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President Obama believes the storied Augusta National Golf Club, which plays host to the annual Masters Tournament, should admit women to the club.
When asked by a reporter during Thursday's White House briefing whether the all-male golf club should admit women, White House press secretary Jay Carney Carney said, "Well the president's answer to this question is yes. He believes, his personal opinion is that women should be admitted."
"I happened to have a discussion with him about this, so I know that that's his answer," Carney added. "It's obviously up to the club to decide. But his personal opinion is that women should be admitted to the club."
Augusta National's policy of only admitting men has come under fire recently because a Masters sponsor, IBM, now has a woman at the helm of the company. The last four CEOs of that company were invited to don the iconic green jacket and become members.
NBC's Lisa Myers reported that Ginni Rometty, the current IBM CEO, will host guests at the club this week but it is unclear whether she'll be offered a membership.
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If we are to believe corporations are people - why shouldn't IBM/CEO Ginni Rommety be granted membership?
Discrimination alive & well in the South...
Par for the course...
Ask your backyard course Butler National about that one. Discrinmnaton is alive and well in Chicago along with kids getting murdered on a regular basis. Par for the course in thugland.
Didn't know barrie was female till now. Oh fiesty, and for you they don't allow membership to vermin male of female, maybe in your next life : )
Huh. Some men get it. Thanks Mr. President.
It's a private club, they can do what they want.
Obama is just pandering again. He's had a busy week sticking his nose into things he shouldn't (see his comments to the SC).
I do believe Mr. Obama will supporting anything any woman or group of women wants because needs and wants their votes in November.
Beat me to it JoAnna. Hey maybe Obama can weigh in why Wellesley College won't let males into their school? It's ranked in the top 10 Liberal Arts schools in the country. Does this college take federal money or is it private?
You know this is probably going to be on MSNBC tonight and some how they're going to try to link any body that's not Liberal to this is a War on Women. Wait and see...........
Hey Red, I want to join your DDI site. See you have to let me in because Obama would want it that way. You can't have private clubs anymore........
I hear Augusta doesn't include women or African Americans. That's their business. So what? Why would a woman or an African American want to join?
Women and African Americans, in fact anybody, can visit as guests during the golf tournament, for the price of admission.
Oh, I see. And the GOP attacks women because it doesn't.
Great strategy, GOP'ers. How did you ever think of it?
A fact that seems to put Augusta National squarely into the stream of commerce, and so potentially subject to regulation under the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
It seems to me that for a big business like Augusta National, it's a much closer question than it is for the local bridge club, whose tournament is not broadcast live, and without commercial interruption, on CBS, and whose tournament prizes don't likely compare to the winner's purse at Augusta, paid for with advertising dollars, also in the stream of commerce.
Just a thought.
Scott,
Augusta is a private club, and all private clubs can set the rules they choose.
For your information, Augusta DOES have black members - how wrong you are, again.
@Paul, the DDI club is a closed club for the right haters only. Would you want to be associated with bigots and race baiters?
Ginni Rometty prefers scuba diving, will host guests at Augusta National, it promotes IBM, but will skeedaddle to the seashore for her R&R.
Incicentally, why is the President's opinion on this matter of consequence, or even news?
Paul, I remember when Jim Thorpe played the tournament, and Lee Elder finally played the tournament, and of course Tiger Woods and other contemporary great black golfers playing. And, I remember that in 1990 it was reported the Club had quietly invited a black member. I have no idea if there is a black member today as the Club is rightfully, in my opinion, private, however the club must not segregate under PGA rules if they expect to keep the Masters.
It is possible for a club to not segregate and still not have black members.
Here's the quick and simple answer Feisty, because they don't want her to. We all know what this article is about. It's about Obama trying to garner another hand full of votes. The way things are going, he'll need them.
As with most of your dopey posts, your claim of discrimination is another one that doesn't hold water.
What makes you think that the DDI is closed to conservatives? It is closed to people of very little brain.
Here's a question I have...why are the teanuts always so bitterly jealous of people with friends?
Or common sense...
There are plenty of reasonable/thoughtful conservatives at the Dew Drop Inn!
