Johnson’s Augusta Remains for Men Only

Hootie Johnson isn’t backing down.

Augusta National Golf Club, said its 71-year-old chairman, has no plans to admit a female member, no timetable for doing so and isn’t budging.

The issue, he said, is resolved: “We are not altering our position.”

Johnson pointed to the desk in his wood-paneled office, to the five black folders stuffed with letters.

“See that over there?” Johnson said. “Those are from people who support our position. There are probably about 500 or so of them.”

Johnson got up from his chair, wearing the trademark green jacket that signifies membership in golf’s most exclusive club. A portrait of Bobby Jones hung behind him on the wall of his wood-paneled office.

“People are sending us money, too, almost $1,000 so far, checks from $10 to $100. We’re sending it all back, of course.”

For the last five months, Johnson has been locked in a contentious battle with the National Council of Women’s Organizations over the private club’s all-male membership.

Beginning with a letter dated June 12, when Martha Burk of the NCWO first squared off against Johnson, Augusta National has been under heavy pressure from women’s groups and some members of the media to admit its first female member before the 2003 Masters tournament is played in April.

Last week, Johnson met individually with representatives of the Los Angeles Times, Sports Illustrated, the New York Times, Augusta Chronicle and Associated Press. The news organizations agreed not to release their interviews until 9 p.m. PST Monday.

Johnson, who previously had refused to comment publicly, said he felt it was important to get the word out about the club’s position.

Will there be a female member at Augusta National by the 2003 Masters? Johnson was blunt.

“No chance,” he said.

“We have no exclusionary policies for women as far as membership, and I want to say right now that we are not altering our position. There is no timetable, nothing under consideration. We have not and will not change the way we conduct our business.

“We have something to say and we want to be very clear. Some people might have wanted us to pledge we would have a female member, but we aren’t saying that. There is no timetable. The club will decide if there is a right time.”

Johnson said he isn’t sure if there will be demonstrators outside the gates of the club along Washington Road during the tournament, as Burk suggested, but he believes that this controversy might have a limited shelf life.

“I think it’s going to blow over,” he said.

“It depends on the American public. I think they’ll get tired of it. I also predict that we’ll have sponsors back at some point, maybe in 2004.”

Johnson said that Burk inaccurately portrayed him and the Augusta National membership.

“She accuses us of being insensitive bigots and discriminatory. I don’t think that’s legitimate,” he said. “We have a Constitutional right to run our club and we’re not taking cover behind that. We believe it to be not only the correct way, but a most appropriate idea.

“I know that some people say the club should not enjoy its rights as a private club because of the Masters tournament, its public accommodation. I don’t agree with that at all. We present one of the great sporting events, we do a lot of good, for charities, for the game of golf. We do a lot of good for America. People tell me it’s something to look forward to in the spring, kind of an institution. It is an institution America can be proud of.”

There have been unconfirmed reports that Johnson was among the doves in the club who were working to find a way to admit a female member. Johnson quickly shot down that rumor.

“I am not a dove,” he said.

Nor, he said, is he an “insensitive bigot” or a “redneck” as Johnson says he has been characterized.

Johnson -- his given name is William but a playmate called him Hootie when he was 5 and he’s been Hootie ever since -- was relaxed as he spoke, usually in short sentences, but long on message.

Whether or not the battle is over, it has been a long and controversial one. Burk’s letter to Johnson in June urged the club to admit a female member. She wrote, “We know that Augusta National and the sponsors of the Masters do not want to be viewed as entities that tolerate discrimination against any group, including women. We urge you to open your membership to women now, so that this is not an issue when the tournament is staged next year.”

Johnson’s three-sentence response on July 9 was delivered in a letter to Burk’s desk by courier at the same time Augusta National released a strongly worded three-page statement to the media.

Johnson wrote to Burk that he found “your letter’s several references to discrimination, allusions to sponsors and your setting of deadlines to be both offensive and coercive.”

