The tenth hole is Bobbie’s least favorite hole on the course. It is long, very long, and usually plays as the most difficult hole of the eighteen. It is going to require all of her skills to get past this hole and the three following known as the ‘Amen Corner’. Yes, if you haven’t figured it out before now, Bobbie is playing in The Masters, one of the four ‘Majors’ on the PGA tour. Getting to the Masters is not easy and Bobbie took the route most available to her. We are going to find out how she did it. We are also going to find out about acceptance and non-acceptance of her on the tour by others.

Some of you might remember The Wizard’s advice in Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver. “When you get to twelve, use the 9-iron, not the wedge.” Well, The Wizard didn’t have the right clubs in mind, after all he doesn’t play golf, but the intent of his advice is remembered. The announcer is fortunate that he wasn’t fired.

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If you haven’t read the previous stories about Cindy, Bobbie, and the rest and how they arrived where they are now, you should probably read them. Start with An Incremental Journey, Cynthia and the Reluctant Girlfriend, Cynthia and the Dumpster Diver, Cynthia and the Moment of Truth, and Cynthia and the High School Years — Parts 1 & 2.

I have researched the Spell’s—R-Us Universe diligently and cannot find anything that violates it, other than that The Wizard is a bit kinder and gentler than sometimes reported. Don’t get me wrong. Given an opening, The Wizard could resort to some of his more ironic and nasty transformations. I’m sure that could happen at any time.

Once again, Holly did an outstanding job of fixing my punctuation errors and occasional wanderings into gibberish. My thanks also go to Beachbud, Michell, and Djkauf for their subjective proofing and comments.

This work is copyrighted by the author and any publication or distribution without the written consent of the author is strictly prohibited. This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance of the characters to persons living or dead is coincidental.

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Bobbie and the Glass Ceiling, Chapters 10, 11 and 12
 

Chapter 10 — Camellia, Par 4, 495 Yards

From the Announcers Booth

“We’ve had a bit of a delay because of a ruling up ahead. Ben Bauer hit his ball up against some temporary landscaping. There wasn’t any penalty involved, and the officials wanted him to take a drop at the point of closest relief. Bauer felt that he had a better shot from where he was, and maintained that the potted plants were moveable, manmade obstructions. He won the argument, but it took a while to get a crew out there to move the pots.

“It all worked out to the best, and Bauer made a nice shot to the green.

“The final twosome has had quite a delay, but there’s not much they can do about it. Anderson has been taking some practice swings, but she cannot hit any practice shots. That would be allowed only if play was stopped for the entire field.

“Campion is finally able to hit away, and he has opted to go with the 3-wood. I think this is the first time he’s shown good sense this round. He’s hooked it well past the upper flat and it’s rolling forever.

At the Tee

“Just swing easy. There’s no reason to try to kill it. Just deep breathily. We’re going to run this bastard down.”

“Dammit, don’t make me laugh. This is serious business.”

Up in the Announcers’ Booth

“Anderson’s husband said something to her that broke her up. They are such a perfect match. It doesn’t matter which one is playing. They give each other such great support.

“Here’s her shot. It’s hooking nicely, and she’s made the slope it’s rolling nicely, but it’s stopping on the down slope. She’s way behind Campion. It’s going to be a tough shot from there. Almost everyone has come up short.

“There’s so much trouble around that green. The ball rolls off the front with ease, but at least from off the front, there is a chance to get it up and down. If you hit it long, there are all sorts of problems, and there is always the chance of hitting it off the green. Statistically, this is the toughest hole on the course.

“Anderson’ hitting first, Ray, what’s she got?”

“She’s hitting a utility club. I’m not sure if the five or six. Her lie’s not very good, and I think her philosophy on this hole hasn’t changed a bit. She wants to keep it away from the bunker on the right. In there, and it’s tough to get it anywhere near the hole. We’ve seen several hit it off the green from there. I think she will just hit it hard and try to keep it below the hole, which shouldn’t be any problem, as the pin is way back at the far left. A bogey isn’t good, but it certainly isn’t disastrous.”

On the Course

“Don’t try anything funny.”

“You don’t have to worry about that. I just thought of something.”

“What’s that?”

