Women in Green Show Corporate Clout Overtakes Masters Gentility
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Women in green jackets aren’t the only change at Augusta National Golf Club as it prepares to host the Masters Tournament next week.
Along with its first female members, the 80-year-old private club in Augusta, Georgia, has its initial corporate-hospitality pavilion and a newly hired woman executive to help chairman Billy Payne expand the business of golf’s opening annual major championship. In the past seven years, Payne has forged new sponsorship and broadcast deals, licensed a Masters videogame, and built $13 million of facilities for corporate partners and club members to entertain clients.