Marion Hollins was a legendary golfer.

It is said that the one of golfs early female trailblazer and maker of golf clubs , Marion Hollins, was perhaps indirectly responsible for the working partnership between Bobby Jones and Allister McKenzie.  Bobby Jones came to California to play Hollins course, which McKenzie designed, and once he saw what the golf course architect could do he knew he had found his match.  Jones persuaded McKenzie to come to Georgia and transform the hills of the old plantation that was purchased to become the greatest golf courses in the US.  Construction on the course was begun in the winter of 1930 and was accomplished a year later by the winter of 1931.  It was a work of genius between two great creators.  The Masters Tournament began in 1934 and has effectively sealed Augusta Nationals fame and place in history as a Mecca for golf. 

Augusta National Golf Clubs co-founder, Bobby Jones, considered the father of modern golf, retired after he won the British Amateur on the Old Course at St. Andrews, the British Open, U.S. Open, and the U.S. Amateur and came to Augusta, GA to create his work of genius.  While Bobby Jones hasnt written golf equipment reviews or kept an internet blog on his life, that kind of endowment never goes out of style or decays.  Jones authored four books on golf, designed golf clubs, and earned degrees in both mechanical engineering and law.  Out of all of his awards, however, helping to create the worlds greatest golf course at Augusta was to become his magnum opus.  The success of the Masters Tournament is due as much to Bobby Jones vision as it is to Allister McKenzies ability.

One wonders what Marion Hollins, a woman with an impressive golf swing , would think about Augusta National Golf Clubs refusal to admit women members.  Ms. Hollins was the visionary behind Pastiempo Estates, which boasts one of the most historic golf courses in the United States, and some say she is the connection between Bobby Jones and Allister McKenzie.  Jones and McKenzie first encountered each other at her Estates and then later went on to create and mold Augustas course together.  Hollins was an entrepreneur, a risk taking investor and above all a devoted and ardent golfer. 

Martha Burk, a self proclaimed feminist who incidentally doesnt know the difference between a golf training aid and golf clubs, established an attack on Augusta National Golf Club several years ago to make the club to permit female members.  The basis for her argument was that, because of the Masters Tournament, the club has become, for all intents and purposes, a public entity, and therefore shouldnt be considered as a private club with the ability to leave out any person.  With roughly twenty four other all male golf clubs in the US, Augusta National is hardly alone in its exclusionary status but was targeted by Ms. Burk and her companions because of its famous status. Many people feel that, even though her demands are still unmet, she paved the way for the clubs female membership in the future.  With a new incoming president of Augusta National, many are looking for change before very long.

Once a fruit orchard on an old plantation, Augusta National has been created into one of the most naturally stunning and exclusive courses in the United States.  Founders Clifford Roberts and Bobby Jones fancied that the ordinary orchard could be more and made it come about by using the much sought after Scottish physician and golf course architect Allister McKenzie to create this most famous of golf courses .  Although the golf course opened in 1931, the Masters Tournament actually started in 1934 and, despite the difficulties that the Great Depression and a failing economy presented, the Tournament helped to beef up Augusta National and make it such a force to contend with.  Even With the barriers to its wins, The Spirit of the Masters has triumphed over all of these circumstances to plant itself firmly in golfs past and present.

The Augusta National Golf Club has long been favored by Americas elite.  Dwight D. Eisenhower was known to play this course, making it his favored hideaway for many years.  It is also said that for that very reason, Richard Nixon was never extended that same privilege.  In 2004 the members list was released to the public by an unauthorized source, revelation one of the clubs most closely guarded secrets.  Plenty Of of the clubs members are heads of major companies such as AT&T, Coca-Cola, Exxon Mobil and other heavy hitters.  Many members are truly unconcerned with golf fitness but relish the prestige of membership as well as the ability to network and cement business deals on the course while swapping golf tips , of course.

Marion Hollins, a truly good golfer in the early 1900s, formed the Womens National Golf Club on Long Island, New York, in 1923.  One of the things that this golf club had in common with Augusta National Golf club in Augusta, GA, was that it was tally wholly by wealthy people, namely women, and it was a magnet for the socially elite women of the east coast.  It also was exclusionary of the opposite gender in that m en were most certainly denied membership and were permitted to play the exclusive golf course only as a invitee of a female member.  For eighteen years this golf club was strong and robust, but was unlike Augusta National in that it was not able to live through the hard times that the Great Depression provided.