“If I beat him in eighteen, I may never have to play this hole again.”

“I think that’s an excellent idea.”

In the Announcers’ Booth

“Anderson’s ready, and she’s hit a marvelous shot from where she was. It hits just below the front edge. It came up to the edge, but it’s rolling back. Well, she finally got a break. It’s stopped about five feet down the slope. That could have rolled another thirty or forty feet back down the hill. She’s going to have an interesting third shot.

“Campion’s going with a 7-iron. Okay, he’s hit it dead center and is going to have a long put for his birdie try.

Five Years Before - RBC Canadian Open, Etobicoke, Ontario

“Al, I think she has every right in the world to cry. What a fantastic performance. Her husband’s hugging her, and he’s crying, too.

“No one would admit it was possible, but she hung in there and did it. She beat the best at their own game. Two strokes down with two holes to go, she birdied the last two holes to get in the playoff, then birdied the first playoff hole to become the first woman to win a tournament on the men’s tour.

“Some say Babe Zaharias could have done it. She beat Byron Nelson in a charity match. It’s a shame that she never had the chance; however, she made it possible seventy or eighty years later for a woman to challenge the men, and it has finally happened. What a day for golf!

“Anderson’s being mobbed by her family and friends. I think we’ll just let her enjoy the moment. We’ll have plenty of time to talk to her in a little while. Matt Sawatski and Gary Oberfeldt are congratulating her. They have been most gracious in defeat. They are both fine golfers, and have several victories between them. I don’t think they will have to suffer like Tracy Stallard did back in 1961.

“Let’s go down to Ray who has Matt Sawatski and Gary Oberfeldt with him. Take it away, Ray.”

“Thanks Al. Well Matt, Gary, what can you say?”

“I know I can speak for Gary and all of the other golfers in the field. It wasn’t just Gary and me who were defeated today. There were 57 other golfers who made the cut that were defeated, too.

“Let there be no doubt about it, Bobbie Anderson can play golf, and there’s absolutely no reason she can’t win again and again on this tour. No, she’s not as long as the big hitters, but she’s longer than many of the shorter hitters on the tour. Look at what Corey Pavin did years ago. He won some of the best tournaments out there, including a major. She’s longer than he was.”

“We put together some statistics that emphasize what you’re saying. She was 40th in driving distance, but third in greens in regulation. She was first in sand saves — three for three, and first in saves over all. She was second in putting. Drive for show — putt for dough.”

“Gary, any comments?”

“Yeah, why does she have to be so good looking? Seriously, she doesn’t make mistakes. What did she do, miss three fairways?”

“Actually, she was first in fairways hit. She missed six, but none of them by much.”

Gary wasn’t through talking. “I was in her threesome on day one and two, and let me tell you, she is all business. Andy was telling me about the first time he played golf with her. She beat him by five strokes from the men’s tees. He saw it then, and I could see it here. She is so focused when she’s playing. She’s a bit different off the course. We had dinner the other night with her and Andy and their friends, the Brewers. What a delightful bunch.

“Andy’s a darn good golfer, and he will make his mark soon enough. Right now, he’s doing everything possible to make sure she wins on this tour, and it worked. They have an agenda. We’ll see a lot more of both of them on the tour.

“Every golfer who enters a tournament always has a goal of winning. If you don’t, you don’t belong here. Matt and I have been fortunate to win several events, but believe me when I say it was no disgrace to finish second today. We were beaten by the better golfer.”

At the News Conference

“Bobbie, so how does it feel now that you’ve had a little while to contemplate what you’ve done?”

“I feel pretty darned good, if you must know. I think I played it exactly the way I wanted to. That is one tough golf course, let me tell you.

“There was some question about whether or not I should be allowed to play. I’m glad that the fine people who run this tournament backed my playing all the way. There are some sore heads out there, and unfortunately, some of them played in this tournament, who can’t stomach the fact that a woman is playing on the PGA tour. I’m not sure what their problem is. This could have been resolved more than seventy years ago if Babe Zaharias had been able to break through. I think that if Annika Sorenstam had tried sooner, she might have made it. She was technically a great golfer. I do have an advantage over her in that I am considerably stronger, but I think she would have done well. I think she made a smart decision, retiring when she did. I don’t intend to wait quite that long, though.

