Former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore have accepted membership invitations to Augusta National Golf Club. They will become the first women members in the clubs 80 history when they put on the green jackets this fall.
"This is a joyous occasion," Augusta National chairman Billy Payne said Monday.
The move likely ends a debate that intensified in 2002 when Martha Burk of the National Council of Women's Organizations urged the club to include women among its members. Former club chairman Hootie Johnson stood his ground, even at the cost of losing Masters television sponsors for two years, when he famously said Augusta National might one day have a woman in a green jacket, "but not at the point of a bayonet."
Billy Payne took over chairmanship of Augusta National in 2006 at the retirement of Hootie Johnson.
Moore and Johnson are close friends, both with roots in South Carolina and banking, and the person said Payne and Johnson agreed on the timing of a female member. The person, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the club typically does not discuss membership issues, said it was important to Payne to be respectful of the membership process. The person said prospective members often are not aware they are being considered.
Augusta National is the home of the prestigious Masters Golf Tournament that is played each year in April.