• by John Gaffney , March 2, 2003

“Ugly” is not a word often associated with the Masters golf tournament. Its groomed fairways and idyllic setting as the world’s prestige golf event haven’t brought that word to the fore. But sports marketers are now concerned that controversy over the golf tournament’s host policies is getting close to that four-letter word.

Last Friday, the Augusta National Country Club’s spat over membership rights with the National Council of Women’s Organizations exploded out of control. Not only is the NCOW protesting for women to be allowed into the club while the sports top tournament is in town in April , Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition wants to protest in support of that right. And the Ku Klux Klan has filed papers to protest against. It ain’t pretty.

Many insiders in golf marketing and advertising are now concerned that a problem that started with admitting women members to the club has grown out of control. After a rickety PR ride on the issue, Augusta National has now become a train wreck. With a critical planning week for the event opening, Augusta’s problem could tarnish the sport even after the Masters tournament presents its green winners jacket in early April.

“This could get very ugly,” said Robert Wooten, president of Impact Golf Marketing. “This has grown beyond anybody’s wildest imagination.”

Advertising in and around the event itself has always been limited to three sponsors, by rule of Augusta National. Those sponsors have been barred from this year’s CBS telecast of the event, because of the initial protest from the NCOW. But the tone of solid, calm dependability that has the become the cornerstone of building a marketing campaign that includes golf events, doesn’t mesh well with protest and radical political factions. Off the record, golf marketers want something done to head off the crisis at Augusta. On the record, the party line is that the “no female member” policy at Augusta, will not hurt golf. For now, they say it will pass with the tournament, even of the tournament gets ugly with off-site protests.

“Yes, there are important issues here, especially women’s rights,” says TSE Sports president Rob Tuchman. “But I don’t think it will taint golf. We sell sponsorship and marketing programs surrounding the sport day in and day out. The Masters is The Masters. It’s insulated. This issue will blow over.”

Other observers caution against underestimating the fury of a woman golfer scorned. Jennifer Crispen, a former executive for the Atlanta 1996 Olympic effort and currently sports marketing expert at Sweet Briar College, says that women currently have a favorable attitude about golf and the advertisers who align themselves with the sport. If this turns into an issue of women being denied justice – such as being denied entry into Augusta National – that sentiment could turn quickly.

One observer close to the scene expects Augusta National and its embattled president Hootie Johnson to allow women members through a policy change announced the Monday following the tournament. “This is all about having the right to do what they want when they want,” the source said.