TAKE THE L OUT OF LPGA:

The Hole Truth: There will never be fair play on Augusta's fairways until women are allowed to join (Karen DeCrow, 12/18/02, Syracuse New Times)

After 17 years in this newspaper and without a single incident of interference from management, I am taking the unprecedented step of writing two consecutive columns on the same subject. The reason is not a burning desire to play golf in Georgia. The reason is not that this is the most important issue in the gender-equality debate. The reason is not that a little levity goes a long way in counteracting the horrors on the non-sports pages of the papers: impending war, deaths in the Middle East, a tanking economy.

The reason is that sometimes, in the struggle for human rights, one does not pick the issues. The issues find you. The symbolism of Augusta, the Masters and Hootie cannot be qualified. If Augusta can keep out women, with the implied blessing of CBS and of the golf establishment, this sends a message to the world about the United States. [...]

Typing here, in my imaginary green burqa, may I suggest that when Augusta lets in women--and, sooner or later, they will--we will not tout it as the boys having lost to the girls. We can call it what it will deserve to be called: the place for great golfers.

The problem with this whole Augusta flap is not that Howell Raines and Ms DeCrow are asking for too much, but that they're asking for so little. The real outrage is that the pro tours themselves are still gender segregated. The LPGA and PGA should be combined into one tour where men and women compete on an equal footing. Then we can truly call the Unified PGA Tour "the place for great golfers". Posted by Orrin Judd at December 30, 2002 9:19 PM