Golf Special Edition: Is golf the men’s games?
If a poll asks does golf discriminate among the genders? The answer could be a simple yes, a yes with the plausible addition that it’s the same as the rest of the society, a vague maybe or a no. Most critics, however, don’t beat around the bush that much and reply with an uncomplicated yes. No matter how much we advance in technology, the need to expand the mind still exists. The game golf is alive and so is the discrimination. The above remark is usually argued with the fact that many clubs host professional events don’t they? Well yes they do, but dressing up a horse doesn’t change its breed.
On November 12th 2002, William Johnson, Augusta National Golf Club chairman announced that the club does not have any plans to change its all-men membership policy and it may take several years before a women joins this club. This announcement was carried out even after months of pressure by several councils. The Augusta National is devoid of female members and as far as the black community is concerned, only 6 out of 300 have made it to the club.
In such situations, rules need to be revised instantly. After the computation one finds that the black members that have made it to the Augusta Club so far are only a two percent of the lot holding this clubs membership. Considering the fact the place where this course is situated and the country which it represents, Augusta National Golf club hasn’t been able to represent its ethnic diversity in a decent manner. The Golf course is situated in Georgia Unites States, where according to 2009 statistics Blacks count to 30.2% .One may wonder that is it really an American course in the 21st century.
If we move some years back in history, the PGA of America took a stance that they would fight the discrimination being carried out in several clubs. The PGA declared that no golf tournament would be held in places where any such bias is felt. The discrimination was specifically pointed out against racial issues. Narrow it down further and it pointed towards the discrimination being held against the Blacks.
Again gender wasn’t touched at all in this declaration. The discrimination between men and women wasn’t paid much attention and most can’t recall any rule that talked about any PGA tour withholding any event because of the gender discrimination. In the year 1990 when this announcement was made, the club’s obstinate behaviour reached its peak. Many clubs decided on not holding a PGA Tour event at all rather than changing their rules and letting people of colour inside the club as members.
If we stop picking on the Augusta National Course for a while, we see discrimination scattered here and there in numerous golf courses. A quick stroll through many clubs would open up our eyes to the fact that most faces these clubs welcome are Caucasians. White faces are in majority and black are nearly zero.
A famous magazine indicated the estimation carried out by industry exports. The assessment stated that a good three quarters in 5232 golf clubs do not have any black member. Out of these 74 country clubs which are private in Chicago, only 10 stated that they have blacks as members and only 26 stated that they have women as members.
Apart from gender and race, religion is also a fact these clubs haven’t missed. You may see majority of white faces but not many of them are Muslims. Pick up the top 100 in the world and narrow them down to Muslim golfers. Yes Vijay Singh is an example and those who follow this faith may be too afraid to decree their faith in fear of the discrimination that would follow the announcement.
Reasons behind this discrimination are still unknown and are questioned by a sizable majority in Unites States and around the world. It could date back to the time when blacks did not have enough blow since the game also has its roots from the same time frame. Since then, it has been ruled by white men and their own circle of friends. No matter from what angle people look at this game, some level of discrimination still exists.
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