Americans are evenly divided in their opinion of Augusta National Golf Club’s no-women membership policy, according to a national Tribune poll that reveals deep divisions between the sexes.
The poll shows men are considerably more likely than women to support Augusta, the elite private golf club in Georgia that counts among its members some of America’s most prominent executives.
Just 29 percent of women approve of the club’s unstated policy that allows only male members, compared with 50 percent of men in a nationwide poll of 600 people. When the responses of men and women are combined, the poll shows 39 percent approve, 42 percent disapprove and the remaining 19 percent say they have no opinion.
Among those disapproving of the men-only policy are 52 percent of women, 78 percent of African-Americans and 56 percent of those aged 18 to 35. But those who follow golf closely, most of whom are men, are more likely to side with the host of the famed Masters tournament, with 50 percent approving.
“The gender gap is interesting,” said Martha Burk, the head of the National Council of Women’s Organizations and the leader of the push to persuade Augusta to admit women. “It says the people in power don’t see anything wrong with the status quo. It’s only when you’re on the outside looking in that it bothers you. Men look at it in the narrowest sense. To them, it only involves a golf club. Women see it as discrimination.”
Augusta’s kind of poll
Though there is a split on whether the club’s membership policy is proper, 57 percent of Americans believe that as a private entity, Augusta should retain the right to admit whomever it wants.
Augusta seized on that result in a statement on the poll results but declined to comment further.
“It has been proven time and again that the majority of Americans believe that single-gender organizations are a valid and beneficial part of our social fabric,” the statement said. “What’s more, we have received an outpouring of public support urging us to stand firm for our rights to decide our own private membership.”
Burk said she also would be among the 57 percent on this issue. She says she never has contended that Augusta National doesn’t have the right as a private club to set its own membership policy.
But she argued that the dynamic should change when a private club elects to hold a very public tournament such as the Masters. Burk says such an event shouldn’t be held at a facility that has exclusionary policies.
“If I thought this was a legal issue, we would have taken it to court,” Burk said. “I’ve never said it is a legal issue. I’ve always said it is a moral issue.”
Views poles apart
The poll findings have come as Augusta faces a public-relations battle set to escalate as the April 10-13 Masters tournament approaches. The standoff between club Chairman William “Hootie” Johnson and Burk shows no sign of abating. Johnson has insisted the club will not be “bullied” into changing its membership policies, while Burk and supporters are planning a protest during the Masters.
Those answering the Tribune survey were poles apart too. To retired lab technician John Horanyi of Dayton, Ohio, the reason Augusta members want to stay all male is obvious.
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“They prefer male company, and there is nothing wrong with it,” said Horanyi, 74. “If I want to play poker with friends, I don’t want women either. If they were excluding a black, a Muslim or a Jew, I’m not sure I would endorse it, but with women, it’s like a different species.”
In Rochester Hills, Mich., Oakland University senior Christine Gonzalez said she thinks Augusta’s all-male membership reflects the low priority of women’s rights among its wealthy golfers.
“The CEOs who are members of the club don’t really care about women being admitted,” she said. “They have this exclusive club; they have their buddies. Ethically, idealistically, I disapprove of it. It smacks very much of 19th Century Victorianism.”
Nearly 30 percent of those questioned in the Tribune survey said the CBS television network should not broadcast the Masters as long as the club continues to have no women members.
CBS Sports spokeswoman LeslieAnne Wade declined to comment. However, the network is closely gauging public opinion on the matter, especially among women.
Neal Pilson, the former head of CBS Sports, knows the television networks get skittish over potentially alienating such a large portion of their audience. Yet at the same time, he believes it is dangerous for special-interest groups to dictate coverage.
“I don’t think CBS is oblivious to the possibility its coverage will be a matter of concern to the [overall television audience],” said Pilson, now a consultant. “On the other hand, CBS is focused on its obligation to the viewers who traditionally watch the Masters.”
A draw or turnoff?