“You’re going to retire?”

“Oh my goodness, no, not for a long time, but Andy and I want a family. I know there are some great golfers out there who raised a family while playing golf. Nancy Lopez and Julie Inkster come to mind. We don’t want to do that. When we start having children, it is going to require more of my attention, and playing golf full time will have to cease. Andy will play for a while longer, at least we hope so, and I will carry his bag when I can. It’s just that our priorities will shift over time.

“Next question please.”

“Bobbie, I just wanted to let you know that I’ve been putting part of my allowance away so that we may have a Stilton and port party one of these days.”

“Why Mr. Brewster, how nice of you, it’s so good to see you on this side of the pond. So, do you think I can do it?”

“I don’t see why not. I will support you all the way.”

“That is so nice of you to say that, thank you.”

“Bobbie, would you let us in on what you and the esteemed golf writer from England are talking about?”

“Let’s just say that we have a little bet going. I don’t think I want to sound too presumptuous, but if I win the bet, there is going to be one hell of a party. I think we will just leave it at that.”

At the Tenth Green

“Do it just like you did before. It’s going to break about fifteen feet left. Get it up there and let the green do the work for you.”

Andy handed Bobbie the 7-iron. She didn’t question his selection. She took a couple of practice swings, visualizing the trajectory and path the ball would take. She caught the ball crisply, taking a little of the turf as her swing continued. The ball popped nicely into the air on a relatively low trajectory. It bounced several times, and then started to roll. The break of the green caught the ball, and started taking it to the left. It rolled and rolled, turning all the time toward the hole. It slowed and wobbled a bit toward the end of the roll out. It stopped ten inches from the hole.

Andy pulled the pin, and Bobbie gently stroked it into the heart. She had her par, and the tenth hole was over and done with. It didn’t matter what Campion did. He was thirty feet below the hole. He might make a birdie, but it didn’t matter.

He didn’t make the birdie. Campion was 12 under par. Bobbie was at nine under. There were eight holes to play.
”ƒ
Chapter 11 — White Dogwood, Par 4, 505 Yards

From the Announcers’ Booth

“Anderson’s going to have to get all of it if she hopes to par this hole. She’s done pretty well this week, but realistically, this is a par five for her and she’s managed to ‘birdie’ it each day. Her luck’s bound to run out some time.

“Campion has hit another prodigious drive. A high fade is really necessary here to get it around the corner and down the hill, and he has done just that. He shouldn’t have much of an iron left to the green.”

“This is one of the few holes that works against Anderson’s game. This course favors someone who can draw the ball. Lee Trevino never did play very well here because he always played a fade. There were a number of years when he refused to play. He was never at ease because of the atmosphere, and refused to use the clubhouse. Needless to say, Anderson has had similar problems. They had to move a locker into the women’s restroom for her. Some things die hard.

“Here’s Anderson’s drive, and I’m not sure she got all of it. She is going to have a very long shot to the green, if she can even get it there.”

On the Fairway

“I tried to hit it too hard and popped it up, obviously. Crap, what’s my distance — 225, 230?”

“I have 227 to the pin,” Andy responded.

“What do you think; 3-wood or the utility club?”

“I think you should go with the utility club. If you over-cook the 3-wood, you might pull it into the pond. Play it safe with the utility club. That way you can keep it out of the lake and the bunker behind the pin. If Mize could knock it in from down there, you can too.

“Just relax. He’s going to try to clobber something in there. Who knows what he might do?”

Four Years Before — Fort Worth, Texas

“Jesus, it’s hot out here. How do these Texans stand this? I mean it has to be close to 100. Give me another bottle of water. At least they’re keeping it cold.”

Andy passed a bottle of cold water to her. She was drinking between every shot, and sometimes more often than that.

“Andy, one of these days they are going to have to let the men wear shorts. These long trousers are hell, especially in this heat. At least the LPGA had the good sense to let us wear shorts and skirts. Where does it say in the rules of golf that one has to dress uncomfortably?”

