My Fantasy Foursome

IBM CEO Virginia Rometty waited two years for her
Augusta National membership invite.
Photo credit: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

With IBM CEO Virginia Rometty's invitation to join Augusta National Golf Club, the Dynamic Duo, Condoleezza Rice and Darla Moore, has been transformed into a Terrific Threesome and it's time to start dreaming about the next step in Augusta National's amazingly slow progress toward joining the rest of us as we bravely go forth into the 21st Century.

I can think of a couple of scenarios for that step.

If it were a more typical private golf club, we could look forward to a monthly Women's Day at Augusta National, where the still-to-be-established Augusta National Women's Golf Association invited their peers from nearby WGAs to join them for a round and enjoy lunch together.  Somehow I can't quite see Condi, Darla and Ginni grabbing the moment and implementing that innovation to the Augusta National routine, but it's worth dreaming about and I can assure them that if they took that step the members of the Star Fort Ladies Golf Association would pile their clubs into Jan, Ruth and Barb's minivans, show up, and reciprocate!

It's a delicious thought and I'm savoring it.  But here's another possibility: a new LPGA event, or even, capitalizing on the very successful 2014 USGA innovation, back-to-back US Opens at Pinehurst. back-to-back Masters Tournaments!

That would give me the opportunity to play in my favorite fantasy foursome: Condoleezza Rice, Hall of Famer Kathy Whitworth, Brittany Lincicome and me as a Pro-Am team for the first Women's Masters?  That's even more delicious than the Women's Day image.

Why did I pick these three partners?

Bam Bam Lincicome is the longest hitter on the LPGA Tour and we need a long hitter on the team.  I also think Bam Bam needs us.  Whitworth, Rice and I know something about delivering the goods under fire and I sense we can help Bam Bam learn to manage her nerves so that the next time she finds herself in a playoff she'll go into it with ice water in her veins.

Kathy Whitworth is a few years older than me, we have much in common in terms of social concerns, and she can also outplay me.  So I want her on the team for selfish reasons.  When you get to my age finding good role models can be a bit of a challenge, and Whitworth fills the bill both on and off the links.

I've wanted for years to spend a casual afternoon with Condoleezza Rice.  I'd just like to get to know here a bit better, to explore areas of mutual interest, and to play a friendly round of golf, with perhaps a side bet or two to keep things interesting.