As they sip Mint Juleps in a few days along the Front Nine on Master's Sunday here in Augusta - there is a new Controversy facing the elite Club.
The Augusta National Golf Club has a long proud legacy of racism, elitism and sexism.
It wasn't long ago when blacks were not allowed to be members - but there was no denying Mr. Elder, Mr. Woods and others.
Of course black caddies were encouraged - they just could never become members - no matter how many miles they hauled those clubs for Club members.
So yes - and of course - it should go without saying - the Augusta National must finally allow women to be members.
Now the controversy surrounds the new IBM Chief Executive Virginia Rometty - who has not been invited to become a member because she is a woman.
IBM is one of the main sponsors of the Masters - and the heads of all other major sponsored (all men) have been invited to be members.
In their usual fashion, the officials at the Augusta National remain cloistered in their little Green Kingdom - and have no comment.
http://www.cnn.com/...
http://www.ibtimes.com/...
But even if the Augusta National bosses allow women to become members - never forget that children go to bed hungry only a few miles from the Gates of The National.
The average Augusta resident will never be allowed to go through those Mighty Green Gates.
The Augusta National has hosted many Presidents - from Eisenhower to Reagan.
Does anybody remember when a drunken white redneck took President Reagan's staff hostage inside the Clubhouse after crashing his "Ram Tough" truck through the Gates of the Augusta National?
The late great famed Augusta disc jockey Buddy Carr joked it was a "Damn Tough" truck because it evaded Secret Service snipers and all the other security when it was driven through the locked gates.
That late October 1983 weekend would shake the world.
A friend of mine has the Secret Service tapes of President Reagan trying to negotiate with the very drunk hostage-taker.
The event made national news for only a few hours because it was a weekend the world would never forget - and all the planning and reaction made by President Reagan about two historic events was done inside one of the cottages at the Augusta National.
He ordered the Grenada Invasion from Augusta - and later Reagan was whisked away at 3 a.m. under the darkness of a rainy Sunday morning because the Beirut Barracks Bombing had just occurred - killing 299 American and French servicemen.
Upon arriving in the dark in D.C. - Reagan stepped off Air Force One and gave a brief statement to reporters under umbrellas.
In a sad Irony, a madman in a truck had crashed through the Marine gates in Beirut - just like had happened only hours earlier to the gates at the Augusta National - only nobody died in Augusta.
The Good Ole Boy from Columbia County near Augusta was later sentenced to 10 years in prison for that drunken escapade.
History has been made at the National - and now it must once again make history - though one day it must address its policy of secrecy, elitism and more.
The Augusta National must do more to help the low-income residents of Augusta and Georgia - in a real and meaningful way -only a few are only allowed to be occasional employees.
I'm not talking about a one-time token donation - this dynasty must become human (some of its members are among the 1 percent who crashed the economy).
Lately the corporate trend has been to create low-paid part-time jobs thus avoiding laws that require benefits for full-time staff.
The dues paid by Augusta National members in one year to hob nob at the immaculately groomed club - equal more than most Augusta kids can eat in their lifetime.
The "Masters" in Augusta must leave their big plantation and help with the freedom of America's enslaved low-income working class - many of whom are unemployed.