They were standing in the shade of a mesquite tree on the eighteenth fairway. They could hear the screeching of the wheels of the trains in the nearby switching yard. They were almost as loud as the screeching grackles that were everywhere.

Colonial Country Club is one of the most respected courses on the tour. It is a par 70, which means there are only two par five holes during the tournament. Known as Hogan’s Alley, the course and tournament are steeped in tradition. This was the course where Annika Sorenstam made her appearance many years before. She had missed the cut by one stroke. She had nothing to be ashamed of.

Bobbie was fairing considerably better. She had been two strokes behind the leaders at the cut, and only one stroke off the pace at 54 holes. She was in the second to last group of the day. She had been playing consistently well all day, where the others had faltered. She was four under for the day, and two strokes ahead of her friend Matt Sawatski and a fellow she didn’t know that much about, at least on a personal level, Jim Campion.

Campion had come out of relative obscurity to start winning with fair regularity. He had already won twice this year, and had won five tournaments the previous year. He had made it known early on when he found out that Bobbie was playing in the tournament, that women had no place on the men’s tour. When reminded that she had finished tenth in the Masters ahead of him, and also had a win in the Canadian Open, he just shrugged it off, saying she was a freak, and should be tested for drugs as well as having her DNA tested.

The reporter reminded him that she had already had that done on the LPGA because of comments made then. Campion didn’t have a response.

“Okay, just hit it easy to the center of the green. They’re going to have to hit it in the hole to tie you. They won’t do it. Just stay away from the left side.”

The perspiration was running down both of Bobbie’s arms. Her shirt was soaked, making her athletic bra quite visible. She dried her arms and hands, and Andy gave her a new glove. He dried the grip of the 6-iron once again before handing her the club. This was it.

She might have hooked the ball a bit more than she liked, but she was compensating for the hazards on the left, and hit the ball a bit right. The ball ended up hitting in the front center of the green, and rolled almost to the top of the hill. The green dropped from there to a rather nasty pin position at the left rear. She had played for this pin placement in her practice rounds.

Two putts later, she signed her card and watched as the last two golfers hit their approaches. Neither was close to the hole. She had won on the men’s tour once again.

“Well, Bobbie, this is getting to be habit forming.”

“Archie, this is a habit I don’t ever want to break. I had to make up for that debacle in Dallas last week, too.”

“I certainly wouldn’t call that a debacle. You did make the cut, after all.”

“Let’s just say that I didn’t play up to my standards. Let’s not talk about last week. Andy and I fixed the problems, and things were a lot better this week. Obviously, I played much better.”

“Did you realize that the other frontrunners were having problems out there?”

“I let Andy watch the leader board. He keeps me focused on the objective at hand, and that is the next shot.”

“So you didn’t realize Sawatski and Campion were running into trouble.”

“I knew something was up, when there seemed to be more crowd noise coming from our crowd than behind us. Then I saw the scoreboard at twelve, you can’t miss it, and saw that we were even. I didn’t look again. Andy told me we were two ahead after the drive on eighteen.

“I’m sorry that Sawatski and Campion had problems. Matt’s a good friend, but I don’t know Campion at all. We’ve played together, but I don’t know him.”

“They’re getting ready for the presentation. Congratulations to you and Andy for an outstanding tournament.”

“Thank you Archie, I know Andy appreciates the comment. You’ll be interviewing him before long.”

Andy stood to the side as his beloved received the huge check for publicity purposes. It was for $1.5 million. Some was destined for charity, but much of it would be put away for the future. Then there was the presentation of the plaid jacket. Bobbie seemed startled when the Tournament Chairman helped her slip it on. A few noticed that she seemed to be fighting tears, something that they hadn’t seen earlier.

At the Press Conference

“Bobbie, several things were noticeable at the end of the tournament. One was that Matt Sawatski stayed around to congratulate you on your victory. The other was that Jim Campion did not.”

“Matt and Jill Sawatski are good friends. We will be having dinner together tonight. Matt has been tremendously supportive since I’ve been playing on the tour. I don’t know Jim Campion at all. We’ve played together a couple of times and probably haven’t exchanged six words in that time.”

“Do you think he has a problem with your playing on the tour?”

“You will have to ask him that.”

“A question from the lady in the back.”

