Martha Burk, chairwoman of the National Council of Women's Organizations, said Saturday she will contact the network in the next 10 days to discuss the issue.

CBS spokeswoman Leslie Anne Wade said CBS will broadcast the Masters next year, but declined further comment.

"I'm going to try and get them to reconsider that decision," Burk said.

Augusta National Golf Club Chairman Hootie Johnson announced Friday that the 2003 Masters, scheduled for April 10-13, will be shown without any television sponsors. Citigroup, Coca-Cola and IBM were all contacted by the women's group last month and asked to not support the tournament.

"We made our case that there is no difference between the club and the tournament, and we appealed to their corporate code of conduct," Burk said.

In addition to the television sponsors, Burk wrote a letter to Cadillac asking them to pull their support. Cadillac was a longtime sponsor of the Masters telecast and still supplies courtesy cars for the tournament.

IBM told Burk it would continue its sponsorship, viewing the private club as separate from the Masters. The other sponsors indicated they were in discussions with Augusta National, she said.

"I'm surprised. I think Hootie needs to get this behind them," Burk said of the club's decision to forgo television sponsors. "This is like Custer's last stand. Eventually this is going to happen. Why doesn't he do it with grace and style? I would applaud that decision."

The National Council of Women's Organizations is the nation's largest and oldest coalition of women's groups. Founded in 1980, the 160 groups represent 6 million women.

Burk wrote a letter to Johnson in June asking the club to review its policies and open its membership to women. Johnson made the issue public in July by issuing a terse three-paragraph statement and said the club will not be "bullied" into admitting female members.

"Augusta doesn't need this," Burk said. "The premier golf event on the planet doesn't need this."

Associated Press reports were used in this article.

Reach John Boyette at (706) 823-3337 or jboyette@augustachronicle.com.