It was quite a week in Augusta, Georgia, with sellout crowds and the crowning of a Masters champion and the newest member of the ultra-impressive “Grand Slam” club, which gave all true golf purists great joy as everyone watched a legitimate golf superstar accomplish both.
As usual, the pristine setting gave those in attendance an experience that one famous television commentator refers to as like no other. When you combine that with an enormous television audience, there can be no argument that the 2025 Masters Golf Tournament was once again an incredible financial success for all those involved in this monster of a sporting event.
Unfortunately, there is quite a large contention of Individuals that will never set foot on the grounds of Augusta National Golf Club and once again no one ever wants to talk about that.
I mean, why let the glaring lack of diversity associated with a good ole boys club get in the way of a “tradition” that creates such an obvious stench that it can be detected from hundreds of miles away from the golf course?
The only thing missing from this Shangri-La of the South is the strategic placement of several Whites Only signs, and we’d be right back to 1930, when legendary golfer Bobby Jones purchased the land that would become Augusta National for $70,000 and, with the assistance of Alister McKenzie, developed what would become the legendary course, where no minorities would be allowed to play until many decades later.
That’s right, the very individuals who cleaned the floors, cooked the meals, and served as caddies and groundskeepers couldn’t tee it up and certainly wouldn’t be considered for membership.
That’s right, the very individuals who cleaned the floors, cooked the meals, and served as caddies and groundskeepers couldn’t tee it up and certainly wouldn’t be considered for membership.
While Lee Elder became the first African American to compete in the Masters in 1975, and Ron Townsend, the president of Gannett Television, was made a member 15 years later in 1990, that’s not exactly wholesale progress made by any stretch of the imagination in Augusta.
Women have fared equally unfavorably, with Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice being granted a membership in 2012 along with corporate banking executive Darla Moore.
In total, there are seven women and nine men to date amongst the three hundred members, and only Townsend has spoken to the media regarding his membership status. It’s more than safe to say Augusta National arranged that interview as an opportunity to publicize his appointment as there is a strict policy regarding the release of members names and an even more stringent policy regarding the cost of being one of the chosen few who meet the membership criteria with a reported initiative fee of $40,000 to accompany the annual dues fee of another $10,000 to boot.
It’s not hard to keep the vast numbers out with that kind of price tag, but it’s just another example of how business is done at this historic and shameless place disguised as an institution.
The exclusion of minorities is simply irrelevant to those who flock there annually. With no real indication of changing, Augusta National remains the mecca of the old South with the Masters Tournament serving as a horrible reminder that nearly one hundred years later it’s still both a tradition that’s nothing more than a breeding ground for showcasing the type of bigotry that is commonplace to all that are complicit in preserving the horrific discrimination that can be found all over the grounds.
As a nation, we continue to turn a blind eye to their shenanigans, and one could simply ask why?
That’s an easy one to answer as despite how wrong it is, the huge amount of corporate greed is too powerful for this all mighty and heinous event to ever fail.
Diversity just doesn’t matter to them. So just go ahead and tee it up in the name of tradition and sportsmanship. As long as minorities are excluded, it’s OK to proceed with a cavalier business-as-usual attitude about it all.
The real question is, why don’t we all care more about this blatant and unacceptable dilemma?
Trust me, I’m all ears on this one.
Danny Bridges, who made numerous unsuccessful attempts to speak with the Augusta National Director of Communications before writing this, can be reached at 317-370-8447 or at bridgeshd@aol.com.