“Thank you, Bobbie, I couldn’t help but notice you got a little emotional when they put the jacket on you. Would you tell us what was going through your mind.”

“There was a lot going through my mind. I was thinking of all the great golfers who have won here. Ben Hogan won five times, Nicklaus, Trevino, that mighty mite, Corey Pavin, all won at least twice. So many great golfers have won at this tournament. That says something about how important this tournament is when the best golfers in the world play here. I thought about the ‘Wall of Fame’, and the fact that I am going to be there with all those greats. I was thinking about Annika, and how close she came. If Babe Zaharias had learned to play golf when she was ten years old, who knows what she could have done. It’s such an honor to be associated this way with all those others.”

“There was something else, wasn’t there?”

“You noticed, but you’re a woman, and I would have expected it. For all of you fashion challenged out there, I will tell you what it is. This is a woman’s jacket. The buttons are on the left side. That means a tremendous amount to me and any other woman who will play on this tour. It means acceptance, and I want to thank everyone associated with this tournament for being so thoughtful. Sometimes the little things mean a lot.

The Present - In the Announcers’ Booth

“Anderson’s going to use the utility club again. I don’t think she can get it to the pin from where she is, but the main thing is to keep it out of the pond on the left.

“Here’s her shot, and she’s done just what we thought she would. She’s left it about twenty feet off the green; however, she has a clear shot at the pin.

“Ray, what’s Campion going with?”

On the Course

“He’s going with a 7-iron. I’m not sure that’s enough club, even for him. We shall see.

“Oh, oh, he came way over the top, and has pulled it to the left. It’s not going to hit anything but water. It’s taken eleven holes, but Campion is finally faltering. What a turn of events this is. There could be a two stroke swing in Anderson’s favor.

“Campion’s not a happy camper right now. He’s keeping in line with where the ball crossed the edge of the hazard and the pin, and is going back to drop where he can use a full club to the green.

“He’s hit a sand wedge, and left it far left of the hole. He almost hit it off the green, and has a putt of about sixty feet. They’ve been three putting all day from over there.

“Anderson has by no means an easy shot. She’ll have to aim along the right edge of the green towards the bunker. As it slows, the ball will break to the left. This is going to be a combination of speed and direction. If she doesn’t get it high enough, she could end up way below the hole. Too strong and she could be down there by Campion’s ball.

“I don’t think we’ll see any miracle like Larry Mize’s shot to beat Greg Norman. I think she will consider anything within three feet a miracle.

“She’s hit a little bump and run right up the edge. If this has the speed, it’s going to be just the miracle she needs. Oh, look at this, she read it perfectly. It’s stopped no more than two feet from the hole, and from that angle, it is straight up the hill to the hole.

“Campion and his caddy seem to be having a discussion about something. He’s ready to putt, and is giving it a ride, and it’s well past the hole. I don’t know what the discussion was about, but Campion is not happy with his caddy at all. It couldn’t be about that shot into the water. He just hit a bad shot. If he had been on line, he probably would have had his par.

“From where he is, he is going to have a slight break to the left. This is not an easy putt.

“He’s left it below the hole. He walks up and raps it in the hole. This is getting very interesting.

“Anderson is lining up her putt. And there it is. Anderson is tied for the lead at nine under par. Campion has triple bogeyed the eleventh.
”ƒ
Chapter 12 — Golden Bell, Par 3, 155 Yards

At the Tee

“Andy, I know I’ve told you about this before, but it keeps playing over and over in my mind, especially after what happened two years ago. His Wisdom said when I get to twelve, go with the 9-iron, don’t use the wedge. He never said where, but I know he meant here. That was when Gramma Naomi gave me my first set of real golf clubs.

“I keep thinking about it. No one in his right mind would hit a wedge at 12. The Wizard doesn’t know that much about golf. At least he didn’t fifteen years ago. I think he was assuming I would be hitting from the women’s tees, but what he didn’t realize was that they don’t have women’s tees here. I think the gist of what he was trying to say was that if I am between clubs on the twelfth, to go with the longer club. I didn’t do that two years ago, and it cost us the tournament. What do you think?”