Too bad Paulie & safecracker don't fit the membership requirements! ;o)
Funny how friendship whips the teanuts into a frenzy. Why do you suppose that is, Feisty?
wing nut memebership only.
They are incapable of thinking of ANYONE other then Me, Myself & I?
Hadn't thought of it that way. Good answer!
Talk about a golf ceiling.
Since the folks in Augusta got over the fact they had to let black folk (i.e. Tiger Woods, Vijay Singh) play on their course, they certainly can get over letting women join. As more and more women take over major corporations, they should open up their club. Personally, I refuse to watch the Masters because of their attitude towards women (and I play golf).
Actually Phine, Lee Elder was the first the first African American to play in the Masters.
In 1975.
WCA,
Thanks for the correction. I forgot about Lee Elder. My bad. I liked Lee. I even remember some of the talking heads commenting about a time Lee and Gary Player have to play together. (Player being from South Africa).
You never know maybe one of these new, stronger young women from the LPGA (not Michelle Li - her game is all media hype), might actually break into the men's side.
I remeber as a Kid reading a big Sports Illustrated Story on Elder playing in the Masters. It was, obviously, very ground breaking at the time.
There are some good books/stories about the caddies that use to work at Augusta as well.
Use to be that the players at the Masters had to use Augusta caddies. Not any more. Big money now and the players caddies are like their on the course "Shrink".
What I think the players fail to realize, though is that they may have a better chance with a local caddie on the course with decades of Local Knowledge.
WCA,
Again, you are correct. I remember the big deal about Nick Faldo's female caddie. And you are right, you would think a "local caddie" would know the course better, thus being better for your game. You play?
I've been playing since I was a little kid. My two ambitions in life were to be either a Rock Star or a Pro Golfer.
Wasn't good enough at either, so now I design cars.
No adoring fans, but it pays the bills.
Faldos long time caddie was/is Fanny. She must be pretty good, Faldo was tough to beat in his day.
Augusta National is a unique golf club. At anyone time there are only 300 members and is by invitation only. It protects the traditions of the game and is throw back to earlier times. Notable members include Pete Coors of Coors beer, Bill Gates, Lou Holtz (Notre Dame coach) and Warren Buffett.
Augusta was protested in 2002 by Martha Burk head of the National Council of Women's Organizations. Ms. Burk threatened to boycott the sponsors of The Masters. The reply from The Masters was that The Masters would run commercial free and they did so for 2003 and 2004.
JAS1,
The interesting thing in your post, is the fact along with someone's position (say CEO of a major corporation), comes with the perk of membership at Augusta (BTW, that is how SC got Steve Spurrier to coach there, it came with membership to Augusta). The thing is, we are starting to see more and more women CEO's. How will Augusta handle that?
WCA,
Hubby & I have been to several LPGA events. Some of the young ladies can really wail on those balls! We were so impressed (some of them are so tiny - yet can they hit that little white ball), we forced our then 11 year old daughter into golf lessons. To this day, she refuses to even play putt putt or turn on a golf tournament!
Oh you must be so proud of yourself for refusing to watch the Master's? Like the president you should get over yourself.
Probably the same way top ranked, private, and all women's Wellesley College handles their exclusive membership, any way they want.
Michael.
Yes I am proud of myself. And no, I will not get over myself. I like me. I am allowed my opinion. In my opinion, Augusta National is wrong. BTW, I know a lot of men who agree with me on this. And guess what? They are all good old boys, southern rednecks.
Jas1,
Problem for Augusta, as I see it, is the tournament. If they were a quiet little golf club, well, they can run it as they see fit. However, they play on a national stage with the biggest US tournament. In my mind, that puts a different spin on it.
Not legally. And for 51 weeks out of the year, the club is a quiet little golf club. With only 300 members, you probably get some decent tee times.
Bet by the time I got to "Amen Corner" I would have used all the curse words I know :)
Phine I can't agree with you more, we golf and got our kid's into it too and they love it.
Yep, the great 1%, Republican way.....treat women like second class citizens. Let's see how that works out for you later on.
so, Mr. Bufett belongs to an all-male golf club. Will President Obama remove all ties to the man and change the name of his cute tax proposal?
James your a Moron, Wow your post makes no sense !
