Martha Burk

She is the leader of a women's group that has zeroed in on forcing the most powerful and historic golf club in the nation to admit its first female member. And now, if that weren't enough, Martha Burk is threatening to add a new, auxiliary target in her fight: CBS.

The city of Augusta, Ga., illegally restricted a small protest last year against all-male membership at the home of the Masters, a federal court in Atlanta ruled Thursday. The National Council of Women's Organizations tried to picket outside the private Augusta National Golf Club during the tournament, but local officials cited security concerns and forced about 50 protesters to move half a mile away.

The road to the Masters is no longer such a bumpy ride. No one is asking players if they are outraged that Augusta National has never had a female member. No editorials are urging Tiger Woods, himself a minority, to boycott the major championship he has won three times. The big rivalry these days is Tiger and Vijay, not Martha and Hootie. The talk on the PGA Tour is about who's playing the best golf, not who's wearing the green jackets.

The road to the Masters is no longer such a bumpy ride. No one is asking players if they are outraged that Augusta National has never had a female member. No editorials are urging Tiger Woods, himself a minority, to boycott the major championship he has won three times. The big rivalry these days is Tiger and Vijay, not Martha and Hootie. The talk on the PGA Tour is about who's playing the best golf, not who's wearing the green jackets.

You will undoubtedly hear voices of protest from many men whose hackles were raised after reading of Martha Burk's plan to protest next spring's Masters at Augusta. I too believe that Augusta has the right to admit members of its own choosing. It is a private club. I personally believe that the Masters is a grand old tradition played on sacred ground. However, this is a free country and part of that freedom includes the right to free expression -- Ms. Burk's included. However, as a woman, I would suggest that our protesting efforts should concentrate on much more critical matters such as those related to the health and safety of all Americans.

Martha Burk, chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said she was surprised only by the timing of Augusta National Golf Club chairman Hootie Johnson's message that the club would not alter its membership policy to admit a female member.

Thank you, Martha Burk. Speaking for the golf-watching public, we didn't think we could enjoy the Masters any more than we did last year -- the first year that all 18 holes were televised. But then you came along, Martha, and thanks to you we'll get to watch the Masters without any commercial interruption.

Bill Plaschke insists that Tiger Woods use his influence to get women admitted to membership in Augusta National. Tiger did not achieve his position in the golf world by affirmative action but by ability and accomplishments. He should not be required to campaign for change in a club of which he is not a member and has no vote. I suppose if women are finally admitted, next will be a campaign for sportswriters. There have to be some standards. Gary A. Robb Los Feliz Bill Plaschke needs to get a life and the L.A. Times senior editors need to have their heads examined to continue putting his column on the front page of the sports section.

If you have lost track of Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations was back at it again Friday, aiming another barb at Augusta National Golf Club. Burk, who is leading a campaign to force the club that is host of the Masters to admit a female member, issued a statement congratulating Annika Sorenstam while criticizing Colonial sponsor Bank of America.

Thomas Bonk closed his Jan. 9 article on the PGA Tour by noting, "It won't go away, mainly because the two people at opposite ends of the issue won't let it. Martha Burk ... has called for protests ... and Hootie Johnson ... isn't budging on inviting a woman to be a member." On the same day in a second golf-related article, Bonk devotes, by my count, six out of 16 paragraphs to comments relating to the very same "issue." It is painfully apparent that, in reality, this issue continues to persist ad nauseam, not because of Ms. Burk and Mr. Johnson, but because there are so many champions of misguided political correctness within the media, such as Mr. Bonk.

If you have lost track of Martha Burk, the chair of the National Council of Women's Organizations was back at it again Friday, aiming another barb at Augusta National Golf Club. Burk, who is leading a campaign to force the club that is host of the Masters to admit a female member, issued a statement congratulating Annika Sorenstam while criticizing Colonial sponsor Bank of America.

What is it about Los Angeles Times sportswriters that gives them this uncontrollable urge to turn into social critics? First we have Bill Plaschke lecturing Tiger Woods on what he should be doing to support Martha Burk. Now comes J.A. Adande ranting about CBS concentrating on the Masters golf tournament instead of breaking in to give news flashes about the war in Iraq and coverage of Martha Burk's failed protest demonstration. ("Too Bad CBS Coverage Stayed the Course," April 13). As a journalist, Mr. Adande should have known that when Jesse Jackson announced he was not going to Augusta he gave a clear signal that the protest would be a nonevent.

Martha Burk didn't get it. Free and fawning media attention did not mean her point resonated. Access to the sporting press did not mean that the people of this town, or the fans of golf, or even a large number of women, feel a pressing need for a woman to join Augusta National Golf Club. She doesn't understand yet how the Masters as a sporting event can't easily be attached to the all-male club where it is played. For nine months Burk has been a media darling.

A protest almost nine months in the making took little more than an hour to play out. Martha Burk and her National Council of Women's Organizations (NCWO) spent more time inflating and deflating a giant pink pig -- "Augusta National Corporate Pigs' Club" was the porker's message -- than it took for four speakers to earn scattered applause for a series of speeches against Augusta National Golf Course and its all-male membership.

Bill Plaschke insists that Tiger Woods use his influence to get women admitted to membership in Augusta National. Tiger did not achieve his position in the golf world by affirmative action but by ability and accomplishments. He should not be required to campaign for change in a club of which he is not a member and has no vote. I suppose if women are finally admitted, next will be a campaign for sportswriters. There have to be some standards. Gary A. Robb Los Feliz Bill Plaschke needs to get a life and the L.A. Times senior editors need to have their heads examined to continue putting his column on the front page of the sports section.

Though barred from the front gates of Augusta National Golf Club, Martha Burk will still protest. "In the pits," she said. And no more debating Chairman Hootie Johnson over the issue of admitting women as members to the club that holds the Masters. It's all about the corporations now, Burk said Thursday at the Martin Luther King Center. It's all about pressure now. It's about holding accountable the chief executives of Fortune 500 companies who belong to the male-only Augusta National.

Martha Burk of the National Council of Women's Organizations released the contents of a letter Thursday to CBS Sports in which she asked the network to drop coverage of the Masters until Augusta National Golf Club admits women members. In the letter, addressed to CBS Sports President Sean McManus, Burk said that because the Masters is held at a club "flaunting ... sex discrimination" she found it "astonishing that CBS would even consider such a broadcast."

What is it about Los Angeles Times sportswriters that gives them this uncontrollable urge to turn into social critics? First we have Bill Plaschke lecturing Tiger Woods on what he should be doing to support Martha Burk. Now comes J.A. Adande ranting about CBS concentrating on the Masters golf tournament instead of breaking in to give news flashes about the war in Iraq and coverage of Martha Burk's failed protest demonstration. ("Too Bad CBS Coverage Stayed the Course," April 13). As a journalist, Mr. Adande should have known that when Jesse Jackson announced he was not going to Augusta he gave a clear signal that the protest would be a nonevent.

Thank you, Martha Burk. Speaking for the golf-watching public, we didn't think we could enjoy the Masters any more than we did last year -- the first year that all 18 holes were televised. But then you came along, Martha, and thanks to you we'll get to watch the Masters without any commercial interruption.

Even though a federal judge has ruled Martha Burk must take her protest of the all-male membership of Augusta National Golf Club away from the gates and into a field a half-mile away, she says she is continuing her court fight. Late Monday night, U.S. District Judge Dudley H. Bowen, Jr.