Augusta hands gender grenade over to Muirfield

Compared to the discomfort he experienced a year ago, Augusta National chairman Billy Payne looked a picture of relaxation as he answered questions from the media this week following his annual State of the Masters address.

It was 12 months ago that chairman Payne had shifted uneasily in his seat as he evaded questions as to why Augusta National’s all-male membership had persisted with its policy of not inviting females to join the revered Georgia club.

Having earlier in his press conference trumpeted Augusta National’s commitment to growing the game across the world, the hypocrisy of his own club not permitting 51% of the world’s population was all too evident.

A year on, though, it is someone else’s problem, after the club having announced last August that its invitations to former US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and financier Darla Moore had been accepted and they had been admitted as Augusta National’s first female members.

“I think it’s time,” Jack Nicklaus, the winner of a record six Masters and an Augusta National member, said this week. “It was not my call. It was the club’s call and I think it’s great... people that love golf, that’s what it’s supposed to be for.”

On Wednesday, Payne, naturally enough, was all smiles and gushing in delight at the club’s recent additions.

“At the time we described that welcoming Condi and Darla as members of Augusta National represented a joyous occasion for the club. This week, that’s truer than ever, and I hope the experience for Condi and Darla, as members of our club, has been every bit as rewarding and enjoyable for them over the last eight months, as it has been for their fellow members. It’s just awesome.”

Just awesome, too, was the relief Payne no doubt experienced at no longer being the target for equality advocates from around the world, for their focus has now shifted, inevitably, to the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews, whose offshoot, the R&A, acts as one of two world governing bodies for the game of golf and organises the world’s oldest championship, the British Open.

Situated on the hallowed ground on Scotland’s east coast that gave birth to the game, its policy of not allowing female members is the new focal point for anti-discrimination campaigners, and that focus will intensify in July when the R&A stages the Open Championship at Muirfield, home to the Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers, which is very much a brotherhood.

Portmarnock Golf Club, too, is an all-male bastion, although women can play the course and pay green fees, but its right to remain so was enshrined by Dublin’s Supreme Court as recently as 2009.

Having been on the back foot on this issue for so many years since assuming the chair of Augusta National, Payne was not about to get embroiled in the row all over again and when asked whether it was now time for other clubs to follow suit, his response was entirely predictable.

“Well, that would be their decision,” the chairman said. “We have chosen to do what we did, and I wouldn’t propose to issue an opinion for those other clubs.

“I think they should do what they want to do, and I would not interject the way I feel on the issue.”

Also giving the issue a wide berth was two-time champion Phil Mickelson, when asked if he would like to see the Royal and Ancient follow suit this year. Mickelson, who had got himself in hot water earlier in the season when publicly complaining about his California tax bill, chose not embroil himself for a second time.

“I don’t really... I love the game of golf, and I love playing professional golf. I love playing different courses. I love being part of different tournaments, organisations,” Mickelson fumbled before raising a laugh.

“What I don’t love is getting involved in the politics of it. I tried that earlier in the year, regularly, it didn’t go so well, so I’m good. I’m good.”

Nevertheless, the R&A will not get off so lightly and American feminist Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women’s Organisations who in 2003 led protests against sexual discrimination outside Augusta National, has turned her ire towards St Andrews and Muirfield.

“To be behind Augusta National in terms of sex discrimination is a low place indeed,” Burk said. “It’s going to be harder and harder to defend to the public, to lawmakers who may directly or indirectly provide resources, and to sponsors. The R&A, as a ruling body, could end the controversy by simply declaring clubs that discriminate are ineligible to host official tournaments. Activists should concentrate on that.

“Putting pressure on public officials to continue to speak out would be a good idea. Shame can be a powerful motivator, particularly when the organisation is literally at the bottom of the barrel when it comes to sex discrimination. It is a national disgrace.”

Burk is not alone in speaking out, with both the Scottish government and former British prime minister Gordon Brown having spoken out against the male-only Muirfield staging this summer’s Open, two years after another championship venue with the same policy, Royal St George’s in Kent, hosted.

“If the golf club in Augusta can admit women, then shouldn’t St Andrews? If they can do it in South Carolina, can we not do it in Scotland?” Brown asked and, geography aside, he is on strong ground.

The R&A did not comment directly on Brown’s comments but stated later:

“The rules of the Royal and Ancient golf club at St Andrews specify a male membership and this policy remains a matter for our members determine.”

Sound familiar? A year ago, Payne would have been proud.