In his prepared statement to the media, Johnson termed Burk’s letter from the NCWO “coercive” and said Augusta National would not be “bullied, threatened or intimidated” and that the club did not intend to become “a trophy in their display case.” Johnson also wrote that when it came to admitting women to membership, “that timetable will be ours and not at the point of a bayonet.”

Burk then called on CBS-TV to halt its telecasts of the Masters (CBS President Sean McManus said no to the suggestion), asked network sponsors to stop advertising on the air, studied the club’s membership lists looking for conflicts of interest, asked the players to stand up for the issue, suggested the players’ sponsors would be called upon and urged PGA Tour Commissioner Tim Finchem to withdraw sanctioning of the Masters (Finchem rejected the suggestion).

In another development, USA Today and the Atlanta Journal-Constitution listed Augusta National’s membership.

Johnson’s only move was a controversial one. He relieved television sponsors IBM, Coca-Cola and Citigroup of involvement in the 2003 Masters telecast, so that, he said, they would not be caught in the middle of the debate. That could cost Augusta National as much as $18 million.

It is clear that Johnson and the club membership believe they are dealing from strength, even if Burk is correct in saying that protesters will show up at the Masters in April.

To measure public opinion, the club commissioned The Polling Company and Women Trend of Washington to conduct a nationwide poll on the issue. Results will be made public, possibly as soon as Wednesday. One portion of the poll asked respondents if they agreed or disagreed with this statement: “The Augusta National Golf Club was correct in its decision not to cave in to Martha Burk’s demand. They should review and change their policies on their own time, and in their own way.”

The findings showed that 73% of women polled and 72% of men in the survey agreed.

Meanwhile, the letters and the contributions keep coming in to Augusta National and landing on Johnson’s desk, filling up more folders.

Johnson said he will make no further comments on the subject and will not entertain any questions on membership at his annual news conference the week of the Masters.

Johnson said if a vote were taken today among Augusta National members, the result would be “99%” in support of the club’s membership arrangement. He also said he has been disappointed at times by media coverage of the issue.

“What’s been disappointing to me ... I mean, this woman accuses us of being rednecks, of being bigots and the press that really doesn’t know us jumped on that and that’s all that’s been written about.

“I would say those people that know us have been fair. But nobody has really talked about the other side of this thing, about the private club issue, about the Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, the Junior League, Smith College, that we are a private institution and we have a Constitutional right.

“But not only do we have a right, but it must be the right thing to do because all these other people are doing it.”

Johnson forcefully rejected the notion that PGA Tour pros and other professionals in the field should have a say in the membership issue.

“The players should be glad that we put on a Masters tournament,” he said. “We think it is a great sporting event, one that is watched by 150 million people around the world. We hope [the players] come, we hope they enjoy it, but what we do with our membership should be of no concern to them. They can choose to come or not to come. That is their say.”

Despite his assertion that the issue is now resolved, the reality is that it’s probably far from it. However, Johnson said, “We know how to handle our business.”

The club is ready for whatever is next, he said.

“We’re pretty tough. We have our convictions, and they last long term.”

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Hootie Johnson Profile

Name: William “Hootie” Johnson.

Age: 71.

Residence: Columbia, S.C.

Family: Wife (Pierrine), four daughters.

Position: Chairman of Augusta National Golf Club.

Business: Retired as chairman of executive committee for Bank of America.

Masters history: Attended his first Masters as a 4-year-old in 1935, the year Gene Sarazen won with his famous double-eagle on the 15th hole. Invited to join the club in 1968. Became vice president in 1975. Elected the fifth chairman in 1998.

Changes: Revamped Masters qualifications, eliminating PGA Tour victory category to ensure a stronger field. Eliminated lifetime exemption policy for past champions. Ordered changes to 13 of 18 holes.

Notable: Helped to integrate higher education in South Carolina in 1968.