Augusta National Chairman shuts down LPGA stars playing Masters course

Augusta National Golf Club is one of the most prestigious golf courses in the world, yet it does not hold a professional women’s event.

Chairman Fred Ridley held his annual address on the eve of the 88th Masters Tournament Wednesday. He tackled a number of subjects including providing support for the golf ball rollback and LIV Golf’s place in the sport.

He also conveyed his feelings on whether a woman’s tournament should be held at Augusta National.

“There are some fundamental difficulties in that,” Ridley said. “We happily were able to find a way to have a competition for juniors and a competition for women amateurs sort of wrapped around the Masters tournament, and it just seems to fit really well.”

The club began the Augusta National Women’s Amateur in 2019, which includes an international field of 72 young women. However, the ladies play 36 holes at Champions Retreat Golf Club and only play the final round at Augusta National.

It’s not like the amateur women destroy the course. They don’t play enough holes on it to do any damage.

There has also been an annual junior tournament where children have participated in the Drive, Chip, and Putt Challenge since 2013. Both girls and boys participate in that event.

Women’s sports are on the rise, as is the sport of golf. One might think it would make sense to find a way to let the LPGA stars have a crack at the Masters course.

However, Ridley doesn’t see it that way.

“To have another tournament of any kind would be very difficult based on our season, based on the fact that this is essentially a winter and spring golf course,” Ridley said. “It’s not open in the summer. It doesn’t play the way we want it to play in the fall for a major tournament. We did have one, one time, and Dustin Johnson did very well.”

Due to COVID-19, the 2020 edition of The Masters was held in November. Johnson would go on to win that year and post a tournament scoring record of 20-under. It was not the same as an April Masters Tournament, but it was still the traditional tournament that fans love to watch earnestly.

Ridley expounded on why having one complete tournament each year is all the club can do.

“We really have a limited period of time we could play any additional event,” Ridley said. “We close in the third week of May. Then you add the element of … sort of the mystique and the magic. We need to make sure that we really respect the mystique and the magic of the Masters, so we would have to think long and hard to have another golf tournament.”

These comments from Ridley were discouraging. It feels off-putting to allow amateur women on the course but not professional ones. What does that say to the LPGA Tour? There isn’t a weekend sometime in the spring that can work?

The club just allowed its first professional female player. Annika Sorenstam earned Augusta National membership this past October.

She became the seventh woman overall to gain membership.

When that news broke, it felt like things were moving in the right direction for the women’s game.

Ridley’s comments Wednesday feel like a step backward. His words show just how behind the times Augusta National continues to be. “The mystique and the magic” — shouldn’t women experience that too?

Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, be sure to follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @savannah_leigh_sports.