Masters golf: 12 women candidates for Augusta National membership

The Augusta National Golf Club has steadfastly refused to alter its all-male membership. But circumstances may soon cause the gender barrier to break, and if it does there are several women who might be good fits for the club.

Sandra Day O’Connor

Adele Starr/AP/File
In this 2004 file photo, US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor smiles after she received the Senator John Heinz Award for Greatest Public Service by an Elected or Appointed Official during a ceremony at the American Institute for Public Service Jefferson Awards in Washington, D.C.

O’Connor made history as the first female Supreme Court Justice when Ronald Reagan nominated her in 1981. Retired since 2006, she might not play much golf anymore, but she knows the game. O'Connor took it up mid-career when she was encouraged to play while visiting friends in Wisconsin.  She and Glen Nager, the first Supreme Court clerk she hired, were frequent playing partners. Nager went on to become president of the US Golf Association. Of O’Connor’s game, he once told the Washington Post: “She hits the ball disgustingly straight. There was a reason she was the center of the court all those years.”

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