“I think going long is the lesser of two evils, but if you’re in the trap and mishit, it’s real easy to go into the creek or into that bunker on the low side.”

“With that said, I’m thinking 7-iron, or 6-iron. What’s it playing today?”

“I have it at 163. The wind’s swirling a bit. The 6-iron will come in a bit lower. I think you can stop it.”

“Yeah, I like that. Let’s do it.”

In the Announcers’ Booth

“Anderson and her husband have been going over her club selection. The wind is definitely swirling around. That could be a club difference in a matter of seconds.

“She’s teeing it up a bit like she likes to. She’s playing a cut. This looks good. It hits just to the left of the pin and …. IT’S IN THE HOLE! SHE’S HIT IT IN THE FUCKING HOLE! OH MY GOD!

“Please excuse me. I know I’ll hear about this for a long time, but we have just seen the shot of the ages. Bobbie Anderson has just aced the most sacred par three in golf.

“We’ll be seeing replays of this shot forever. Look at this. It is so perfect. There was never a doubt. It hits, kicks to the right, two little bounces, and it rolls into the hole.

“I wonder what’s going on in Campion’s mind right now. Two holes ago, he had a three stroke lead. That evaporated on eleven. This has to have shaken him to the core.

“The spectators are going crazy. I know she has quite a following, But I think she just picked up a bunch more. Nothing will ever make up for the double bogey she suffered two years ago when her ball rolled back into Rae’s Creek. But I’m sure it took a bit of the sting out of it. She never makes excuses. She said she made a dumb choice of clubs. Well, that was not the case today.

“We have the golf historians scrambling. There have been several aces on 16.

“Okay, here it is. There have been twenty-three holes in one during this tournament, and most of them have been at the 16th, where there have been fourteen. There were two in the final round at sixteen many years ago, if I remember correctly. Up to today, there had been only three at number twelve, so this is the fourth one. This one may have the greatest implication, though. What a shot!

“Things have finally quieted down a bit. Ray, how are things down at the tee?”

“Al, needless to say, things are a bit emotional in Anderson’s camp at the moment. This tournament is far from over. I think right now, she is trying to settle her nerves. Her husband took her aside, and they had a quiet talk. He’s been a rock for her, as she has been for him over the last few years. They know there is still a lot of golf left.

“Campion’s decided to go with the eight. That’s probably the right club for him. He should just take it over the right side of the front bunker, and hope that it stays on the green.

“Well he’s done it again, and pulled it to the left. Al, what can you see from up there?”

“He’s hit it off the back edge and down into that little swale to the left of the two bunkers. That is not the place to be.

A Little More Than Five Years Before

“Zach, what do you mean they are not sending an invitation to me? I am qualified in about forty-seven different ways…

“Well, hell yes, I’m not a man. I’ve known that all my life.” ‘If you only knew,’ she thought.

“Dammit, I’ve won a qualifying tournament. I’m in the top twenty on the money list. I’m even ranked 26th in the world rankings. What more do they want?”

“Well it’s about time they put a women’s locker room in the place. Zach, this is fucking stupid, excuse my French, but I have qualified to play in their tournament, and by gosh I am going to do it.

“I want you to find the best civil rights lawyer around. We’re going to sue their sorry asses for so much money they’ll be sorry they ever heard of me. I qualified by their rules, and they are going to have to let me play, or there won’t be four major tournaments on the PGA Tour ever again.”

January 2024 — ABC Evening News

“And now for a story from the world of golf: last year, the world of golf was set on its heels when a young, beautiful, and consummately skilled lady golfer appeared on the PGA tour. She made the cut in her first tournament, qualifying her for the next tournament. The fact she finished fifth was a shock to many. That was nothing compared to what she did several weeks later when she won the Canadian Open, making her the first woman to win on the men’s tour.

“It seems that her skill and success has rocked the golf world to its very roots. She has qualified, on paper at least, to play in that sanctum sanctorum of men’s golf: The Masters at the Augusta National Golf Club in Augusta, Georgia. The problem is that the tournament officials have not offered her an invitation to play.

“The powers to be at Augusta National insist that there was never the intent to let women play in the tournament established by the great Bobby Jones. Perhaps it is just coincidental that her name is Bobbie.

