The Sporting Life: August boys' club wrong battleground for women's rights

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Brent Lawrence is copy editor and columnist for the Springfield Business Journal.|ret||ret||tab|

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Ah, the injustices of the world.|ret||ret||tab|

Slave labor, sweat shops, unequal pay for equal work, religious persecution, and women not being able to join Augusta National Golf Club.|ret||ret||tab|

Quite an imposing list. All of them important issues, except for the one that's garnering the most attention as of late.|ret||ret||tab|

Martha Burk, as head of the National Council of Women's Organizations, has attacked the private golf club for not having any women members. Women are allowed to play on the course as guests.|ret||ret||tab|

Augusta National Golf Club, founded in 1932, has about 300 members. There is no application process, just a good-old-boys' network. If they want you to join, they'll send you an invite and a hefty bill along with it.|ret||ret||tab|

Augusta is home to The Masters golf tournament every year, which gives the club tremendous exposure.|ret||ret||tab|

The question is whether a private club should be able to exclude women from its membership. The answer is that it doesn't matter what I think. It's a private club, and the members can invite anybody they want.|ret||ret||tab|

There are many exclusive groups. How about Boys Scouts and Girls Scouts? Or Junior League? Sertoma has some all-male and some all-female clubs, as well as mixed clubs. Central High School has its all-girl Kilties. |ret||ret||tab|

Just because something is exclusive, it doesn't make it bad. It makes it different.|ret||ret||tab|

"The Little Rascals" even had their He-man Woman Haters Club, and I know Darla wasn't allowed to join.|ret||ret||tab|

We can't and shouldn't force groups to act a certain way. Where would we stop when deciding injustices?|ret||ret||tab|

For example, there are no poor members at Augusta. The club should invite a token poor person to join and then devise an Augusta version of Welfare to pay the dues.|ret||ret||tab|

Should the club be forced to have a homosexual member? Or maybe they don't have a podiatrist. And construction workers don't get their fair shake with the club, either. Where will the injustices stop?|ret||ret||tab|

There are a lot bigger issues that are more important for women. All this would ensure is that a well-heeled woman would get to shoot 110 on the course as a member. Boy, that really advances women's issues.|ret||ret||tab|

Martha Burk should find a better cause and fight for it. Of course, she's not interested in that. If Augusta were to admit a female member, the publicity for her and her group would dry up.|ret||ret||tab|

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Tiger by the tail|ret||ret||tab|

Various members of the media have been pushing golfer Tiger Woods to put his weight behind getting a woman into Augusta.|ret||ret||tab|

A New York Times editorial has asked Woods to boycott The Masters in 2003. Oddly enough, the New York Times hasn't decided to not cover The Masters. It's probably too much of a financial impact for them to not cover it. It's easy to elevate your morals when you're standing on somebody else's back.|ret||ret||tab|

Why single out Woods to promote the cause of another organization? Just because he's a minority, it doesn't mean he has to have an opinion on everything. Or anything, for that matter. He's a golfer, not a statesman.|ret||ret||tab|

At age 26, Woods' focus is on playing golf. When I was 26, I didn't have the experience to make intelligent social commentaries. (I still don't, some will say after reading this column.) |ret||ret||tab|

Why hasn't the media called on old white guys Arnold Palmer and Jack Nicklaus to pressure the golf club? They're both golfing legends and are members at Augusta. They mean as much or more than Tiger Woods does to the good old boys at Augusta.|ret||ret||tab|

The media and public often want athletes to have opinions on topics, that is unless we don't like their opinion. (See Allen Iverson.) Then we are repulsed by their views, wanting them to simply be quiet and play their sport.|ret||ret||tab|

They shouldn't be our social conscience any more than the guy behind the counter at Git N' Go. Make your own decisions, live life accordingly and let everybody else do the same.|ret||ret||tab|

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