Obama/Biden 2012
Come on my lefty friends. Personally, I like the company of women. But that's my preference. There are men who want to belong to a club that is exclusively for men. So what! That's just not the kind of discrimination that bothers me. It's personal, it's private, and it's their business.
Phine:
I've played golf with a few women in my day, and a couple of them all but snuffed me. Of course, they don't play with the same sense of adventure that I do. They always go for the fairways. I like the challenge of bunkers, hitting out of the rough, and bringing water into play.
David,
My luck on water holes is this. I just go ahead and throw my ball in! One time we got the chance to play the course at the Players Club at Sawgrass. When I got to 17, I just started tossing those suckers in. That is the famous (or infamous) island hole.
It is all about economics to me, David. Augusta sells the rights to broadcast its tournament to CBS, which makes money from it by selling sponsorships on its broadcast. Good for all of them. They just have to get by with a few less viewers like phine and myself who happen to think that discriminatory membership policies is not something we want to support with our purchasing dollars.
David--my husband and I play golf and our rule is that I don't have to go chasing lost balls in woods (snakes & bugs), sand (hard on the pedi) or water (bad for the hair if I fell in!).
Steeler Fan,
One time I was having a particularly bad round. I would find every sand trap on the course. By the time we were on the back 9 and I again shot into the sand, I got out the big umbrella and towel, and pretended to be at the beach. Well, the other 3 (all guys) just cracked up. And I ended up hitting birdies on 17 & 18. (Maybe that is the secret to playing out of the sand - humor)
LoL David -- you and Tiger Woods.
They should invite her to join so that she has an opportunity to turn them down.
Par for the course? Maybe for now? If the President backs having women, then i do also! Why not? What is so wrong with having more competition?
Talk about an Obama lackey. "If the President backs it, then i do too." Proof that a libby can not think for themselves.
Rocco,
You ever watch some of the ladies play on the LPGA? They could whip the pants off most men.
Phine ........ :)
Why is Obama injecting himself in 'social' controversies?
Does he not have a job to do?
Jay Carney should watch what he says on behalf of the president.
It's an election year, silly.
So the president's desperate 'election year' strategy seems to be to appease to the women voters.
More whining from the "Woman Haters Man Club"? In case you haven't notices, women now are capable of running major corporations and countries. The good old boy network at Augusta needs to go! BTW, women do make up a very large portion of the voting block needed to win an election. Not the smartest thing in the world to alienate that group.
He has a job but he is not qualified to do it. So he has beer summits and plays golf.
4 more years.
Not a chance
Any woman good enough to run a major corporation certainly should be good enough to join a golf player club. What are those guys afraid of- they might be bested by a girl?
That is exactly what they are afraid of.
This is the South! I hope they do allow her to be a member!!
I'm sure the Board of Directors for Augusta National is going to jump right up and listen to our great leader. They deal with this every year the tournament roles around and always handle the issue as they should since IT'S A PRIVATE CLUB. Good for them. Why would they care to the opinion of a narcissistic phony when it has nothing to do with him.
You watched a lot of Spanky and Our Gang as a kid, right? Oh, and Augusta is wrong.
Yeah, it was my favorite show.
I understand you now. A member of the "He Man, Woman Haters" club.
test
What kind of test?
This is one issue where we should all defer to the President.
After all, he has worked very hard on this issue.
What President knows more about golf? Obama has sacrificed innumerable hours of hard work and research on the golf course.
If he is reelected , Obama will become even more of an expert on golf.
Ever see Obama playing golf with a woman?
Yeah, me neither.
Augusta is basically a club for fat old rich guys, but even fat old rich guys eventually die off. Come back in 15 years and maybe good sense will have prevailed after the current crop of members is no longer around.
Who would want to be a part of that smelly old bunch of drunks anyway.
Who care what that ass thinks about anything!!!!
Just because Augusta is a private club does not deter citizens from stating their opinon about not allowing women membership, Obama included. I find it very ironic that this onging war on women continues with few men stepping up and and admonishing it. As the CEO of IBM stated, "Big deals are made on golf course and I want to be a part of that." Unfortunately, she will not be a part of that simply becasue she was born with a vagina.