As any fule kno, I hate change, especially change which won’t necessarily improve anything. I also hate it when “change” is replaced by a euphemism such as “overhaul” — because “overhaul” to me means improving something or, at worst, restoring it to its original form or function after neglect. Imagine then my disgust at this development:
Overhaul of Augusta National ahead of the Masters is sign of the times as golf seeks to be the ultimate family sport
- Historic occasion for women’s golf on Saturday with first amateur Augusta event
- It was the turn of some of America’s best juniors to play the course on Sunday
- The club where nothing changed for decades is undergoing huge transformation
…and all the dreadful details are included in the link above. Several comments come to mind immediately.
Unless the something that has been going on for decades is genocide, institutionalized child molestation or South African-style apartheid, there’s no need to change anything. What has gone on for decades at Augusta National GC is a policy of men-only membership (only recently relaxed [spit] ) and a culture which creates a male enclave — and only to the most fevered feminist could this equate to the three horrors above. I know, wimmens are going to say, “It’s not that important; why are you making such a fuss?” to which my response is: “If it’s not that important, then why the fuck are you trying to change it?” I’ve written about men-only places before, and the benefits of such places where men can be unholy assholes without some woman or girly-man taking offense at their language / behavior. It’s a safety-valve for such activity, and I for one miss it terribly. I see nothing wrong with gender-specific institutions, whether female-only universities or, like Augusta, male-only golf clubs. (Don’t even get me started on military schools.)
So: why allow women to play at Augusta, when there are thousands upon thousands of other golf courses for them to play at? Pure symbolism, is why. (And I’ll bet these Amazon golferettes didn’t play off the back tees, either.)
Then there’s this crap about golf as the “ultimate family sport”? What the fuck is that all about? Let’s be honest: golf has always been a male preserve, except for the many lesbians who participate in the women’s tour and for the wives of male club-members who need to take a full day out of the week for a “Ladies Day” to get together and fuck around — don’t get me started on the double standard involved with that. (The truth of the matter is that male golfers prefer a Ladies Day because women play too slowly and pathetically, and it beats having to wait for twenty minutes per hole while Agnes, Pookie and Frances each take four or five shots to reach a green easily reachable in two by a pre-adolescent boy golfer.) And how can golf be the “ultimate family sport” when it bores everyone but the golfers involved to tears?
And Augusta’s decided to go along with this bullshit? Why? The Masters is already one of the most popular sporting events on TV, it’s already regarded as the world championship of golf by all golfers, and if even one of the tournament’s big sponsors decided to quit because feminism, other equally-large sponsors would get into fistfights to be their replacement. (The Masters allows for only a few sponsors and severely-limited advertising time, which is probably a prime reason why it’s so popular.) In other words, Augusta and The Masters are dealing from a position of strength, here, and — let me be quite blunt about this — they have no need to change anything.
But they’re going to, and that’s the pity of it. And if Augusta goes, what chance do any of the other men-only clubs have of continuing?
It’s enough to make a man have a double for his morning gin.
In other news the fledgling women’s hockey league up in Canada just failed due to lack of interest on the part of hateful sexist pigs and ignoramii just like us. I’ll have a scotch, since you’re pouring Kim, and I will celebrate! 🙂
At church we run boys and girls clubs. We separate them, and try and let them have the experience of being little girls and little boys without any social engineering going on we don’t even push the faith at them – it is their time. They’re getting lots of kids outside the faith signing up because of the crash of organizations like the boy scouts, which has become a playground for homosexuals, pedos, and other gender-conflicted saints. We also have social events for men and women too. It’s awesome – God and the Bible scares the pervs and the socialists away the same way holy water scalds vampires. Works for me.
Kim, I think you’re actually missing the reason this is happening.
It’s not because “political correctness run amok” or some such. It’s more mundane than that: Golf is in a death spiral. Boomers were the last ones who had a real interest in it and they’re getting too old for the game. Gen X’ers and Millennials couldn’t care less about the game (interesting article a few weeks ago about how those boomers who paid big $$ to buy houses on golf courses are now facing the reality that when it comes time to sell they may not be able to recoup their investments.)
So while it’s tempting to cast this as “another cherished institution under siege by the left” a more accurate description would be “dying industry tries desperately to remain relevant by attempting to attract new blood.”
And count me as a boomer (born in 1961) who has absolutely ZERO interest in golf. And the only thing that appeals to me less than PLAYING golf is wathching SOMEONE ELSE play golf. I’d rather watch paint dry.
I’ve only played one round of golf (coincidentally the same day as my unit was invited to not return to that base’s golf course, ever). Not for me.
I have spent much time at the bars and snack bars at many courses. A rule of thumb when I was in was that if you wanted a quick good meal on a base, check out the golf course and the bowling alley.
While I don’t care how others use their free time, I personally look at a golf course and think “what a waste of a perfectly good rifle range”.
Staff Martin’s point about Boomers aging out of golf reminds me of a question that has been bugging me for some time: what is going to happen to the value of old cars? Are younger people interested in the early cars, hotrods, musclecars, sportscars, etc? “Collectibles”, in other words.
I remember a few years back looking to get another antique car / toy for the garage. The price of 60’s era muscle cars was still sky high, but I could get a nicely restored sedan from the 30’s or 40’s for well under $20k, even a few drivable examples for under $10k. I’m guessing the adult children of recently deceased parents were simply unloading these vehicles on a market that no longer held any memories of those models.
The difference is that 60’s nostalgia is still strong with people who weren’t even born in the 60’s. Our culture continues to reinforce that with everything you see. So I think the muscle cars will continue to hold value, with maybe a slow market correction over the next decade or so. The younger generations will still think those cars are cool, but not have the burning desire to drop $100k or more on an original Hemi-car when you can buy a new Challenger for much less.
Not just cars. Any kind of “collectibles.” Fine furniture. Grandma’s china that she scrimped and saved for during the depression. Grampa’s old uniform jacket from WWII. The dress your mother was christened in. All that “stuff” that we carefully hoarded is just so much crap to young people who don’t own homes and don’t have anyplace to put that stuff anyway. And don’t even get me STARTED on books.
In previous years, by the time Grandma and Grandpa got old, their children would be well established with nice careers and big houses to put all that stuff in. Of course they would treasure the “family heirlooms” to pass on to the next generation.
But that’s not how it is anymore.
Over the next few years we’re going to see an enormous purge of “old crap.” Those of us who are entering our golden years will no longer have the time or energy to maintain it, and the younger folks won’t have the space or the time to deal with it, so it will end up in landfills, or otherwise tossed away.
I would expect to see the value of “cherished heirlooms” to drop like a rock, especially anything that is bulky or heavy (furniture, books) or requires a lot of effort to maintain (automobiles, boats, motorcycles, etc.) Some stuff may hang on – apparently there is some kind of hipster renaissance movement that seems to love old stereo equipment from the 60’s and 70’s – but my guess is that most of it will end up as trash.
I once heard golf described as “The spoiling of a good walk” – that sums it up for me.