(December 4, 2002)                                                                                          Hot News Main Page

Hootie And The Blowhearts - Martha Senses The Tide Is Turning

ATLANTA, GA (December 4, 2002) Martha Burk said Tuesday that the resignation of an Augusta National member and a report that as many as 75 others oppose chairman Hootie Johnson's membership stance indicates "a substantial rebellion within the ranks."

Thomas H. Wyman, 72, of Savannah, is the first Augusta National member to resign in protest over the club's all-male membership, which was challenged in June by Burk, chairwoman for the National Council of Women's Organizations.

"I know if my members were ready to resign -- if a fourth of the members were opposed to the way I was leading the organization -- I would consider that a vote of no confidence, and I would resign," Burk told the Journal-Constitution.

Burk called it "significant" that the member who felt strongly enough about the issue to resign after 25 years was a former chief executive of CBS (1979-86), which televises the Masters.

"It's not somebody who has been at the club one time and is a member in name only," Burk said. "It's a person who has been part of the inner circle and been an integral part of the club for 25 years."

The New York Times reported Tuesday that Wyman resigned in a Nov. 27 letter to Johnson, a week after expressing his displeasure with the club not admitting a woman member. On Nov. 22, according to the Times, Johnson wrote to Wyman, stating that an overwhelming majority of members agreed with the membership stance.

"I am not anxious to make this personal," Wyman told the Times. "But Hootie keeps writing that there has not been a single case of protest in the membership. And he absolutely believes this will go away. It will not go away and it should not. I know there is a large number of members, at least 50 to 75, who believe it is inevitable that there will be and should be a woman member."

In recent months, prominent Augusta National members including American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault, U.S. Olympic Committee head Lloyd Ward and Citigroup chairman Sanford Weill have come out in support of the women's group.

"There are obviously some redneck, old-boy types down there," Wyman told the Times, "but there are a lot of very thoughtful, rational people, and they feel as strongly as I do."

Burk does not necessarily believe Johnson's statement last month that the issue is closed through the 2003 Masters next April.

"I believe there's still a possibility that his mind could change or that the leadership at Augusta could change," Burk said, "because I think this is not good for the club, their tournament or the sport."

[Source: Glenn Sheeley, The Atlanta Journal Constitution]