Time to end Masters pathetic boys only rule

Last week I turned up to play golf at a small club outside Nelson (on the top of New Zealand’s South Island for all overseas readers!).

Turns out it was ladies day at the nine-hole Tasman Golf Club, which is situated on the cliffs above the glorious Tasman Bay. 
I was the only male among a dozen or so women gathered in the carpark and when I asked if it was possible to play, rather than tell me to go away or wait until they’d all teed off, these women had a quick discussion and decided that if I went off the fourth tee I’d not run into any of them and we could all get on with our day.

Afterwards, one committee member took the time to ask me how I’d enjoyed the course and made me a cup of tea and ham sandwich! Their welcome was remarkable … especially in light of what is going at this year’s Masters golf tournament in Augusta, Georgia.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/masters-chairman-sidesteps-questions-about-female-members-at-augusta-national/2012/04/04/gIQA5OHOvS_story.html

Augusta’s male-only members cannot handle the problem presented by tournament sponsor IBM having a female chief executive. And they certainly cannot handle the ever-pressing demands to allow female members.

Why on earth the world’s most prestigious golf club needs to remain male-only is beyond comprehension. What do they do there that is so secret … walk around naked all day? In the 21^st century there is no need   for anything to be male-only. For those wealthy and prominent enough to be members of Augusta that’s even more the case – these men are already in an exclusive club achieved through wealth and social status and hardly need another glorified man-cave to call their own.

It’s time these stuffy old cocks loosened their ties and relaxed the rules on female membership – after all their club is primarily about golf and last time I looked golf was played by men and women.

What I’d love to see is one of the world’s leading players decline to play next year’s Masters in protest at the male-only rule. Imagine if Rory McIlroy, or god forbid that great lover of women Tiger Woods, decided to stand up for a principle.

Guys like that don’t really need any more money or status and you can bet it would work for their sponsors if they’re seen to be doing something positive rather than going along with status quo because of all that bullshit tradition that goes with the Masters.

Go on, be real men and stand up for something you believe in. I dare you.

For my part, if I was ever lucky enough to get an invite to play at Augusta – I’m telling you now I’d turn it down on principle. I’d rather play golf with the ladies at Tasman Golf Club where everyone gets treated equally.

By the book

MICHAEL DONALDSON

I GET asked a lot if I have a favourite beer. It’s such a hard question to answer because it depends on what I feel like drinking.
There are days I want a huge guava and passionfruit smash that comes from a New Zealand pale ale – if I had a last request for a beer, it would be for an Aotearoa Pale Ale from Tuatara or an Armageddon from Epic. But I am not sure they would count as my favourite beers on a day-in, dayout basis, because I don’t want them all the time.
Other days I want something smoky, and then there are days when a coffee-infused stout is the only thing I can think about.
So I flip around the first question. What if I could drink only one beer ever again?
I am thinking here of the beer equivalent of your favourite armchair, which you would keep at the expense of other furniture, or the food you most like to cook in winter. A beer you can depend on, that will never let you down. A beer that is your friend.
I cast my mind back to what I’ve been drinking in the past year and
I soon realised there was a go-to beer I favoured over all others: Emerson’s Bookbinder.
In the past year I’ve had a Bookbinder:
with the famous shellfish hotpot at Fleur’s Place in Oamaru.
with a steak and chips in Dunedin.
with a quick-fire Chinese takeout.
at the Refreshment Room in Titirangi with a ravioli dish.
with nachos.
just on its own after a round of golf.
as a pre-dinner drink.
And on each occasion it has never been a wrong choice.
Bookbinder is a classic English ale, powered by malt but fine-tuned with just the right hop additions as to leave your mouth dry enough to want more.
It never overpowers nor is it lost in the background. It’s rich and flavoursome but totally balanced.
A friend once described it as charmingly inoffensive – you could take that as insult if you were brewer Richard Emerson, but it’s not derogatory because it captures the essence of this beer. It will never offend, it
will always charm – it’s what it does. And at just 3.7 per cent alcohol, it’s very drinkable.
For some reason, Bookie conjures up images of a loyal, friendly dog. And I love the name, which Emerson came up with when he created Bookbinder as a one-off brew for the 1996 Victorian Fete in Oamaru. It was named for a couple of bookbinders he knew – Michael O’Brien and David Stedman.
In this digital age, where I imagine the craft of bookbinding is going the way of coopers and blacksmiths, a little element of romance doesn’t hurt.
But there’s one time of the year when Bookbinder has to take a back seat to another Emerson’s beer, and that’s right now, when the limited release Taieri George comes out.

Like Bookbinder, there’s romance in the name. It stems from a mistake made on the certificate the Dunedin City Council made out to Richard Emerson’s father George for his work on the Taieri Gorge railway.
The certificate thanks Emerson senior for his work on the ‘‘Taieri
George’’ railway. The mistake was noted only after George Emerson
passed away and the beer is a perfect tribute from son to father.
This spiced ale is released every autumn and is marketed as a hot
cross bun in a bottle. To be honest, that’s about the
best description you can get. With hints of cinnamon, nutmeg and
allspice, there’s a dash of raisiny fruit on a warm and soft malt
cushion.
Last year, Taieri George sold out pretty quickly so if you see it on
the shelf over Easter, grab one. And because it’s a living beer, or
bottle-conditioned, it will change in time, so it’s worth buying four
or five and trying one a month during the winter to see how it
evolves.
Having got to this point, I realise that the true answer to the
question I get asked so often is anything made by Emerson.