AUGUSTA – Normally, Hootie Johnson’s annual Masters week press conference is sparsely attended and speckled with occasional yawns. But this morning all eyes and ears will be on the chairman of Augusta National, who certainly will be asked about the club’s all-male membership and his year-long verbal feud with Martha Burk, head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations.
With the attention of the worldwide media, Johnson would be smart to take this opportunity to halt Burk’s posse of protesters by announcing plans to admit the club’s first female member by the 2004 Masters. Such an announcement would be the ultimate checkmate on Burk, who is holding her own press conference tomorrow at Martin Luther King Center in Atlanta. It also would allow both sides a chance to claim victory, which is normally how all good political squabbles end.
Charles Farrell of Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow/Push Organization said such an announcement by Johnson would alter, if not eliminate, the need for a planned protest on Saturday about a half-mile from the entrance to Augusta National.
“It would certainly change the emphasis of our demonstrations,” said Farrell, who plans to have 100 protesters from Push here supporting Burk. “That’s what we’ve called for from the beginning.”
Farrell isn’t holding his breath, however, saying if Johnson made such an announcement, “we’d have to pick ourselves off the ground from shock.”
Certainly, it would go against Johnson’s public stances thus far. It has been his acid-tongued lectures and public defiance of Burk that have fueled this controversy. Last July, he vowed not to admit a female member, “at the point of a bayonet.” And in November he insisted “We have no timetable on the woman member.”
But that was before the war in Iraq made protests and controversies over golf membership trivial. Even Tiger Woods tap-danced around the Burk issue yesterday by saying, “We have a lot more important things going on in our country.”
The notion Burk is going away after Saturday’s protest is a mistake. She makes her living staging confrontations and isn’t going away until Johnson gives her a reason to go away. As much as Augusta National tries to ignore the controversy and conduct business as usual, its precious Masters Tournament threatens to be stained.
Inside the gates, competing golfers squirm when asked their opinions on the issue. “I’ve already answered that,” Woods said. “Right now I’m just trying to get myself ready to play on Thursday.”
Outside the gates, “I Support Hootie,” buttons are being sold next to signs that read, “Martha Burk doesn’t speak for me,” and “Honk for Hootie.” With a couple of idiots from the Klu Klux Klan ready to stage their own anti-Burk protests near the pro-Burk protesters, the climate for trouble still exists.
Woods could win an unprecedented third straight Green Jacket on Sunday, but highlights of his winning putt could be followed by news made outside the gates. “As it stands now, this is the Masters that’s going to be known for more than just a golf tournament,” Farrell said.
Johnson, 71, has been stubborn in his approach to Burk. But he also is open to change. Last week, he rescinded the age-65 playing limit for the Masters he imposed last year, allowing past champions like Arnold Palmer to compete. And the general feeling is he was considering female membership before clashing with Burk.
Today, he can play the ultimate trump card by announcing plans to add a female member by the 2004 Masters. That way the 2003 Masters is remembered for what happens inside the gates instead of outside of them.