Will potential viewers tune out? Poll respondents were divided, with Edward Curtis of Park Ridge saying he won’t watch this year because the controversy will “take away from the sporting event itself.”
But Gonzalez thinks more viewers will watch: “People are going to be drawn to the media furor.”
Pilson agrees. He cites the huge ratings for women’s figure skating during the 1994 Winter Olympics in the wake of the Tonya Harding-Nancy Kerrigan flap.
“All of the controversy ultimately will increase the rating,” Pilson said.
Part of that furor could focus on the executives who make up Augusta’s membership. Of those responding to the Tribune survey, 37 percent say business leaders should not belong to private clubs that bar women from membership.
Club member Christopher Galvin, chief executive of Motorola Inc., said in a letter to Burk’s group that Augusta’s membership policy “is an issue for the club and it should be properly addressed to the club directly.”
Galvin added: “You may rest assured that my pursuit of diversity objectives continues throughout Motorola, and will not abate.”
Burk said the response was inadequate and Galvin has declined to comment further.
The apparent acquiescence to the club’s policy by members such as retired chiefs John Bryan of Sara Lee and Edward Brennan of Sears, Roebuck and Co. could backfire on their companies, some poll respondents say.
“If half of my customer base is women, I would hate for them to find out I belong to a club that doesn’t allow women,” said Curtis, a 57-year-old retired Cook County sheriff’s officer. “If you’re reaching out to women, that’s a poor way to do it.”
But water-resource engineer Bruce Cutright of Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., said criticizing executives for belonging to Augusta undermines their right to associate with the people they prefer.
“It’s their own personal choice,” he said. “It’s their right to belong.”
Contradictory surveys
Even some of those poll respondents who believe business leaders should stay away from Augusta think it’s OK for the PGA Tour to continue its relationship with the Masters. Tour regulations stipulate that host clubs for its tournaments can’t exhibit any exclusionary policies. The tour doesn’t run the Masters, but the winnings are included in official prize money and the winner receives a five-year tour exemption.
Some 54 percent said the PGA should not encourage its members to boycott the tournament and a decisive 69 percent said they approve of golf star Tiger Woods’ decision to play in it as well.
“If he wants to play there, that’s his choice,” said poll respondent Jackie Seaman, a 33-year-old railway-equipment worker in Liverpool, Pa., who says she respects Woods’ decision even though she objects to the club policy.
The Tribune poll, conducted in mid-December by Market Shares Corp., follows several other national surveys that have in some ways contradicted each other.
An Associated Press poll conducted Nov. 22-26 found that Americans are divided over the Augusta issue. Some 46 percent of the 1,004 respondents said Augusta has a right to have an all-male membership, while the same percentage said a club holding such a prestigious tournament should have female members.
An ABC News/ESPN poll conducted around the same time found less support for Augusta, with 54 percent of the 1,042 adults surveyed opposing the Augusta policy and 39 percent supporting it.
Stacking the deck
Meantime, a national survey commissioned by Augusta National itself that phrased the questions differently elicited much more support for the club. Asked if Augusta was correct not to “give in to” Burk’s pressure for change, 72 percent of the respondents said Augusta members should review its policies “on their own time and in their own way.”
Another question asked if the respondents agreed that Burk “is spending way too much time on this issue, especially given the other issues of importance to women that should be addressed.” More women than men–70 percent–agreed with that statement in the Augusta poll.
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But some private pollsters were critical, saying the questions were so biased that the results should not be considered representative.
The Tribune poll has a potential margin of error of 4 percent at the 95 percent level of confidence.
For her part, Burk said she isn’t going to get wrapped up in the results.
“If you look at trends, clearly we are gaining in public opinion,” Burk said.
“But I’ve never believed you make policy by opinion polls. Women never would have gotten the right to vote if they went by opinion polls. I don’t think this issue will be decided by opinion polls. It will be decided in the pocketbook. The CEOs won’t hold up to the public pressure.”