William Woodward “Hootie” Johnson, who steered the famed Augusta National Golf Club through many of its stormiest times, died Friday at 86 years old.
Johnson, who served as the club’s chairman from 1998-2006, did not waver when making a decision that involved the private club or the Masters tournament, some unpopular and some controversial.
His biggest test came in 2003 when Johnson became embroiled in a very public squabble with Martha Burk, president of the National Council of Women’s Organizations, over the club’s lack of female membership.
Johnson pointed out that women play many rounds at Augusta each year and that membership issues were exclusively a club decision. Johnson said he wouldn’t have his mind changed at the “point of a bayonet.” He said the club’s policy would not change “if I drop dead this second” while chairman.
To remove pressure from corporate sponsors, who had been threatened with boycotts by Burk’s members, Johnson had CBS broadcast the Masters without commercials in 2003 and 2004. Burk’s protest in 2003 ultimately flopped and never re-materialized in 2004.
“I don’t feel like we won anything,” Johnson said in a 2004 news conference. “I think it’s over, but it will never be over, but I don’t think we’ve won anything.”
Johnson’s statement was prescient. In 2012, six years after Johnson stepped down as chairman, Augusta National included its first two women members — former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and South Carolina financier Darla Moore. And it was Johnson who had nominated Moore for membership.
Billy Payne, who succeeded Johnson as club chairman, released a statement saying: “At all times, Hootie selflessly served as my personal mentor on matters here at Augusta National and the Masters, as well as in business and life. He impressed upon me his obsession for constant improvement and a love for Augusta National that will forever remain unmatched. As the current Chairman, I owe an immeasurable debt to Hootie Johnson, and I will thank him every day for what he has meant to me personally as well as to the legacy of Augusta National and the Masters.”
Johnson’s response caused many to unfairly label him a bigot. But the stoic Johnson was always considered a progressive thinker, one who never fit the stereotypical good-old-boy southern mold.
“I do have a reputation for fighting against discrimination,” Johnson said in a 2003 news conference. “I have a good record and I’m proud of it. But our private club does not discriminate. Single gender is an important fabric on the American scene. There are thousands and thousands all across America. Both genders. Health clubs, sewing circles, Junior League, Shriner’s, and we should not — and we’re not — discriminating. And we resent it very much when that accusation is made against us.”
In 1968 Johnson helped defuse a potentially dangerous situation that arose when three black South Carolina State students were killed while participating in civil-rights protests. That same year he helped get the state to fund an undergraduate business program at the historically black school.
Johnson was one of the first businessmen to push to have the Confederate flag removed from the South Carolina flag. He supported minorities and women for political office, including U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn, and named them to his corporate board of directors. He asked S.C. State president Maceo Nance to serve on the board at Bankers Trust; Nance was the first black appointed to a bank board in South Carolina. Johnson served on the board of the National Urban League.
“I’ve got a lot of respect for the guy,” said PGA Tour professional Charles Howell III, who grew up in Augusta. “He stood up for what he believed in. He was never bullied around by anybody.”
Equally controversial to golf fans were the significant changes to Augusta National brought about by Johnson. He added rough — delicately referred to by the tournament as “the second cut” — to the fairways in 1999, brought in hundreds to trees to punish inaccurate shots, and in 2002 and 2006 lengthened the course so it would remain competitive against the sport’s rapid technological advances.
“I very much admire his courage and conviction when he determined early in his tenure that he was going to protect the course and it’s competitiveness against the encroachment of all of the technological advances and the distances the ball were being hit,” said Billy Payne, Johnson’s successor as club chairman.
Johnson also initiated 18-hole television coverage in 2002, allowing the world to peek at Augusta National’s first nine holes, and gradually increased the club’s charitable donations.
But Johnson was criticized in 2001 for writing letters to former champions Billy Casper, Gay Brewer and Doug Ford, asking them to withdraw since they were no longer competitive. This broke from Masters tradition, which guaranteed previous winners a place in the field. But the move rubbed many the wrong way. Even Arnold Palmer was offended, saying the 2002 Masters would be his last because “I don’t want to get a letter.” The situation was smoothed over; Palmer continued to play through 2004 and — encouraged by Johnson and Payne — became the tournament’s honorary starter in 2007.
Johnson became a member of Augusta National in 1968, receiving the invitation via a letter from club founder Bobby Jones. He became vice president of the club in 1975 and became the first Augusta native to become club chairman in 1998.
Johnson was born Feb. 16, 1931, and was given the nickname “Hootie” at age 5 by a childhood friend.
He attended the University of South Carolina, where he played fullback and lettered in football for three seasons. He graduated with a bachelors degree in 1953.
Johnson began his banking career in 1953 in Greenwood, S.C., at the bank founded by his father. Johnson saw the rural bank expand into metropolitan markets by 1960. In 1965, then only 34 years old, Johnson was named president of Bankers Trust of South Carolina; he was the state’s youngest bank president. Bankers Trust became part of the North Carolina National Bank Corporation in 1986 and later merged with Bank of America. Johnson retired in 2001 as chairman of the executive committee of Bank of America, Charlotte, N.C.
Johnson and his wife, Pierrine, were high school sweethearts and had four daughters and 10 grandchildren.
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