said...

Troll: I see what you're saying and understand it to a point. But while I may not want to play at Augusta, I'm sure there are a few gals out there who would. At any rate, I don't think this is really about the costs of accommodating women players, but about the power plays that go on on the course and from which female captains of industry and heads of corporations are excluded.

Boxer: Those ugly jumpsuits have chapped my ass for years. WHY anyone would concede to looking like a slacker mechanic in such a classy tournament is beyond me. Many of these caddies are world-class golfers themselves. The outfit is demeaning to their status.

Czar: I've never been to the course, but I know you are acquainted with it, and you make good points. Out in my neck of the woods stands what is considered one of the most difficult courses in the region. One pretty much has to hike to get to the ladies' tees. Doesn't stop anyone.

lx: Those who hold power and privilege always work very hard to keep it. I'm not saying it should be given, it should be earned, but to think there is an institution in this day and age and with such a public persona that still guards itself in such an old-fashioned manner, well that just seems STUPID to me.

Rafe: I hear you. Nothing more difficult than changing a mind, much less prying one open.

Troll: Costs or no cost, it still reveals an attitude that seems very old-fashioned to me, startling, even, in this day and age. Like still insisting the world is flat.

Karl: Well, yes, there is that. However, this isn't some little hole in the wall country club somewhere in square-jawed Connecticut. This is a club that sponsors one of the most prestigious golf classics in the world.

Czar and Troll: Please, y'all, don't piss on my gate, 'kay?

Boxer: Not vodka? Cause I need me some a that.

Aunty Belle said...

oh fiddle...Moi, seriously? Does any real woman care? Really really care?

Aunty shakes her haid in wonderment: That any female akshully cares in this day an' age iffin' a few boys have a female free zone is what be startling. Seems to me it ain't 'bout golf, or CEO status of women in the modern age or any of that sorta stuff. Goodness gracious, let's let the boys have one or two remainin' spots on this earth where it be all boys--I'se applaudin' them fellas fer standin' up to the feminist pout squads.

Pam said...

What Karl said. I'm not a fan of the golf. It is how I rebelled in my family -- I don't smoke cigarettes and I don't play golf. Have tried. Don't like it. Watching it on tv is the most boring thing EVER. I don't see those Masters tournament plays using the pamokc "double par" rule either ... it involves alcohol per stroke. Only thing that makes life bearable. I bet those fogies have ladies back at the clubhouse to bring them beer.

moi said...

Aunty: I'd have much more respect for them if they said just that: "Look, this is a boy's club. For boys, by boys. No girl's allowed." But I haven't heard any kind of justification beyond, "That's how we've always done things."

Besides, it wasn't started as a boy's club. It was started in the 1930s as a golf club, under the assumption that only men--white men--played golf and anything else was unheard of. Hell, they only started admitting blacks in 1990, who were only ever allowed on the grounds as caddies. "All golfers white, all caddies black," is how I think the infamous motto went.

Pam: Ladies who do more than that, I'll bet. Although, alcohol per stroke is always a great idea!

chickory said...

im just glad Tiger's reign is over.

moi said...

Chickory: Even at a gazillion over, though, he's still the main "attraction." At least in the commentary, which always seems to lead, ad nauseum, to Tiger.

Aunty Belle said...

Racist Chicken-lover.

czar said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
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