“Augusta National does not have women members. They do not have lady’s tees on the golf course, nor do they have a woman’s locker room. Even though they say they are open to having women as members, an invitation has never been offered to a woman.

“Bobbie Anderson has twenty-eight victories on the LPGA as a professional, and three LPGA victories as an amateur. She won the US Amateur twice, and was the NCAA women’s champion twice. She is the top ranked golfer on the LPGA, and is currently ranked 26th on the men’s tour. Someone did suggest that if they had known she was a woman, she wouldn’t have been ranked.

“Although this network carries many of the PGA and LPGA tournaments, it does not carry the Masters. One of our fellow networks does, and it is well known that they pay Augusta National many millions for the privilege. In fact, it is the money from television revenues that enables Augusta National to exist. Their members pay a little over a thousand dollars a month for the privilege of belonging, and the membership is very limited, and very exclusive. It includes some of the wealthiest people in the world, none of them women, by the way.

“Apparently, Ms. Anderson is very popular with many, but definitely not all, of the men on the tour. I think we do need to say that Ms. Anderson is married to a professional golfer, and that they caddy for each other on the tour. They never compete against each other. There is a petition being circulated by invitees to the Masters that states, if she is not allowed to play, they will withdraw. We are talking about thirty of the top players on the tour, including six of the top ten. Conspicuous by their absence are the signatures of several golfers who have refused to play in some of the earlier tournaments she played in.

“Ms. Anderson is bringing suit against Augusta National. She says all she wants to do is to play. A spokesman for the tournament says to let her play would be a travesty, that she would only be an embarrassment to herself, the club, and tournament.

“It will certainly be interesting to see how this plays out.”

Three Months Later — ABC Sunday Evening News

“One of the time honored rituals of spring, and the first full week of April is the Masters Golf Tournament in Augusta, Georgia. There was some question this year if there would ever be another Masters Golf Tournament. One of the best golfers in the world, male or female, was excluded from the tournament even though she had met the qualifying criteria several different ways. Under the pressure of a major lawsuit, the withdrawal from the tournament of several dozen of the top ranked players in the world, and the refusal of any network to televise the tournament, Augusta National relented, and allowed Bobbie Anderson to play.

“It was reported to us by an unnamed source that members of the club said that after her showing for the first two days, they would never have to worry about another woman wanting to play in the Masters.

“Boy, were they wrong. Not only did she make the cut, she shot a final round 69 to finish in tenth place at even par: a remarkable performance by a remarkable young golfer. And you know what? She has qualified to play next year — truly amazing.”

The Present — In the Announcers’ Booth

“Bobbie Anderson is walking across Hogan’s Bridge, and quite frankly, I don’t think I have ever heard cheering like we are hearing right now.

“She has reached the green, and stopped to fix her ball mark before reaching into the hole to extract her ball. I have a feeling that ball will find its way into the Golf Hall of Fame one of these days.

“Well, back to reality: Campion has a nasty little chip and run. He has to come up over the rise before it slides down to the hole. It will be difficult to get it close to the hole.

“Here’s the chip. He had a pretty good line, but it’s just so difficult to stop it close to the hole. If it had hit the pin, he might have had a chance, but this is a good eight feet past the hole.

“There’s something strange going on. Campion seems to be having some strong words with his caddie, again. I don’t know what the problem is. His caddy certainly can’t be blamed for anything that has transpired over the last few holes.

“Okay, he’s lining up the putt. That was never in the hole. It didn’t have the speed to keep the line. Campion backhands it into the hole for a bogey four. That is two, three stroke swings on consecutive holes. Campion is now at eight under par, and Anderson is at eleven under, and leads by three. What a turn of events. The ‘Amen Corner’ is living up to its reputation once again.

Six holes left: what can go right, what can go wrong? There are some nasty holes ahead, and other than her skill, Bobbie really has no advantage on any of them. Then there is this problem of magic. Magic had nothing to do with her hole-in-one. That was skill and some luck. Campion’s poor play caused his melt down on eleven. In the final holes there will be plenty of opportunities for Campion’s magical assistant to influence the score. Hang in there, Bobbie. It ain’t over until it’s over.