Kid stuff a significant, progressive move for Masters

AUGUSTA, Ga. -- Prepare yourselves.

You are about to read a sentence that has never before been cogitated, much less written.

Billy Payne: 'We want to expose this great game and opportunity to children.' (AP)

It's such a foreign concept, the first inclination will be to click on the red "X" in the upper right-hand corner of your Internet browser or treat it like an annoying pop-up ad. But don't close the story just because the folks at Augusta National have been close-minded in the past.

No question, given the back story, typing the following words feels about as natural as putting porcupines in a room with blindfolded hemophiliacs:

Augusta National, the high-minded place that over the years has been hammered for its low-minded exclusionary policies, has become a beacon of progressivism.

Social cynics, hold your tongues. There's no punch line, because it's no joke.

In a master stroke of judgment, the club this year has opened its arms to a new generation, allowing anybody between the ages of 8-16 into the world's most famous tournament for free when accompanied by a badge holder.

Simple as it might sound, it will likely do more to change the public perception of the club than anything in its controversial history, and could stand as a seminal moment in keeping the foundering game afloat in the future.

Charismatic chairman Billy Payne, who last year took over the helm of the most famous private club in the world, threw open the gilded gates to a new generation in hopes of growing the game. Whether it was the plan's primary intent, the admission of kids represents a significant philosophical and cultural overhaul.

"I think it's a fantastic idea and the Masters tournament obviously has a profile in the game where that can really make a difference," Justin Rose said.

If the perception of his influential club changes as a result, more the better. Just like that, the club in the minds of some has moved from regressive to progressive, from a pattern of exclusion to inclusion. Most of the credit, club members say, goes to Payne himself.

"You know, it is what it is," said Payne, the former chief of the Atlanta Olympic Games committee, deftly declining to comment on perceived social change at the club. "We want to expose this great game and opportunity to children, and the Masters ticket is so coveted, so rarely available, that beginning on Thursday, when the tournament itself starts, you don't see too many children out here. "I think the Masters patrons, spectators (are regarded) as the most knowledgeable and perhaps best mannered in all of sport, and I thought, 'What a great combination, bring kids in to see their heroes; at the same time expose them to the great attributes of how our fans act and behave and enjoy the game of golf.'

"It was a win/win."