| Next Thursday, the world's best golfers will | | | | its membership at around 300 people. Notable |
| convene at Augusta National Golf Club to play in | | | | members include Bill Gates, Warren Buffet, and |
| the 2010 Masters Tournament. The Masters is | | | | Jack Welch. |
| the first of four major championships in | | | | The Club has been the subject of controversy |
| professional golf, and unlike the other three is | | | | over the years. Lee Elder became the first black |
| played at the same location every year. The | | | | player to play in the Masters in 1975 (after the |
| storied and exclusive club is one of the most | | | | tournament had been around for 41 years). |
| revered courses in the world. | | | | Co-founder Clifford Roberts is reported to have |
| The course is located in Augusta, Georgia. It | | | | said, "As long as I'm alive, golfers will be white, |
| was founded by professional golfer Bobby Jones | | | | and caddies will be black." It wasn't until 1990 |
| and investment banker Clifford Roberts. The | | | | that the Club accepted a black member. |
| club opened for play in 1933 and became the site | | | | More recently, in 2002, a great deal of press was |
| of the Masters in 1934, when Jones and Roberts | | | | devoted to the conflict between Augusta National |
| would personally invite friends to play in the | | | | Chairman Hootie Johnson and National Council of |
| tournament. Roberts was a friend of President | | | | Women's Organizations chairwoman Martha |
| Dwight Eisenhower, and Eisenhower and his wife | | | | Burk. Burk took issue with Augusta's status as a |
| made Augusta National retreat during the 1950s. | | | | male-only club, stating that it was sexist. |
| After his retirement in 1930, Bobby Jones wanted | | | | Johnson maintained that they were exercising |
| to build the golf course both to make a | | | | their rights the same as any private club. To this |
| contribution to the game and to express his ideas | | | | day, no women have been admitted into Augusta. |
| of how golf courses should be made. Jones had | | | | Each year, the winner of the Masters is presented |
| met Clifford Roberts several times in the previous | | | | with a green jacket. He is presented with the |
| decade and the two went to work on fulfilling | | | | jacket by the previous year's winner. The |
| Jones's dream. They decided to build the course | | | | jacket is the same jacket given to all members |
| in Augusta, Georgia, on the site of a former indigo | | | | of Augusta National Golf Club. The idea for the |
| plantation. | | | | green jackets was Clifford Roberts. He grew |
| Augusta National Golf Club is a very exclusive | | | | weary of seeing men wear flashy clothing on the |
| one. The only way to become a member is by | | | | golf course and decided that the solution was for |
| being formally invited. The Club generally keeps | | | | them to wear the same jacket. |