2023 Masters: 20 years after protests, women still look ahead

Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, addresses a rally in Augusta, Ga., Saturday, April 12, 2003. Burk led a protest against Augusta National Golf Club's all-male membership. Twenty years later, she believes the home of the Masters waited until 2012 to invite women to join so she couldn't get credit for the change. (AP Photo/Roberto Borea, File)

It started with a letter that Martha Burk figured would never see the light of day.

When she mentioned the all-male membership at Augusta National, the National Council of Women’s Organization didn’t even vote on whether to take action.

“It was a very casual conversation at the end of a board meeting,” Burk said in a recent interview. “I had found out about this club and said I was thinking about writing a letter. Everyone said, ‘Fine, write the letter.’ I never expected my letter to go anywhere. I thought in a few years I might have followed up with a phone call.”