The Augusta National Golf Club may reportedly dismiss its men-only tradition this year because of one woman, the CEO of IBM, Ginni Rometty. Since the opening of the Augusta National Golf Club in 1933, the exclusive club has never admitted a woman. However, the green-jacketed club traditionally granted membership to the CEOs of The Masters three corporate sponsors, one of which, IBM, is now led by a woman. Augusta’s male-only membership has seen controversy before. Martha Burk, former chair of National Council of Women’s Organizations, battled club President William “Hootie” Johnson ten years ago in a failed attempt to get the club to admit women members. To avoid pressure from sponsors, the club broadcast the Master’s Tournament for several years without any commercials.
Burk spoke about the club’s recent controversy to ESPN and said, “IBM is in a bigger bind than the club. The club trashed their image years ago. IBM is a corporation. They ought to care about the brand, and they ought to care about what people think. And if they’re not careful, they might undermine their new CEO.” Rometty’s predecessor, Sam Palmisano, is a member of the club, as well as the CEOs of the club’s two other major sponsors, AT&T and Exxon Mobil. The previous three IBM CEOs, Louis Gertsner, John Akers, and John Open, were also members of the club, according to a list published by USA Today in 2002. Refusing to offer a membership to the new female CEO will reportedly send a very clear message. At a press conference on Wednesday, the club’s current president, Billy Payne, said, “All issues of membership remain the private deliberations of the membership. That statement remains accurate. We don’t talk about our private deliberations. We especially don’t talk about them when a named candidate is part of the question.”
